Tag: Media Studies

Bonnie and Clyde: What does our collective fascination with crime say about us?

December 6, 2013

Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, sometime between 1932 and 1934. BY KATHLEEN BATTLESAssistant professor of communication and journalism at Oakland University This weekend, Lifetime Television, A&E, and the History Channel will simultaneously air a two-part television “event” – a miniseries documenting the lives of infamous Depression-era American bandits, Bonnie and Clyde. Publicity for the series … More Bonnie and Clyde: What does our collective fascination with crime say about us?

The history of government surveillance in the U.S.: From the dragnet to Prism

July 3, 2013

In the 1930s, the dragnet came to refer to the use of radio as the key technology to combat criminal mobility.This image from 1935 is of a radio program being recorded at KTAR (AM), Phoenix, Arizona. Source: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. BY KATHLEEN BATTLESAssociate professor of communication and journalism at Oakland University … More The history of government surveillance in the U.S.: From the dragnet to Prism

Joanna Zylinska: Evolution is not all that.

May 29, 2013

BY JOANNA ZYLINSKAProfessor of new media and communications at Goldsmiths, University of London How do things emerge in the world? What is the relationship between an organism and its environment? In recent years both the humanities and the sciences have embraced a more process-based, relational way of thinking about these questions, with matter seen as … More Joanna Zylinska: Evolution is not all that.

From Character Toys to Designer Toys (Or, How I Became a Toy Collector)

May 18, 2012

Dunny from artist Tara McPherson, a concert poster designer andformer production assistant on Matt Groening’s Futurama. This is the fourth in a series of posts about author and anime scholar Marc Steinberg’s personal collection of collectibles. See all posts here. BY MARC STEINBERGAssistant professor of film studies at Concordia University In criticisms of the shift … More From Character Toys to Designer Toys (Or, How I Became a Toy Collector)

Marc Steinberg: Print Culture and Tin Toys

May 4, 2012

This is the third in a series of posts about author and anime scholar Marc Steinberg’s personal collection of collectibles. See all posts here. BY MARC STEINBERGAssistant professor of film studies at Concordia University Scholarship meets serendipity in the practice of collecting.What is there to collect?What is there to find? All this depends on a … More Marc Steinberg: Print Culture and Tin Toys

Marc Steinberg: From "the" sticker craze to my sticker craze

April 27, 2012

This sticker of Atomu, which the author owns, dates back to 1963 or 1964. This is Part 2 of a multi-part series in which Marc Steinberg, author of Anime’s Media Mix, lets us into his own world of collectibles. Curious? Read the first part here. ——-BY MARC STEINBERGAssistant professor of film studies at Concordia University … More Marc Steinberg: From "the" sticker craze to my sticker craze

Mulling things over: Anime collectibles from Marc Steinberg’s closet

April 18, 2012

Dear reader: This is the first in a series of blog posts in which author Marc Steinberg invites us into his own world of anime collectibles, explaining what makes each object interesting and how it has contributed to the history and transformation of Japanese media culture. —– BY MARC STEINBERGAssistant professor of film studies at … More Mulling things over: Anime collectibles from Marc Steinberg’s closet

"Reality is alright, it’s just messy and weird": An interview with Ian Bogost on videogames, social awareness, and the future of gaming

January 18, 2012

“Will innocents be caught in the cross-fire? Oh, yes. But when your secret weapon is a random act of kindness, it’s only cruel to be kind to other players….” Cruel 2 B Kind is an experimental game by Ian Bogost and Jane McGonigal. Here, Bogost, author of How to Do Things With Videogames, answers questions … More "Reality is alright, it’s just messy and weird": An interview with Ian Bogost on videogames, social awareness, and the future of gaming

Before we had the Kardashians, even before we had The Real World, we had PBS’s An American Family — the original "reality" series.

January 11, 2012

The real Loud family (right) meets HBO’s Loud family. HBO’s triple-Golden-Globe-nominated Cinema Verite takes a look behind the scenes of the filming of America’s first reality TV family. Photo from http://blog.zap2it.com. Before 1973, the Loud family of Santa Barbara, California, lived in the privacy of their own home. With the airing of the documentary An … More Before we had the Kardashians, even before we had The Real World, we had PBS’s An American Family — the original "reality" series.

[Wired] The Curse of Cow Clicker: How a Cheeky Satire Became a Videogame Hit

December 21, 2011

From Wired‘s feature on author Ian Bogost (How to Do Things With Videogames and Alien Phenomenology): You work for the Transportation Security Administration, manning the x-ray machine at a local airport. Your day begins easily enough, quickly scanning passengers’ luggage and bodies and waving them through. But after a few minutes, you get an alert—shirts … More [Wired] The Curse of Cow Clicker: How a Cheeky Satire Became a Videogame Hit