Barry Vacker
Temple University, Media Studies and Production, Faculty Member
- Media Studies, Land Art, Contemporary Art, 21st Century Studies, Cosmology, Film and Media Studies, and 13 moreTechnology, Utopian Studies, Utopian, Dystopian, and Post-Apocalyptic Fiction, Existentialism, Nihilism, Nothingness, Human destiny, Eschatology and Apocalypticism, Apocalypticism, Marshall McLuhan, Jean Baudrillard, Jean Paul Sartre, and Sartreedit
- All my art+theory projects (future, present, past) are in Instagram: @BarryVackerArt. 1. I am an author, professor,... moreAll my art+theory projects (future, present, past) are in Instagram: @BarryVackerArt.
1. I am an author, professor, mixed-media artist. Two-time international award winner for creative work. My stuff is about big spaces and big ideas.
2. I am interested in the trajectories of civilization and our shared destiny as a species on Spaceship Earth as it hurtles through the vast universe. In other words: where are we going, what does it mean, and what can we hope?
3. My projects creatively and critically theorize the intersections of art, media, philosophy, culture, space, science, and technology, all of which try to give us meaning and shape human destiny around the world.
Why such cosmic and macro interests? Because all humans share 99.9% of the same DNA and our bodies are composed of some of the most common elements of the cosmos: hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon. Thus, there have to be some universal values and destinies for humanity.
A professor for 25+ years, I am an associate professor at Temple University and received my PhD from the University of Texas at Austin. I teach media studies courses on topics such as: media and society, technology and culture, media and apocalyptic culture, and media and images of utopia/dystopia.edit
Published by Cognella Academic Publishing (San Diego), ISBN 978-1-7935-2153-8. Previous editions have been adopted at 10 universities and colleges. "Media Environments: Using Movies and Texts to Critique Media and Society" uses popular... more
Published by Cognella Academic Publishing (San Diego), ISBN 978-1-7935-2153-8. Previous editions have been adopted at 10 universities and colleges.
"Media Environments: Using Movies and Texts to Critique Media and Society" uses popular film as a gateway to critical readings, encouraging students to think creatively and critically about media, society, technology, and popular culture.
The text anthology explores media in their totality and provides models and theories for interrogating many universal themes that span media, technology, and planetary civilization. Using popular films about media as lead-ins, students are introduced to the works of well-known thinkers and writers such as Marshall McLuhan, Charlton D. McIlwain, Shoshanna Zuboff, Julia Hildebrand, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Devon Powers, Antonio Lopez, and many others. Chapters span interconnected topics:
Memes (original meaning),
Networks (McLuhan),
Spectacle (Debord),
Hyperreality (Baudrillard).
Capitalism and Consumerism,
Freedom and Protest,
Social-Mobile Media,
Ecology and the Anthropocene,
Science and Our Place in the Universe,
Pseudoscience and Conspiracy,
Celebrity and Superheroes,
New Concepts of "Hot" and "Cool" Media,
Land Art, Dark Skies, and Technological Civilization.
The fourth edition features 19 new readings that explore Afrofuturism in Black Panther, Avatar and global media ecosystems, Hollywood and climate change, Blade Runner 2049 and future earth scenarios, Avengers and environmental advocacy, #BlackLivesMatter and Black movements in digital culture, and the International Dark Sky movement as a radical media-tech philosophy. Intellectually rigorous and thematically diverse, Media Environments is ideal for courses and programs in media and/or communication studies.
"Media Environments: Using Movies and Texts to Critique Media and Society" uses popular film as a gateway to critical readings, encouraging students to think creatively and critically about media, society, technology, and popular culture.
The text anthology explores media in their totality and provides models and theories for interrogating many universal themes that span media, technology, and planetary civilization. Using popular films about media as lead-ins, students are introduced to the works of well-known thinkers and writers such as Marshall McLuhan, Charlton D. McIlwain, Shoshanna Zuboff, Julia Hildebrand, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Devon Powers, Antonio Lopez, and many others. Chapters span interconnected topics:
Memes (original meaning),
Networks (McLuhan),
Spectacle (Debord),
Hyperreality (Baudrillard).
Capitalism and Consumerism,
Freedom and Protest,
Social-Mobile Media,
Ecology and the Anthropocene,
Science and Our Place in the Universe,
Pseudoscience and Conspiracy,
Celebrity and Superheroes,
New Concepts of "Hot" and "Cool" Media,
Land Art, Dark Skies, and Technological Civilization.
The fourth edition features 19 new readings that explore Afrofuturism in Black Panther, Avatar and global media ecosystems, Hollywood and climate change, Blade Runner 2049 and future earth scenarios, Avengers and environmental advocacy, #BlackLivesMatter and Black movements in digital culture, and the International Dark Sky movement as a radical media-tech philosophy. Intellectually rigorous and thematically diverse, Media Environments is ideal for courses and programs in media and/or communication studies.
Research Interests: Media Studies, New Media, Media and Cultural Studies, Film Studies, Digital Media, and 11 moreMass Communication, Media Literacy, Digital Media & Learning, Social Media, Critical Media Studies, Critical Media Literacy, Film and Media Studies, Media Philosophy, Mass media, Cinema and Media Studies, and Mass Communication and Media Studies
This PDF includes Chapters 1 and 2 of the innovative text anthology, designed for use in Media Studies courses, especially large lecture courses like "Media and Society." -- The book combines movies and texts to introduce students to... more
This PDF includes Chapters 1 and 2 of the innovative text anthology, designed for use in Media Studies courses, especially large lecture courses like "Media and Society."
-- The book combines movies and texts to introduce students to critical media studies. Accessible and readable, the book is well-liked by students. Topics include the Spectacle, Hyperreality, the Global Village, Social/Mobile Media, Capitalism and Counterculture, Surveillance and Privacy, Ecology and the Anthropocene, Media and Science, Media Futures, the Meme (original version from Dawkins), and many others.
-- Upon adoption, I will provide handouts, syllabus, PPTs.
-- Published by Cognella. https://titles.cognella.com/media-environments-9781516521104
-- The book combines movies and texts to introduce students to critical media studies. Accessible and readable, the book is well-liked by students. Topics include the Spectacle, Hyperreality, the Global Village, Social/Mobile Media, Capitalism and Counterculture, Surveillance and Privacy, Ecology and the Anthropocene, Media and Science, Media Futures, the Meme (original version from Dawkins), and many others.
-- Upon adoption, I will provide handouts, syllabus, PPTs.
-- Published by Cognella. https://titles.cognella.com/media-environments-9781516521104
Research Interests: Media Studies, New Media, Media and Cultural Studies, Film Studies, Digital Media, and 14 moreCritical Thinking, Media Education, Media Literacy, Social Media, Critical Media Studies, Media Theory, Media, Marshall McLuhan, Jean Baudrillard, New Media Studies, Film and Media Studies, Media Philosophy, McLuhan, and Media theory and Research
Now available from Lexington Books. https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498573535/Black-Mirror-and-Critical-Media-Theory Black Mirror is The Twilight Zone of the twenty-first century. Already a philosophical classic, the series echoes the... more
Now available from Lexington Books. https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498573535/Black-Mirror-and-Critical-Media-Theory
Black Mirror is The Twilight Zone of the twenty-first century. Already a philosophical classic, the series echoes the angst of an era, a civilization and consciousness fully engulfed in the 24/7 media spectacle spanning the planet. With clever plots and existential themes, Black Mirror presents near-futures where humans collide with technology and each other—tomorrows that might arrive in five years or five minutes. Featuring scholars from three continents and ten nations, Black Mirror and Critical Media Theory is an international collection of critical media theory applied to the most intellectually provocative TV show of our time and the all-too-real conditions that inspire it.
-- Drawing from thinkers such as Michel Foucault, Jean Baudrillard, Guy Debord, Marshall McLuhan, and Paul Virilio, the authors reverse-engineer Black Mirror by probing the ideas, meanings, and conditions embedded in the episodes. The book is organized around six key topics reflected and explored in Black Mirror—human identity, surveillance culture, spectacle and hyperreality, aesthetics, technology and existence, and dystopian futures.
Black Mirror is The Twilight Zone of the twenty-first century. Already a philosophical classic, the series echoes the angst of an era, a civilization and consciousness fully engulfed in the 24/7 media spectacle spanning the planet. With clever plots and existential themes, Black Mirror presents near-futures where humans collide with technology and each other—tomorrows that might arrive in five years or five minutes. Featuring scholars from three continents and ten nations, Black Mirror and Critical Media Theory is an international collection of critical media theory applied to the most intellectually provocative TV show of our time and the all-too-real conditions that inspire it.
-- Drawing from thinkers such as Michel Foucault, Jean Baudrillard, Guy Debord, Marshall McLuhan, and Paul Virilio, the authors reverse-engineer Black Mirror by probing the ideas, meanings, and conditions embedded in the episodes. The book is organized around six key topics reflected and explored in Black Mirror—human identity, surveillance culture, spectacle and hyperreality, aesthetics, technology and existence, and dystopian futures.
Research Interests: Philosophy, Aesthetics, Media Studies, Digital Humanities, Film Studies, and 25 moreTelevision Studies, Dystopian Literature, Digital Media, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Guy Debord, Identity (Culture), Digital Culture, Surveillance Studies, Social Media, Michel Foucault, Nihilism, Hyperreality, The Sublime, Dystopian Fiction, Marshall McLuhan, Jean Baudrillard, Film and Media Studies, Media Philosophy, Existentialism, Utopian, Dystopian, and Post-Apocalyptic Fiction, McLuhan, Dystopia, Panopticon, Society of the Spectacle, and Black Mirror
Now available in August 2018, the complete book. Inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey, this book presents an entirely new space philosophy for the human species: based in science, aesthetics, ecology, and planetary cooperation. Blurb... more
Now available in August 2018, the complete book. Inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey, this book presents an entirely new space philosophy for the human species: based in science, aesthetics, ecology, and planetary cooperation.
Blurb inside cover: "Like David Bowie’s Major Tom, 'floating in a most peculiar way', Barry Vacker seems to contemplate Planet Earth through the porthole of a spacecraft. Via critiques of the Apollo program and films like 2001 and Interstellar, Barry offers us a unique opportunity to step back and think of the contradictions of space exploration and our contemporary society. Barry shows we live in a 'post-Apollo' culture torn between a frenetic race towards ever more scientific-technological progress and a just as powerful fall-back into the cultural ideologies of tribal ages of the past. For those who can embrace their non-centrality and possible meaninglessness in a majestic universe, yet yearn for a shared destiny in a sane planetary civilization, Specter of the Monolith is a wonderful and inspiring work." — Carine and Elisabeth Krecke (internationally renowned artists). Available in high-quality paperback in Amazon and Barnes & Noble; available in Kindle and Apple iBook.
Blurb inside cover: "Like David Bowie’s Major Tom, 'floating in a most peculiar way', Barry Vacker seems to contemplate Planet Earth through the porthole of a spacecraft. Via critiques of the Apollo program and films like 2001 and Interstellar, Barry offers us a unique opportunity to step back and think of the contradictions of space exploration and our contemporary society. Barry shows we live in a 'post-Apollo' culture torn between a frenetic race towards ever more scientific-technological progress and a just as powerful fall-back into the cultural ideologies of tribal ages of the past. For those who can embrace their non-centrality and possible meaninglessness in a majestic universe, yet yearn for a shared destiny in a sane planetary civilization, Specter of the Monolith is a wonderful and inspiring work." — Carine and Elisabeth Krecke (internationally renowned artists). Available in high-quality paperback in Amazon and Barnes & Noble; available in Kindle and Apple iBook.
Research Interests: Future Studies, Space Sciences, Philosophy of Science, Art History, Technology, and 33 moreDesign, Art Theory, Film Studies, Contemporary Art, Utopian Studies, Meaning of Life, Philosophy of Art, History of Space Travel, Futurism, Science Fiction, Science Fiction Film, Technology and Society, Nihilism, The Sublime, Stanley Kubrick, Utopianism, Visual Arts, Space, Film and Media Studies, Space Tourism, Utopia, Universe, Star Trek, Nasa, Existentialism, Utopia and Science Fiction, Science Fiction Studies, Cosmos, Carl Sagan, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Futurismo, Technological Futurism, and Science and Technology Studies
Doomsday scenarios. They proliferate in our culture, from economics to ecology, theology to technology, biology to cosmology, James Bond to Slavoj Zizek, Plato's Atlantis to Lars von Trier's Melancholia. With creativity and critical... more
Doomsday scenarios. They proliferate in our culture, from economics to ecology, theology to technology, biology to cosmology, James Bond to Slavoj Zizek, Plato's Atlantis to Lars von Trier's Melancholia. With creativity and critical insight, Barry Vacker shows why apocalyptic memes replicate and have built-in survival advantages. He also explains how the doomsdays reveal the deeper challenges facing human existence — the philosophical apocalypse effected by our lack of cosmic meaning in the vast universe.
Have we really embraced our true existence on Spaceship Earth floating in the cosmos of the new millennium? Our calendars say we have passed the year 2000, but have we really entered the new millennium? The End of the World — Again offers an original, exciting, and (for some) terrifying critique of culture in 2012 and beyond.
Available in high quality paperback via Amazon.
Have we really embraced our true existence on Spaceship Earth floating in the cosmos of the new millennium? Our calendars say we have passed the year 2000, but have we really entered the new millennium? The End of the World — Again offers an original, exciting, and (for some) terrifying critique of culture in 2012 and beyond.
Available in high quality paperback via Amazon.
Research Interests:
So, you think Tyler Durden is merely a bad-boy hipster rebelling against IKEA lifestyles as he heroically resists the corporate imperatives of the consumer society? Think again. Fight Club is waging a war against civilization, yearning... more
So, you think Tyler Durden is merely a bad-boy hipster rebelling against IKEA lifestyles as he heroically resists the corporate imperatives of the consumer society? Think again. Fight Club is waging a war against civilization, yearning for a rebirth of premodern culture amidst the ruins of the modern and postmodern worlds.
Drawing from Jean-Paul Sartre and Marshall McLuhan, Slugging Nothing shows how Fight Club reflects the philosophical angst toward the postmillennial and technological futures, where zero and nothingness reflect the existential conditions of a culture that has crashed into its vanishing points, the vanishing points of mediation, hyperreality, and fundamentalism. Slugging Nothing boots Tyler Durden back to his jungle of space monkeys, the noble savages of the non-information age, the next humans of the non-future.
Available in high quality paperback and Kindle via Amazon. Uploaded here is a PDF of the text, minue the cover.
Drawing from Jean-Paul Sartre and Marshall McLuhan, Slugging Nothing shows how Fight Club reflects the philosophical angst toward the postmillennial and technological futures, where zero and nothingness reflect the existential conditions of a culture that has crashed into its vanishing points, the vanishing points of mediation, hyperreality, and fundamentalism. Slugging Nothing boots Tyler Durden back to his jungle of space monkeys, the noble savages of the non-information age, the next humans of the non-future.
Available in high quality paperback and Kindle via Amazon. Uploaded here is a PDF of the text, minue the cover.
Research Interests:
I wrote the text for Peter Granser's (Germany) art photography book about American culture, as told through the landscapes of Texas. The book and photographs were featured in exhibitions in Chicago, Houston, New York, Brussels, Lianzhou... more
I wrote the text for Peter Granser's (Germany) art photography book about American culture, as told through the landscapes of Texas. The book and photographs were featured in exhibitions in Chicago, Houston, New York, Brussels, Lianzhou (China), Braga (Portugal), Hamburg, Stuttgart, Cologne, and the Netherlands. Below is the promotional text.
"NEVER HILLARY." This amazing bit of found poetry is actually the inescapable message of a large billboard set on a country road deep in the heart of Texas. It was captured by photographer Peter Granser during his recent exploration of the American state that has, over the last eight years, become synonymous with the conservative hegemony of George W. Bush. There can be no doubt about who is not wanted here. On the heels of his acclaimed first books, Sun City (2003) and Coney Island (2006), Granser's newest offering, Signs, draws a telling picture of life today in America. For it, Granser traveled 12,000 miles through the "republic" of Texas. With keen and objective precision, he focuses in his color photographs on the plethora of relics and signs that proliferate across the landscape and provide us with insights into the strange and contradictory state of contemporary American identity.
"NEVER HILLARY." This amazing bit of found poetry is actually the inescapable message of a large billboard set on a country road deep in the heart of Texas. It was captured by photographer Peter Granser during his recent exploration of the American state that has, over the last eight years, become synonymous with the conservative hegemony of George W. Bush. There can be no doubt about who is not wanted here. On the heels of his acclaimed first books, Sun City (2003) and Coney Island (2006), Granser's newest offering, Signs, draws a telling picture of life today in America. For it, Granser traveled 12,000 miles through the "republic" of Texas. With keen and objective precision, he focuses in his color photographs on the plethora of relics and signs that proliferate across the landscape and provide us with insights into the strange and contradictory state of contemporary American identity.
Research Interests:
Ground zero, carbon zero, and Coke Zero -- what's the connection? The year 2000 was once symbolic of the future -- the world of tomorrow filled with utopian possibilities for art, science, and technology. Entering the millennium,... more
Ground zero, carbon zero, and Coke Zero -- what's the connection?
The year 2000 was once symbolic of the future -- the world of tomorrow filled with utopian possibilities for art, science, and technology. Entering the millennium, something is awry in the spirit of tomorrow for there exists a strange pattern of zeros in culture and technology, all related to the space-time coordinates of the future. There is ground zero, carbon zero, Coke Zero, and many others. What do these zeros suggest? Void or emptiness, end or beginning, the past or the future for utopia? It is ground zero for theory.
Drawing from art, media, science, and philosophy, Barry Vacker uses zero as countdown and blastoff for theorizing the existential conditions of postmillennial culture. And here is the key question -- are any models for a future utopia possible after the three zeros of 2000?
As part of my experimental book series, Zero Conditions is available in high quality paperback and Kindle via Amazon.
The year 2000 was once symbolic of the future -- the world of tomorrow filled with utopian possibilities for art, science, and technology. Entering the millennium, something is awry in the spirit of tomorrow for there exists a strange pattern of zeros in culture and technology, all related to the space-time coordinates of the future. There is ground zero, carbon zero, Coke Zero, and many others. What do these zeros suggest? Void or emptiness, end or beginning, the past or the future for utopia? It is ground zero for theory.
Drawing from art, media, science, and philosophy, Barry Vacker uses zero as countdown and blastoff for theorizing the existential conditions of postmillennial culture. And here is the key question -- are any models for a future utopia possible after the three zeros of 2000?
As part of my experimental book series, Zero Conditions is available in high quality paperback and Kindle via Amazon.
Research Interests:
Appendix B. From Barry Vacker, "Media Environments" (4th ed.) San Diego: Cognella Academic Publishing (2023). Drawing from across the pop culture landscape, this essay critiques the proliferation of pseudoscience and anti-science in... more
Appendix B. From Barry Vacker, "Media Environments" (4th ed.) San Diego: Cognella Academic Publishing (2023).
Drawing from across the pop culture landscape, this essay critiques the proliferation of pseudoscience and anti-science in America — including astrology, Alt-Fact culture, Ancient Aliens, Apollo moon landing hoaxes, Flat-Earthers, Hollywood and TV paranormalism, failing education systems, and the erosion of scientific literacy in media and culture. The essay also provides some easy-to-understand components of scientific literacy.
Drawing from across the pop culture landscape, this essay critiques the proliferation of pseudoscience and anti-science in America — including astrology, Alt-Fact culture, Ancient Aliens, Apollo moon landing hoaxes, Flat-Earthers, Hollywood and TV paranormalism, failing education systems, and the erosion of scientific literacy in media and culture. The essay also provides some easy-to-understand components of scientific literacy.
Research Interests:
Appendix C. From Barry Vacker, "Media Environments" (4th ed.), San Diego: Cognella Academic Publishing (2023). This essay critiques the "Alpha" and "Omega" of conspiracy theory in America, the origins and destiny, the beginnings and... more
Appendix C. From Barry Vacker, "Media Environments" (4th ed.), San Diego: Cognella Academic Publishing (2023).
This essay critiques the "Alpha" and "Omega" of conspiracy theory in America, the origins and destiny, the beginnings and ends for a worldview that promises truth and prophecies as it seeks to seize political power.
In conspiracy theory, the true believers are millions of copies of Neo, downing "red pills" as they break free from "the Matrix." Copies of copies of copies. The new Neos were born in the desert near Roswell, shocked on the streets of Dallas, made heroic in Hollywood, validated on the History Channel, and now feeling empowered by the prophecies of Q-yearning to be born again in "the desert of the real," to quote from Morpheus in The Matrix.
"Flying saucers"—"single bullet theory"—"the truth is out there"—"the Matrix is everywhere"—"where we go one, we go all": these are concepts and slogans that accelerated conspiracy into pop consciousness over the past seven decades. For many millions of people, on the left and the right, from New Age spirituality to age-old religion, conspiracy theory has become an entire worldview, with its own cosmology and structure that satisfy deep philosophical and psychological needs. After all, the "deep state" taps into deep fears.
Obviously, I am being playful with the letters alpha and omega. at's because the point of this appendix is not to refute the conspiracies, but to show the philosophical role that conspiracy theory plays in twenty-rst-century culture and consciousness-and to have a little fun while we do it.
This essay critiques the "Alpha" and "Omega" of conspiracy theory in America, the origins and destiny, the beginnings and ends for a worldview that promises truth and prophecies as it seeks to seize political power.
In conspiracy theory, the true believers are millions of copies of Neo, downing "red pills" as they break free from "the Matrix." Copies of copies of copies. The new Neos were born in the desert near Roswell, shocked on the streets of Dallas, made heroic in Hollywood, validated on the History Channel, and now feeling empowered by the prophecies of Q-yearning to be born again in "the desert of the real," to quote from Morpheus in The Matrix.
"Flying saucers"—"single bullet theory"—"the truth is out there"—"the Matrix is everywhere"—"where we go one, we go all": these are concepts and slogans that accelerated conspiracy into pop consciousness over the past seven decades. For many millions of people, on the left and the right, from New Age spirituality to age-old religion, conspiracy theory has become an entire worldview, with its own cosmology and structure that satisfy deep philosophical and psychological needs. After all, the "deep state" taps into deep fears.
Obviously, I am being playful with the letters alpha and omega. at's because the point of this appendix is not to refute the conspiracies, but to show the philosophical role that conspiracy theory plays in twenty-rst-century culture and consciousness-and to have a little fun while we do it.
Research Interests: Epistemology, Media Studies, Media and Cultural Studies, Media Education, Conspiracy Theories, and 13 moreMedia Literacy, Social Media, Conspiracy Theories and Transparency, Matrix Theory, UFOlogy, Conspiracy Culture, Ufo Religions, Ancient Aliens, The X Files, Visual culture of extraterrestrials and ufology, Belief in Conspiracy Theory, JFK Assassination, and Qanon
This article takes readers on a brief journey through the remote regions of far west Texas, site of the Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve, the largest dark sky reserve in the world. Spanning 15,000 square miles, the reserve... more
This article takes readers on a brief journey through the remote regions of far west Texas, site of the Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve, the largest dark sky reserve in the world. Spanning 15,000 square miles, the reserve is home to The University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory and Big Bend National Park, along with many other natural areas and art installations.
This article uses Prada Marfa, McDonald Observatory and Santa Elena Canyon as probes for a hot planet under dark skies, while also deploying a cool gaze into the Milky Way. In so doing, cool media takes on a profound new meaning for our shared destiny on a tiny planet, getting ever hotter as it hurtles through the vast universe.
This article uses Prada Marfa, McDonald Observatory and Santa Elena Canyon as probes for a hot planet under dark skies, while also deploying a cool gaze into the Milky Way. In so doing, cool media takes on a profound new meaning for our shared destiny on a tiny planet, getting ever hotter as it hurtles through the vast universe.
Research Interests:
The final chapter of my book outlines a new space philosophy grounded in the universe of the 21st century—as revealed by our most powerful telescopes and technologies. Hydrogen atoms evolved across 13.7 billion years to produce our... more
The final chapter of my book outlines a new space philosophy grounded in the universe of the 21st century—as revealed by our most powerful telescopes and technologies. Hydrogen atoms evolved across 13.7 billion years to produce our galaxy, the sun, our planet, and all life on Earth. So it is no wonder we are all made of the same stardust. We need a new space philosophy grounded in these facts. That's the implicit challenged posed by the black monolith in 2001—a philosophical blank slate.
Carl Sagan once asked, "Who Speaks for Earth?" This chapter presents a philosophy grounded in five principles that should guide/speak for Earth: Scientific Discovery—Philosophy—Ecology—Aesthetics—Cooperation.
As such, the chapter explicitly rejects the unenlightened visions of Elon Musk, SpaceX, and other firms/nations that want to terraform Mars and strip-mine the moon and Mars. These are little more than 19th century visions of "Manifest Destiny" and industrial exploitation, presented as visionary for the 21st century. It is the same with the militarization of space and extending theology into space, with the intent of conquest and colonization.This chapter also rejects the "Ancient Alien" pseudoscience. These are all unenlightened, delusional, backward-looking, and not in line with the facts and evidence of our evolutionary existence. Places like Mars and the moon should be protected as Celestial Wilderness Areas, open to study, visit, and appreciate their beauty and majesty, but with no industrial exploitation.
In the end, we are tiny, yet we are also brainy, curious, and creative, with the power to explore the cosmos in peace, with the goal of understanding the universe and our place in it. In the pursuit of meaning, we will find our destiny.
—From my book inspired by "2001: A Space Odyssey" and the famed black monolith.
Carl Sagan once asked, "Who Speaks for Earth?" This chapter presents a philosophy grounded in five principles that should guide/speak for Earth: Scientific Discovery—Philosophy—Ecology—Aesthetics—Cooperation.
As such, the chapter explicitly rejects the unenlightened visions of Elon Musk, SpaceX, and other firms/nations that want to terraform Mars and strip-mine the moon and Mars. These are little more than 19th century visions of "Manifest Destiny" and industrial exploitation, presented as visionary for the 21st century. It is the same with the militarization of space and extending theology into space, with the intent of conquest and colonization.This chapter also rejects the "Ancient Alien" pseudoscience. These are all unenlightened, delusional, backward-looking, and not in line with the facts and evidence of our evolutionary existence. Places like Mars and the moon should be protected as Celestial Wilderness Areas, open to study, visit, and appreciate their beauty and majesty, but with no industrial exploitation.
In the end, we are tiny, yet we are also brainy, curious, and creative, with the power to explore the cosmos in peace, with the goal of understanding the universe and our place in it. In the pursuit of meaning, we will find our destiny.
—From my book inspired by "2001: A Space Odyssey" and the famed black monolith.
Research Interests:
This chapter offers a highly original analysis of "space" in popular culture following the Apollo program, from 1973 to 2017. Numerous films, TV shows, and pop music songs (Elvis Presley, David Bowie, George Harrison, Elton John, Michael... more
This chapter offers a highly original analysis of "space" in popular culture following the Apollo program, from 1973 to 2017. Numerous films, TV shows, and pop music songs (Elvis Presley, David Bowie, George Harrison, Elton John, Michael Jackson) are analyzed. The first global TV broadcast after the moon landings was "Elvis: Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite," celebrating tourism, consumerism, and entertainment before a massive worldwide audience. The astronaut's space suit was replaced by Elvis's bejeweled jumpsuit as an object of fascination.
The chapter show how pop culture/pop consciousness were deep into "future shock" (Toffler 1970) and the confrontation with the "premature arrival of the future" -- namely a future in which the universe is vast and majestic, while humans are a single species sharing a single planet and not the center of anything. This "future shock in space" triggered retreats into technological narcissism, apocalyptic scenarios in space, and all kinds of technological/cultural reversals (among many, "urban cowboys" replacing astronauts as popular male role models by the late 1970s). It is no coincidence that Hubble Deep Field images were countered by the internet and social media. In effect, humans are "moonwalking into the future"—it looks like we are going forward (in some ways), but are really going backward (in most ways). This is still 100% true in 2023.
Films with space or space-related themes include: Diamonds are Forever (1971), The Andromeda Strain (1971), Silent Running (1972), The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), Star Wars (1977), Capricorn One (1978), Alien (1979), the Black Hole (1980), Moonraker (1981), The Fifth Element (1997), Contact (1997), Star Trek (2009), Melancholia (2011), Gravity (2013), Interstellar (2014), and others. TV shows include The Six-Million Dollar Man (1973), Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (1980), and Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (2014).
—From my book inspired by "2001: A Space Odyssey" and the famed black monolith.
The chapter show how pop culture/pop consciousness were deep into "future shock" (Toffler 1970) and the confrontation with the "premature arrival of the future" -- namely a future in which the universe is vast and majestic, while humans are a single species sharing a single planet and not the center of anything. This "future shock in space" triggered retreats into technological narcissism, apocalyptic scenarios in space, and all kinds of technological/cultural reversals (among many, "urban cowboys" replacing astronauts as popular male role models by the late 1970s). It is no coincidence that Hubble Deep Field images were countered by the internet and social media. In effect, humans are "moonwalking into the future"—it looks like we are going forward (in some ways), but are really going backward (in most ways). This is still 100% true in 2023.
Films with space or space-related themes include: Diamonds are Forever (1971), The Andromeda Strain (1971), Silent Running (1972), The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), Star Wars (1977), Capricorn One (1978), Alien (1979), the Black Hole (1980), Moonraker (1981), The Fifth Element (1997), Contact (1997), Star Trek (2009), Melancholia (2011), Gravity (2013), Interstellar (2014), and others. TV shows include The Six-Million Dollar Man (1973), Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (1980), and Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey (2014).
—From my book inspired by "2001: A Space Odyssey" and the famed black monolith.
Research Interests:
This chapter offers a truly original analysis of the space philosophies in the seminal space films since 1968. Though many films are discussed, the chapter goes in-depth on Planet of the Apes (1968), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Gravity... more
This chapter offers a truly original analysis of the space philosophies in the seminal space films since 1968. Though many films are discussed, the chapter goes in-depth on Planet of the Apes (1968), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Gravity (2013), Interstellar (2014), and The Martian (2015). The original Star Trek television series also gets a deep reading.
The films are analyzed and compared along many categories, including their cosmic imagery, space technologies, trajectories in time, depiction of acceleration, view of human destiny, aesthetics of the sublime, feelings of awe and terror, depictions of meaning and human insignificance, and others. You will never look at the films quite the same!
—From my book inspired by "2001: A Space Odyssey" and the famed black monolith.
The films are analyzed and compared along many categories, including their cosmic imagery, space technologies, trajectories in time, depiction of acceleration, view of human destiny, aesthetics of the sublime, feelings of awe and terror, depictions of meaning and human insignificance, and others. You will never look at the films quite the same!
—From my book inspired by "2001: A Space Odyssey" and the famed black monolith.
Research Interests:
This chapter explains how nihilism and the sublime are deeply embedded in the triumphs of NASA and space exploration -- from Apollo to Voyager to the Hubble Space Telescope. The aesthetic experience of the sublime is the existential... more
This chapter explains how nihilism and the sublime are deeply embedded in the triumphs of NASA and space exploration -- from Apollo to Voyager to the Hubble Space Telescope. The aesthetic experience of the sublime is the existential counter to feelings of nihilism amid the majestic vastness of the 21st century universe. Topics also include psychological effects of "awe," Carl Sagan's "Pale Blue Dot," and embracing our true place in the universe.
—From my book inspired by "2001: A Space Odyssey" and the famed black monolith.
—From my book inspired by "2001: A Space Odyssey" and the famed black monolith.
Research Interests:
From the remote regions of the Texas-Mexico border to the vast cosmos of NASA and ESA, this essay theorizes a profound connection between the Dark Skies movement, the monumental Earthworks in the American deserts, and the proliferation of... more
From the remote regions of the Texas-Mexico border to the vast cosmos of NASA and ESA, this essay theorizes a profound connection between the Dark Skies movement, the monumental Earthworks in the American deserts, and the proliferation of telescopes around the planet. Combining Friedrich Nietzsche with Julia Hildebrand's and Barry Vacker's cool media theory, this essay theorizes Earthworks (also called "land art") and telescopes as forms of Nietzschean new media art and technology, co-evolving in the deserts and dark skies of America and the world. Earthworks and telescopes cast our gaze out and away from ourselves, away from civilization, into desert galleries with distant walls of vistas and ceilings of starry skies-perfect for experiencing the sublime. Nietzschean new media art speaks the cool, the chilly abyss of dark skies beyond city skyglow, where the cool gaze confronts the light pollution of Elon Musk's Starlink satellite system.
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Rising from the Big Bend is what might be the best big idea in the whole state of Texas. Yep, it’s that big! Bigger than the rocket launches of Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. Bigger than the football coliseums for the Cowboys, Longhorns, and... more
Rising from the Big Bend is what might be the best big idea in the whole state of Texas. Yep, it’s that big!
Bigger than the rocket launches of Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. Bigger than the football coliseums for the Cowboys, Longhorns, and Aggies. Bigger than any tech dream launched by the hipsters at Apple, Google, or Tesla in Austin. Bigger than the towering 10,000 Year Clock being inserted into a 300-foot deep cave in the Sierra Diablo Mountains near Van Horn. Believe it or not, there is something wondrous and profound happening in the Big Bend, far grander than anything happening in our big cities or on our electronic screens.
Imagine a huge swath of the modern world better integrated into the natural world here on Earth and the cosmos above—an area in which the bright skyglow of our cities is tempered in favor of the radiant starglow of the cosmos. In that difference between skyglow and starglow lies hope for a better tomorrow. That’s why we need to turn our gaze away from our screens, at least for a while, and experience our true place in the universe. We can find it in the Big Bend, site of this profound and beautiful project.
It’s called the Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve. You’ve probably never heard of it. But, I find this to be an incredibly hopeful project, not only for Texans, but for Americans and the rest of humanity Relax, this is not a political essay. It’s a story about hope for a deeper and richer understanding of our place on Earth and in the universe.
Bigger than the rocket launches of Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. Bigger than the football coliseums for the Cowboys, Longhorns, and Aggies. Bigger than any tech dream launched by the hipsters at Apple, Google, or Tesla in Austin. Bigger than the towering 10,000 Year Clock being inserted into a 300-foot deep cave in the Sierra Diablo Mountains near Van Horn. Believe it or not, there is something wondrous and profound happening in the Big Bend, far grander than anything happening in our big cities or on our electronic screens.
Imagine a huge swath of the modern world better integrated into the natural world here on Earth and the cosmos above—an area in which the bright skyglow of our cities is tempered in favor of the radiant starglow of the cosmos. In that difference between skyglow and starglow lies hope for a better tomorrow. That’s why we need to turn our gaze away from our screens, at least for a while, and experience our true place in the universe. We can find it in the Big Bend, site of this profound and beautiful project.
It’s called the Greater Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve. You’ve probably never heard of it. But, I find this to be an incredibly hopeful project, not only for Texans, but for Americans and the rest of humanity Relax, this is not a political essay. It’s a story about hope for a deeper and richer understanding of our place on Earth and in the universe.
Research Interests:
What if the "Dark Skies" movement might be the most important techno-philosophical movement on Planet Earth? This 16-minute essay presents an innovative new philosophy for planetary technological civilization, inspired by an international... more
What if the "Dark Skies" movement might be the most important techno-philosophical movement on Planet Earth? This 16-minute essay presents an innovative new philosophy for planetary technological civilization, inspired by an international award-winning essay on technology and the Dark Skies movement (especially the largest "International Dark Sky Reserve" being developed in Texas and Mexico).
Research Interests: Philosophy, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Science, Technology, Art Theory, and 13 moreWilderness (Environment), Light Pollution/Observing Sites, Environmental Studies, Ecology, National Parks, Aesthetics and Ethics, Nature-based tourism, Space, Astronomy, Light Pollution, Science and Technology Studies, Dark Sky Reserves, and Light Pollution mitigation
In the remote regions of far west Texas and northern Mexico, plans are underway to create the largest “International Dark Sky Reserve” on Planet Earth. The Dark Sky Reserve will span approximately 15,000 square miles of Texas and Mexico.... more
In the remote regions of far west Texas and northern Mexico, plans are underway to create the largest “International Dark Sky Reserve” on Planet Earth. The Dark Sky Reserve will span approximately 15,000 square miles of Texas and Mexico. the world’s largest International Dark Sky Reserve is an important signpost for a species lost in the skyglow of its 24/7 electric civilization.
This Dark Sky Reserve brings together nature and science, ecology and cosmology, and peaceful cooperation along a contentious border—all quietly pointing toward a new philosophy for the human species. In a culture filled with collapse and despair, this gives me hope.
This Dark Sky Reserve brings together nature and science, ecology and cosmology, and peaceful cooperation along a contentious border—all quietly pointing toward a new philosophy for the human species. In a culture filled with collapse and despair, this gives me hope.
Research Interests:
Two different 007s, Connery and Craig, two different eras, and two different confrontations with nihilism.
Research Interests:
Inspired by a recent work of art, this essay is about how Greta Thunberg and the Climate Strike continue an idea on the Golden Record, namely the emergence of a planetary consciousness in which children speak for Earth and its future.
Research Interests: Technology, Media Studies, Art Theory, Climate Change, Contemporary Art, and 12 moreClimate Change Adaptation, Graphic Design, Social Media, Ecology, Environmental Sustainability, Visual Arts, Space, The Internet, Space Exploration, Planetary consciousness and cosmic consciousness, Carl Sagan, and Greta Thunberg
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This is the program for the Media(S)cene mixed-media installation, hosted by the Media Ecology Association. The installation is at the University of Toronto.
Research Interests:
Selected for the Film, Culture, and Philosophy sections of Medium, this essay uses the "zero" as a starting point for exploring the relevance for these two films twenty years after their release in 1999.
Research Interests: Critical Theory, Future Studies, Philosophy, Cosmology (Physics), Art History, and 14 moreMedia Studies, Media and Cultural Studies, Film Studies, Film Theory, Popular Culture, Digital Media, Contemporary Art, Film Analysis, Meaning of Life, Cinema, Marshall McLuhan, Jean Baudrillard, Film and Media Studies, and nothing
This essay looks at the role of media technologies in the Anthropocene, the new "human epoch" in which humanity has transformed the surface of Earth and its ecosystems, while adding a new fossil layer. The essay draws from a radical new... more
This essay looks at the role of media technologies in the Anthropocene, the new "human epoch" in which humanity has transformed the surface of Earth and its ecosystems, while adding a new fossil layer. The essay draws from a radical new media theory called Hot and Cool Media, developed by Julia Hildebrand and Barry Vacker as a 21st century theory to account for all media, from phones to drones to space telescopes and everything in-between. The Hot-Cool concept draws from Marshall McLuhan's now outmoded concept of Hot and Cool Media.
Research Interests: Environmental Science, Anthropology, Technology, Media Studies, New Media, and 14 moreMedia and Cultural Studies, Industrial Ecology, Science Education, Environmental Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Social Media, Ecology, National Parks, Media, Evolutionary Ecology, Anthropocene studies, Anthropocene, Science and Technology Studies, and Dark Sky Reserves
This is an adaptation of the Introduction to the anthology, Black Mirror and Critical Media Theory, edited by Angela Cirucci and Barry Vacker (Lexington Books, 2018).... more
This is an adaptation of the Introduction to the anthology, Black Mirror and Critical Media Theory, edited by Angela Cirucci and Barry Vacker (Lexington Books, 2018).
https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498573535/Black-Mirror-and-Critical-Media-Theory
Featuring scholars from ten countries and three continents, this international collection features 18 essays that explore various episodes of Black Mirror, drawing from media theorists such as Debord, Foucault, Baudrillard, McLuhan, and others. Topics include: Human Identity, Surveillance, Hyperreality, the Spectacle, Technology and Existence, Utopian and Dystopian Futures.
https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498573535/Black-Mirror-and-Critical-Media-Theory
Featuring scholars from ten countries and three continents, this international collection features 18 essays that explore various episodes of Black Mirror, drawing from media theorists such as Debord, Foucault, Baudrillard, McLuhan, and others. Topics include: Human Identity, Surveillance, Hyperreality, the Spectacle, Technology and Existence, Utopian and Dystopian Futures.
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Media Studies, New Media, Media and Cultural Studies, Television Studies, and 15 moreDigital Media, Contemporary Art, Mass Communication, Guy Debord, Social Media, Critical Media Studies, Michel Foucault, Media, Marshall McLuhan, Visual Arts, Jean Baudrillard, Television, Mass media, Cinema and Television, and Black Mirror
Via a 21st century reinterpretation of Marshall McLuhan's "Hot and Cool" media, this chapter offers a novel critique of the existential conditions inside the Black Mirror universe. Drawing from McLuhan and key episodes of Black Mirror,... more
Via a 21st century reinterpretation of Marshall McLuhan's "Hot and Cool" media, this chapter offers a novel critique of the existential conditions inside the Black Mirror universe. Drawing from McLuhan and key episodes of Black Mirror, this chapter tracks black mirrors from ancient obsidian to electronic screens (hot media), where we immerse ourselves in the full spectrum of electric light (hot media) as counters to the vast universe of the Hubble Space Telescope (cool media). In effect, our black electronic screens are the new night skies, the electronic obsidian of the 21st century.
-- From Black Mirror and Critical Media Theory (2018).
https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498573535/Black-Mirror-and-Critical-Media-Theory
-- From Black Mirror and Critical Media Theory (2018).
https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498573535/Black-Mirror-and-Critical-Media-Theory
Research Interests: Sociology, Anthropology, Philosophy, Media Studies, New Media, and 15 moreMedia and Cultural Studies, Social Sciences, Television Studies, Digital Media, Social Media, Critical Media Studies, Media, Obsidian, Jean Paul Sartre, Marshall McLuhan, Critical Media Literacy, Jean-François Lyotard, Existentialism, McLuhan, and Black Mirror
Winner of international award: The John Culkin Award for Praxis in the Field of Media Ecology, awarded by the Media Ecology Association at their 2019 conference at the University of Toronto. Our essay and art installation is the first... more
Winner of international award: The John Culkin Award for Praxis in the Field of Media Ecology, awarded by the Media Ecology Association at their 2019 conference at the University of Toronto. Our essay and art installation is the first step in a creative project to combine art and theory for presenting a new theory of media technology for planetary civilization.
Research Interests: Philosophy, Philosophy of Science, Art History, Media Studies, Design, and 25 moreFashion design, Digital Humanities, Film Studies, Installation Art, Digital Media, Contemporary Art, Media Ecology, Graphic Design, Painting, Media Arts, Social Media, Media Theory, Sculpture, New Media Art, Marshall McLuhan, Visual Arts, Land Art, Jean Baudrillard, New Media Studies, Film and Media Studies, Media Philosophy, Big Data, Marshall McLuhan: Understanding Media. The Extensions of Man, Fashion, and Cosmic Media Theory
This is an excerpt from “Specter of the Monolith: Nihilism, the Sublime, and Human Destiny in Space — From Apollo and Hubble to 2001, Star Trek, and Interstellar.” The book critiques the trajectories of civilization through technology,... more
This is an excerpt from “Specter of the Monolith: Nihilism, the Sublime, and Human Destiny in Space — From Apollo and Hubble to 2001, Star Trek, and Interstellar.” The book critiques the trajectories of civilization through technology, space films, and the quest for human meaning in a vast and ancient universe. This essay was originally posted in Medium.
Research Interests: Future Studies, Space Sciences, Philosophy, Art History, Media Studies, and 14 moreArt, Philosophy of Art, Science Fiction, Science Fiction Film, Nihilism, Visual Arts, Space, Film and Media Studies, Cosmology, Nasa, Existentialism, Science Fiction Studies, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Cosmic Media Theory
This is an excerpt from “Specter of the Monolith: Nihilism, the Sublime, and Human Destiny in Space — From Apollo and Hubble to 2001, Star Trek, and Interstellar.” The book critiques the trajectories of civilization through technology,... more
This is an excerpt from “Specter of the Monolith: Nihilism, the Sublime, and Human Destiny in Space — From Apollo and Hubble to 2001, Star Trek, and Interstellar.” The book critiques the trajectories of civilization through technology, space films, and the quest for human meaning in a vast and ancient universe. This essay was originally posted in Medium.
Research Interests: Future Studies, Space Sciences, Media Studies, Science Fiction, Science Fiction Film, and 13 moreNihilism, Space Science, Dystopian Fiction, Space, Film and Media Studies, Star Wars, Cosmology, Star Trek, Existentialism, Utopia and Science Fiction, Utopian, Dystopian, and Post-Apocalyptic Fiction, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Cosmic Media Theory
This is an excerpt from “Specter of the Monolith: Nihilism, the Sublime, and Human Destiny in Space — From Apollo and Hubble to 2001, Star Trek, and Interstellar.” The book critiques the trajectories of civilization through technology,... more
This is an excerpt from “Specter of the Monolith: Nihilism, the Sublime, and Human Destiny in Space — From Apollo and Hubble to 2001, Star Trek, and Interstellar.” The book critiques the trajectories of civilization through technology, space films, and the quest for human meaning in a vast and ancient universe. This essay was originally posted in Medium.
Research Interests: Space Sciences, Philosophy, Philosophy of Science, Cosmology (Physics), Media Studies, and 18 moreMedia and Cultural Studies, Film Studies, Film Theory, Popular Culture, Black Holes, Science Fiction, Theory of Science Fiction Film, Science Fiction Film, Nihilism, The Sublime, Space, Film and Media Studies, Cosmology, Nasa, Existentialism, Existence, Hubble Space Telescope Images, and Cosmic Media Theory
Is Facebook just television by other means? Yes. Are social media an existential response to space telescopes? Yes. Why? Humans have long sought to map their place in the cosmos and then situate their selves at the center of the... more
Is Facebook just television by other means? Yes. Are social media an existential response to space telescopes? Yes.
Why? Humans have long sought to map their place in the cosmos and then situate their selves at the center of the universe. These patterns are displayed at three radically different sites — the Sun Dagger in Chaco Canyon, the Hubble Space Telescope, and social media and Facebook.
Drawing from Marshall McLuhan, this article theorizes the parallels and reversals in these sites, where cosmological discoveries of the expanding universe have been countered by technological innovations involving electronic screens, such that social media counters space telescopes, cyberspace counters outer space, and Facebook counters Hubble. Perhaps the “revolution” of social media merely parallels other cultural reversals, all of which seek to return humans to the center of the universe, when we are the center of nothing. And this desire and delusion to be at the center of everything lies at the heart of contemporary issues facing the global civilization.
Why? Humans have long sought to map their place in the cosmos and then situate their selves at the center of the universe. These patterns are displayed at three radically different sites — the Sun Dagger in Chaco Canyon, the Hubble Space Telescope, and social media and Facebook.
Drawing from Marshall McLuhan, this article theorizes the parallels and reversals in these sites, where cosmological discoveries of the expanding universe have been countered by technological innovations involving electronic screens, such that social media counters space telescopes, cyberspace counters outer space, and Facebook counters Hubble. Perhaps the “revolution” of social media merely parallels other cultural reversals, all of which seek to return humans to the center of the universe, when we are the center of nothing. And this desire and delusion to be at the center of everything lies at the heart of contemporary issues facing the global civilization.
Research Interests: Media Studies, New Media, Media and Cultural Studies, Digital Humanities, Popular Culture, and 12 moreDigital Media, Media Ecology, Global Media Studies, Computer-Mediated Communication, Social Media, Facebook, Media, Marshall McLuhan, Cosmology, Social Networking & Social Media, Hubble Space Telescope Images, and Cosmic Media Theory
Why are zombies all over our media culture? Popular explanations blame it on tribalism, capitalism, and consumerism, all run amok. But, perhaps many earthlings are just terrified about the universe? This chapter explores the cosmic... more
Why are zombies all over our media culture? Popular explanations blame it on tribalism, capitalism, and consumerism, all run amok. But, perhaps many earthlings are just terrified about the universe?
This chapter explores the cosmic meanings of the zombie apocalypse by drawing from cosmology and critical theory to analyze two profoundly symbolic scenes in "The Walking Dead." The first scene is the conclusion of Episode 1 (“Days Gone By”), when Rick is trapped in the army tank and the camera zooms out as viewers hear the song “Space Junk” by Wang Chung. The second scene is from the final episode of Season 1 (“TS-19”), when the survivors visit the Center for Disease Control and learn of the “Second Event.”
These two scenes connect The Walking Dead to the symbolic legacy Night of the Living Dead and to current cultural conditions in which the zombie apocalypse signals the philosophical apocalypse — an intellectual death that reaches far into the cosmos and deep into our consciousness. The zombie is the human that is reborn, long thought dead, a body without a mind, now devouring brains, civilization, and the planet, all in a universe it does not understand nor care to understand.
This chapter explores the cosmic meanings of the zombie apocalypse by drawing from cosmology and critical theory to analyze two profoundly symbolic scenes in "The Walking Dead." The first scene is the conclusion of Episode 1 (“Days Gone By”), when Rick is trapped in the army tank and the camera zooms out as viewers hear the song “Space Junk” by Wang Chung. The second scene is from the final episode of Season 1 (“TS-19”), when the survivors visit the Center for Disease Control and learn of the “Second Event.”
These two scenes connect The Walking Dead to the symbolic legacy Night of the Living Dead and to current cultural conditions in which the zombie apocalypse signals the philosophical apocalypse — an intellectual death that reaches far into the cosmos and deep into our consciousness. The zombie is the human that is reborn, long thought dead, a body without a mind, now devouring brains, civilization, and the planet, all in a universe it does not understand nor care to understand.
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Media Studies, Media and Cultural Studies, Television Studies, Popular Culture, and 10 moreApocalypticism, Eschatology and Apocalypticism, Nihilism, Nothingness, Zombies, Utopian, Dystopian, and Post-Apocalyptic Fiction, The Walking Dead, Zombie, Cosmic Media Theory, and Cosmic Media
Are there a deep existential parallels between Plato’s Cave, WikiLeaks, black holes, and numerous dystopian films? Yes, and these parallels suggest a paradoxical and metaphorical reversal in the nature of representation and resistance.... more
Are there a deep existential parallels between Plato’s Cave, WikiLeaks, black holes, and numerous dystopian films? Yes, and these parallels suggest a paradoxical and metaphorical reversal in the nature of representation and resistance. Media theorist Manuel Castells used the term “black holes” to describe the conditions of “social exclusion that can be marginalized” within the global and capitalist information systems, so much that those people excluded could “disappear” and not even “exist” in the system.
Drawing from Marshal McLuhan, Jean Baudrillard, Stephen Hawking, and many theorists and filmmakers, this paper will juxtapose Castells’ theory with a different model of black holes and media. The information society is a network of “electronic galaxies” within an expanding media universe, always aglow, seemingly destined for total representation, total surveillance, and total simulation — such that the trajectory of the enlightenment project may have begun a strange reversal, where representation and resistance now require disconnection and disappearance. As illustrated in the battle between the U.S. government and WikiLeaks, it seems that future autonomy, authenticity, privacy, and resistance will realized in the effecting of personal vanishing points, the encrypted points of non-representation, the black holes in the electronic galaxies.
Drawing from Marshal McLuhan, Jean Baudrillard, Stephen Hawking, and many theorists and filmmakers, this paper will juxtapose Castells’ theory with a different model of black holes and media. The information society is a network of “electronic galaxies” within an expanding media universe, always aglow, seemingly destined for total representation, total surveillance, and total simulation — such that the trajectory of the enlightenment project may have begun a strange reversal, where representation and resistance now require disconnection and disappearance. As illustrated in the battle between the U.S. government and WikiLeaks, it seems that future autonomy, authenticity, privacy, and resistance will realized in the effecting of personal vanishing points, the encrypted points of non-representation, the black holes in the electronic galaxies.
Research Interests: Media and Cultural Studies, Digital Humanities, Privacy, Popular Culture, Digital Media, and 6 moreBlack Holes, Resistance (Social), Social Media, Film and Media Studies, Surveillance, personal data, social sorting, privacy, camera surveillance, identification systems, internet surveillance, biometrics, and Cosmic Media Theory
Created in 2011 as part of DesignPhiladelphia’s and the University of the Arts annual design festival, the "Before and After Utopia" exhibit featured photographs of four utopian-dystopian sites: Arcosanti (Arizona), Ordos (China), Masdar... more
Created in 2011 as part of DesignPhiladelphia’s and the University of the Arts annual design festival, the "Before and After Utopia" exhibit featured photographs of four utopian-dystopian sites: Arcosanti (Arizona), Ordos (China), Masdar (UAE), and “Abandoned America” (photos of ruins in the USA). Published by the exhibit as a small booklet, my 7500-word essay theorized the connection between the four sites and their philosophical and technological relevance for cities of the 21st century.
The exhibit was curated by Olivia Antsis.
The exhibit was curated by Olivia Antsis.
Research Interests: Landscape Ecology, Aesthetics, Media Studies, Media and Cultural Studies, Photography, and 12 moreEnvironmental Studies, Utopian Studies, Ecology, Desert Ecology, Utopian Literature, Environmental Sustainability, Utopianism, Utopian, Dystopian, and Post-Apocalyptic Fiction, Utopian Thought, Arcosanti, Utopian Theory, and Utopian Communities
Based on my experimental book (Zero Conditions, 2008), this essay theorized the cultural significance of the first decade of the new millennium by examining the proliferation of cultural "zeros" that matched the double zeros in the 2000s.... more
Based on my experimental book (Zero Conditions, 2008), this essay theorized the cultural significance of the first decade of the new millennium by examining the proliferation of cultural "zeros" that matched the double zeros in the 2000s. The essay was accompanied by the art from Stacey Steers.
My apologies for some instances of poor editing in the essay, which is what you might get with an avant-garde art magazine no longer in print. "Useless" was sort of a cool art magazine, but it's name foretold its doom.
My apologies for some instances of poor editing in the essay, which is what you might get with an avant-garde art magazine no longer in print. "Useless" was sort of a cool art magazine, but it's name foretold its doom.
Research Interests:
This book chapter theorizes the true existential condition of the survivors in the hit TV show: Lost. Of course, their condition in the condition of the human species in an expanding universe of 200 billion galaxies, each with 200 billion... more
This book chapter theorizes the true existential condition of the survivors in the hit TV show: Lost. Of course, their condition in the condition of the human species in an expanding universe of 200 billion galaxies, each with 200 billion stars. Isn't that real meaning of Jack's tattoo?
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Written in 1998 (though published in 2000), this book chapter is pretty much spot on regarding the deeper, long-term cultural effects and patterns wrought by the internet — a planet of "global villagers" living amidst a "world bazaar."... more
Written in 1998 (though published in 2000), this book chapter is pretty much spot on regarding the deeper, long-term cultural effects and patterns wrought by the internet — a planet of "global villagers" living amidst a "world bazaar." For those seeking a long-term view of the internet and its multiple effects, this essay is worth exploring.
No, this chapter did not predict YouTube or Twitter. But, it did explain all the technological and cultural conditions that made web TV, social media, and total surveillance possible, among many other things. I recall the book's editors wanting me to tone down the analysis, thinking it was too "out there." Table 3 summarizes these patterns.
The essay shows that if we want to understand the effects of the internet, then we should examine the effects of the *printing press* and *electronic media* — which have converged to create *the internet.* The chapter then looks at the effect of the internet on the indvidual, social and economic groups, and the nation-state. However, I did underestimate the level of narcissism that would explode from the "individualism" and freedom of expression made possible by the internet.
No, this chapter did not predict YouTube or Twitter. But, it did explain all the technological and cultural conditions that made web TV, social media, and total surveillance possible, among many other things. I recall the book's editors wanting me to tone down the analysis, thinking it was too "out there." Table 3 summarizes these patterns.
The essay shows that if we want to understand the effects of the internet, then we should examine the effects of the *printing press* and *electronic media* — which have converged to create *the internet.* The chapter then looks at the effect of the internet on the indvidual, social and economic groups, and the nation-state. However, I did underestimate the level of narcissism that would explode from the "individualism" and freedom of expression made possible by the internet.
Research Interests:
The issue of pursuing beauty through commodities purchased in the marketplace is an issue of enormous complexity. The psychological effects of beauty representations in marketing communications and beauty objects as commodities can be... more
The issue of pursuing beauty through commodities purchased in the marketplace is an issue of enormous complexity. The psychological effects of beauty representations in marketing communications and beauty objects as commodities can be profound and wide ranging in a culture. This article examines typical interpretations of beauty from a philosophical context and suggests that different philosophies of what comprises beauty often yield different psychological and cultural effects. This article offers a preliminary framework for understanding the function of beauty in the market, the physical appearance phenomenon, concern with unnatural perfection, the preoccupation-with-youth culture, and the decontextualization of beauty.
Research Interests: Marketing, Aesthetics, Media Studies, Advertising, Beauty Industry, and 7 moreEveryday Aesthetics, Aesthetics and Ethics, Internalization of Socio-Cultural Standards of Beauty, Beauty, Beauty as psychological therapy. Harmony, equilibrium and health. Mental health and the appreciation of the beautiful in everyday life., Beauty Ideal, and Dove Campaign for Real Beauty
The David represents the climax of the influence of Aristotle's philosophy of aesthetic on Michelangelo. Thus the David is an aesthetic abstraction of the Aristotelian ideal in the form of High Renaissance sculpture. Some... more
The David represents the climax of the influence of Aristotle's philosophy of aesthetic on Michelangelo. Thus the David is an aesthetic abstraction of the Aristotelian ideal in the form of High Renaissance sculpture. Some advertising, by its very essence, contains ...
Research Interests:
Shot entirely from the streets of Times Square, "Space Times Square" is an experimental and international award-winning film, which I wrote and directed. The film won the 2010 John Culkin Award for Outstanding Praxis in the Field of Media... more
Shot entirely from the streets of Times Square, "Space Times Square" is an experimental and international award-winning film, which I wrote and directed. The film won the 2010 John Culkin Award for Outstanding Praxis in the Field of Media Ecology, which is an international award given by the academic organization, the Media Ecology Association.
"Space Times Square" is where aesthetics meets critical theory meets cosmology. Drawing from Sartre, McLuhan, and Baudrillard, this 24-minute experimental film decodes Times Square as a microcosm of the electronic universe that has overtaken contemporary civilization.
"Space Times Square" has been screened at festivals and conferences in Paris, Beijing, Brussels, New York, Hamburg, Dallas, Philadelphia, and Tulsa, along with thousands of downloads at BitTorrents and other sites. A new digital copy of the film was made in 2014 and is available in YouTube, listed as: Space Times Square (2014 version).
The film was co-produced by Jo Ann Caplin (Penn) and Olivia Antsis (Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival). The amazing original soundtrack is by Brett Sroka, a NY avant garde musician.
"Space Times Square" is where aesthetics meets critical theory meets cosmology. Drawing from Sartre, McLuhan, and Baudrillard, this 24-minute experimental film decodes Times Square as a microcosm of the electronic universe that has overtaken contemporary civilization.
"Space Times Square" has been screened at festivals and conferences in Paris, Beijing, Brussels, New York, Hamburg, Dallas, Philadelphia, and Tulsa, along with thousands of downloads at BitTorrents and other sites. A new digital copy of the film was made in 2014 and is available in YouTube, listed as: Space Times Square (2014 version).
The film was co-produced by Jo Ann Caplin (Penn) and Olivia Antsis (Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival). The amazing original soundtrack is by Brett Sroka, a NY avant garde musician.
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Art History, Technology, Media Studies, New Media, and 14 morePopular Culture, Digital Media, Mobile Technology, Pop Culture, Media Theory, Media, Psychological Effects of the Media, Marshall McLuhan, Visual Arts, McLuhan, Big Data, Anthropocene, Social Meida, and Media theory and Research
Based on Chapter 3 of my new book, Specter of the Monolith, this presentation was given at the 2017 Futures Festival, organized by the Association of Professional Futurists.
Research Interests: Cultural Studies, Space Sciences, Philosophy, Philosophy of Science, Media Studies, and 13 moreMedia and Cultural Studies, Film Studies, Popular Culture, Science Fiction, Media Arts and Sciences, Social Media, Science Fiction Film, Space, Film and Media Studies, Apollo, Nasa, Science Fiction Studies, and 2001: A Space Odyssey
When Earth is viewed from space, the glow of the electrified cites is a stunning sight, showing how global media spans the planet. From inside cities, space is largely non-existent, with but a few stars visible in the night sky. Inside... more
When Earth is viewed from space, the glow of the electrified cites is a stunning sight, showing how global media spans the planet. From inside cities, space is largely non-existent, with but a few stars visible in the night sky. Inside our cities is a carnival of events, consumption, and entertainment—a pre-Copernican existence with humanity at the center of everything. Meanwhile, outside the electric glow a sixth extinction event is underway. This paper explores the paradoxical effects of global cities and a planetary civilization, at once beautiful and horrible.
Research Interests: Future Studies, Philosophy, Technology, Media Studies, Media and Cultural Studies, and 19 moreDigital Media, Social Media, Future Media, Nihilism, The Sublime, Marshall McLuhan, Media technology, Mass extinctions, Anthropocene studies, Existentialism, McLuhan, Anthropocene, Sixth Extinction, Media Impact and Effects and Usages, Effects of Technological Advancements and Its Impact on Humanity, Mass Media and Society, Science and Technology Studies, Cosmic Media Theory, and Cosmic Media
Borrowing a key idea from Marshall McLuhan, this presentation shows that selfies are: 1] reversals of the vanishing point for human existence, 2] ways to counter the sublime experience of the universe, 3] compensation for not being the... more
Borrowing a key idea from Marshall McLuhan, this presentation shows that selfies are: 1] reversals of the vanishing point for human existence, 2] ways to counter the sublime experience of the universe, 3] compensation for not being the center of the universe. Based on my 2013 publication that introduced cosmic media theory: "Yearning to be the center of everything, when we are the center of nothing." See above.
Research Interests: Technology, Media Studies, Media and Cultural Studies, Digital Humanities, Digital Media, and 13 moreMeaning of Life, Humanistic-Existential, Social Media, Nihilism, Marshall McLuhan, 21st Century Studies, Nothingness, Facebook Studies, Existentialism, nothing, Selfies, Hubble Space Telescope Images, and Cosmic Media Theory
Selfies and zombies might well be symbols of narcissism and socioeconomic destruction, but they also represent responses to the breakdown of “grand narratives” in philosophy, the entropy of the space age, and the vastness of the universe... more
Selfies and zombies might well be symbols of narcissism and socioeconomic destruction, but they also represent responses to the breakdown of “grand narratives” in philosophy, the entropy of the space age, and the vastness of the universe revealed by media technologies. Drawing from Sartre, Baudrillard, and Lyotard, this paper shows that selfies and zombies are two sides of the same existential condition, for they are how pop culture confronts fears of nothingness and the philosophical apocalypse — is there might be no cosmic or universal meaning to our media, products, nations, and our existence as a species?
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This presentation was given as part of a panel entitled: " Postmodern Premodernists: Social Media and Human Identity in a Vast Universe." Humans have long sought to map their place in the cosmos and then situate their selves at the... more
This presentation was given as part of a panel entitled: " Postmodern Premodernists: Social Media and Human Identity in a Vast Universe."
Humans have long sought to map their place in the cosmos and then situate their selves at the center of the universe. These patterns are displayed at two radically different sites — the Hubble Space Telescope and Facebook. Drawing from Marshall McLuhan, this presentation theorizes the parallels and reversals in these sites, where cosmological discoveries of the expanding universe have been countered by technological innovations involving electronic screens, such that social media counters space telescopes, cyberspace counters outer space, and Facebook counters Hubble. Perhaps the “revolution” of social media merely parallels other cultural reversals, all of which seek to return humans to the center of the universe, when we are the center of nothing. And this desire and delusion to be at the center of everything lies at the heart of contemporary issues facing the global civilization.
Other panelists included Angela Cirucci (Temple U) and Genevieve Gillespie (Temple U).
Humans have long sought to map their place in the cosmos and then situate their selves at the center of the universe. These patterns are displayed at two radically different sites — the Hubble Space Telescope and Facebook. Drawing from Marshall McLuhan, this presentation theorizes the parallels and reversals in these sites, where cosmological discoveries of the expanding universe have been countered by technological innovations involving electronic screens, such that social media counters space telescopes, cyberspace counters outer space, and Facebook counters Hubble. Perhaps the “revolution” of social media merely parallels other cultural reversals, all of which seek to return humans to the center of the universe, when we are the center of nothing. And this desire and delusion to be at the center of everything lies at the heart of contemporary issues facing the global civilization.
Other panelists included Angela Cirucci (Temple U) and Genevieve Gillespie (Temple U).
Research Interests:
This presentation was given as post of a panel entitled: "Whole Earth, Fragmented Cultures, Apocalyptic Futures." 2012 marks the fiftieth anniversary of JFK’s famous “moon speech” at Rice University, which is famed for its challenge to... more
This presentation was given as post of a panel entitled: "Whole Earth, Fragmented Cultures, Apocalyptic Futures."
2012 marks the fiftieth anniversary of JFK’s famous “moon speech” at Rice University, which is famed for its challenge to put humans on the moon and “measure the best of our energies and skills.” Overlooked is his claim that the “new knowledge of our universe” would help bring “peace” and “progress” for “all people.” Since 1962, artists and scientists using media technology have been visualizing the “new knowledge of our universe” — a cosmos of staggering scale in space and time. Efforts include Powers of Ten (Charles and Ray Eames, 1968), Earthrise (Apollo 8, 1968), Whole Earth, (Apollo 17, 1972), Pale Blue Dot (NASA, 1990), Cosmic Voyage (Bailey Silleck, 1997), and The Known Universe (American Museum of Natural History, 2009).
Earthrise inspired the founding of Earth Day and, in combination with Whole Earth, led to the Gaia hypothesis and a rebooting of the global ecological consciousness. In contrast, films such as Powers of Ten and The Known Universe have had little impact on the global community or global consciousness. Why? This multimedia presentation will explore this question and its relevance for our ability to imagine an optimistic human destiny on Spaceship Earth.
Other panelsits included Jarice Hanson (U-Mass), Angela Cirucci (Temple U), and Genevieve Gillespie (Temple U).
2012 marks the fiftieth anniversary of JFK’s famous “moon speech” at Rice University, which is famed for its challenge to put humans on the moon and “measure the best of our energies and skills.” Overlooked is his claim that the “new knowledge of our universe” would help bring “peace” and “progress” for “all people.” Since 1962, artists and scientists using media technology have been visualizing the “new knowledge of our universe” — a cosmos of staggering scale in space and time. Efforts include Powers of Ten (Charles and Ray Eames, 1968), Earthrise (Apollo 8, 1968), Whole Earth, (Apollo 17, 1972), Pale Blue Dot (NASA, 1990), Cosmic Voyage (Bailey Silleck, 1997), and The Known Universe (American Museum of Natural History, 2009).
Earthrise inspired the founding of Earth Day and, in combination with Whole Earth, led to the Gaia hypothesis and a rebooting of the global ecological consciousness. In contrast, films such as Powers of Ten and The Known Universe have had little impact on the global community or global consciousness. Why? This multimedia presentation will explore this question and its relevance for our ability to imagine an optimistic human destiny on Spaceship Earth.
Other panelsits included Jarice Hanson (U-Mass), Angela Cirucci (Temple U), and Genevieve Gillespie (Temple U).
Research Interests:
This presentation was given as part of a panel entitled: "Cosmic McLuhan." In the six-minute film "The Known Universe" (2010), scientists at the American Museum of Natural History have mapped the cosmos and uploaded it in cyberspace,... more
This presentation was given as part of a panel entitled: "Cosmic McLuhan."
In the six-minute film "The Known Universe" (2010), scientists at the American Museum of Natural History have mapped the cosmos and uploaded it in cyberspace, where it is “scientifically rendered for all to see." Like "Powers of Ten" (1968) by Charles and Ray Eames, "The Known Universe" features a journey to the edge of the observable universe, with Spaceship Earth disappearing into the vanishing point at the center of everything. Drawing from McLuhan’s Understanding Media (1964) and Through the Vanishing Point (1968), this paper will speculate about possible meanings of this film and what it reveals about: the space ages, space telescopes, and the power of media technologies to peer to the edge of the universe, model the end of the universe, and remove humanity from the center of the universe … only to return us again … through the vanishing point.
Other panelists included Angela Cirucci (Temple) and Agreen Wang (Temple).
In the six-minute film "The Known Universe" (2010), scientists at the American Museum of Natural History have mapped the cosmos and uploaded it in cyberspace, where it is “scientifically rendered for all to see." Like "Powers of Ten" (1968) by Charles and Ray Eames, "The Known Universe" features a journey to the edge of the observable universe, with Spaceship Earth disappearing into the vanishing point at the center of everything. Drawing from McLuhan’s Understanding Media (1964) and Through the Vanishing Point (1968), this paper will speculate about possible meanings of this film and what it reveals about: the space ages, space telescopes, and the power of media technologies to peer to the edge of the universe, model the end of the universe, and remove humanity from the center of the universe … only to return us again … through the vanishing point.
Other panelists included Angela Cirucci (Temple) and Agreen Wang (Temple).
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I was invited to present my international award-winning film, Space Times Square (2007), which I wrote and directed. The film won the 2010 John Culkin Award for Outstanding Praxis in the Field of Media Ecology, which is an international... more
I was invited to present my international award-winning film, Space Times Square (2007), which I wrote and directed. The film won the 2010 John Culkin Award for Outstanding Praxis in the Field of Media Ecology, which is an international award given by the academic organization, the Media Ecology Association.
"Space Times Square" is where aesthetics meets critical theory meets cosmology. Drawing from Sartre, McLuhan, and Baudrillard, this 24-minute experimental film decodes Times Square as a microcosm of the electronic universe that has overtaken contemporary civilization. Having screened at numerous conferences and festivals around the world, a new digital copy of the film was made in 2014 and is available in YouTube: "Space Times Square (2014 version)"
"Space Times Square" is where aesthetics meets critical theory meets cosmology. Drawing from Sartre, McLuhan, and Baudrillard, this 24-minute experimental film decodes Times Square as a microcosm of the electronic universe that has overtaken contemporary civilization. Having screened at numerous conferences and festivals around the world, a new digital copy of the film was made in 2014 and is available in YouTube: "Space Times Square (2014 version)"
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Research Interests:
This talk contrasts two possible media futures, one "hot" and one "cool." Drawing from my international award-winning essay (co-author Julia Hildebrand), the talk takes McLuhan's concept of hot-cool media and completely re-theorizes it... more
This talk contrasts two possible media futures, one "hot" and one "cool." Drawing from my international award-winning essay (co-author Julia Hildebrand), the talk takes McLuhan's concept of hot-cool media and completely re-theorizes it for 21st century media conditions. I also my Media(S)cene art installation to illustrate key possibilities.
-- Guest lecture given to Dr. Julia M. Hildebrand's class at Eckerd College in Florida. December 1, 2021. Due to the Covid pandemic, the talk was given via Zoom.
-- Guest lecture given to Dr. Julia M. Hildebrand's class at Eckerd College in Florida. December 1, 2021. Due to the Covid pandemic, the talk was given via Zoom.
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This is a PDF of a talk I gave at Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey. The talk was about my art installations, based on my international award-winning concept/design essay. Due to the Covid pandemic, the talk was... more
This is a PDF of a talk I gave at Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios
Superiores de Monterrey. The talk was about my art installations, based on my international award-winning concept/design essay.
Due to the Covid pandemic, the talk was given via Zoom
Superiores de Monterrey. The talk was about my art installations, based on my international award-winning concept/design essay.
Due to the Covid pandemic, the talk was given via Zoom
Research Interests:
What do Astrology and Ancient Aliens have in common? They are filling the philosophical void in the wake of the Hubble Space Telescope. Talk given to PhACT: Philadelphia Area Critical Thinkers Community College of Philadelphia Room C2-28,... more
What do Astrology and Ancient Aliens have in common? They are filling the philosophical void in the wake of the Hubble Space Telescope. Talk given to PhACT: Philadelphia Area Critical Thinkers Community College of Philadelphia Room C2-28, Center for Business & Industry. 2:00 Sept 21
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An invited talk given at the University of Colorado-Boulder. To Erin Espelie's course "Space Odysseys: Astronomy and Astrophysics in Cinema and Art." February 8.
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Summary of my forthcoming book. Presented to the Humanist Association of Greater Philadelphia.
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Selfies are more than mere photos we take of our selves to share. At a deeper level, selfies and social media are like theology, offering ways that humans counter their cosmic non-centrality. In fact, as this talk shows, there is a long... more
Selfies are more than mere photos we take of our selves to share. At a deeper level, selfies and social media are like theology, offering ways that humans counter their cosmic non-centrality. In fact, as this talk shows, there is a long line of technological innovations in which cosmic discoveries of a vast universe are countered by ever more social media. Like theology, selfies and social media are ways people fill the voids of cosmic meaning in their lives.
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Based on my book, The End of the World — Again, this is a talk I have to the Philadelphia Association of Critical Thinkers.
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Based on my book, "The End of the World — Again," this talk explains why apocalyptic memes replicate in media, science, and culture. This talk was given as the world famous experimental eco city: Arcosanti.
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Inspired by my book, this talk was given as part of a panel on "Apocalypse in Media, Science, and Culture." Think you are immune to apocalyptic thinking? It's not only Mayan prophecy delusions. We have fiscal cliffs and economic... more
Inspired by my book, this talk was given as part of a panel on "Apocalypse in Media, Science, and Culture."
Think you are immune to apocalyptic thinking? It's not only Mayan prophecy delusions. We have fiscal cliffs and economic meltdowns, terror wars and nuclear terrorism, hurricanes and tsunamis, pandemics and contagions, creationism and fundamentalism, global warming and ecological destruction, and endless media and movies celebrating doom -- what do all these scenarios say about our worldviews, our ideologies, our sense of meaning and purpose in the cosmos? You might be very surprised?
Other panelists: Jarice Hanson (U-Mass), Osei Alleyne (Penn), and Genevieve Gillespie (Temple U).
Think you are immune to apocalyptic thinking? It's not only Mayan prophecy delusions. We have fiscal cliffs and economic meltdowns, terror wars and nuclear terrorism, hurricanes and tsunamis, pandemics and contagions, creationism and fundamentalism, global warming and ecological destruction, and endless media and movies celebrating doom -- what do all these scenarios say about our worldviews, our ideologies, our sense of meaning and purpose in the cosmos? You might be very surprised?
Other panelists: Jarice Hanson (U-Mass), Osei Alleyne (Penn), and Genevieve Gillespie (Temple U).
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As part of a three-night symposia and apocalyptic art exhibit, this panel and talk explored the multiple meanings in Lars von Trier's film Melancholia (2011). Other panelists included Laura Zaylea (Assistant Professor, Temple U) and... more
As part of a three-night symposia and apocalyptic art exhibit, this panel and talk explored the multiple meanings in Lars von Trier's film Melancholia (2011).
Other panelists included Laura Zaylea (Assistant Professor, Temple U) and Olivia Antsis (Director, Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival).
Other panelists included Laura Zaylea (Assistant Professor, Temple U) and Olivia Antsis (Director, Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival).
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This talk was held on the opening night of an apocalyptic art exhibit and the launch of my book: The End of the World — Again: Why the Apocalypse Meme Replicates in Media, Science, and Culture.
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As part of a Halloween symposium on "The Walking Dead," this talk explored the broader, cosmic meanings of the zombie apocalypse.
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As part of a symposium about "The Hunger Games" films and books, this talk examines the four possible destinies presented in the dystopian future. In the spirit of the "Mockingjay," these destinies are: 1. Domitainment (domination +... more
As part of a symposium about "The Hunger Games" films and books, this talk examines the four possible destinies presented in the dystopian future. In the spirit of the "Mockingjay," these destinies are:
1. Domitainment (domination + entertainment)
2. Liberlightenment (liberation + enlightenment)
3. Massimulation (Mass rebellion + simulation)
4 Futurversal (futurism + reversal)
1. Domitainment (domination + entertainment)
2. Liberlightenment (liberation + enlightenment)
3. Massimulation (Mass rebellion + simulation)
4 Futurversal (futurism + reversal)
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This is a talk I gave as part of the "Before and After Utopia" photography exhibit (2011), curated by Olivia Antsis and hosted by the Open Lens gallery in Philadelphia. The talk and exhibit were also sponsored by DesignPhiladelphia.
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This is a talk I gave as part of a symposium about the meaning of the hit film, "The Matrix." For an academic symposium, the event generated enormous media coverage, landing me next to Anderson Cooper on CNN and a front page story in The... more
This is a talk I gave as part of a symposium about the meaning of the hit film, "The Matrix." For an academic symposium, the event generated enormous media coverage, landing me next to Anderson Cooper on CNN and a front page story in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
In my 25 years as a prof and grad student, I have never seen a symposium audience as energetic, enthusiastic, and culturally diverse (in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, fashion, and meanings of The Matrix). It was standing room only in the auditorium. I'll never forget the 80-something couple who took detailed notes during my presentation, while looking like how Neo and Trinity might look in 50 years, with their wardrobes right out of the Bauhaus school of fashion design.
Other panelists included: William Irwin, editor of the best-selling book, The Matrix and Philosophy (Open Court 2003); Read Mercer Schuchardt, Manhattan College.
In my 25 years as a prof and grad student, I have never seen a symposium audience as energetic, enthusiastic, and culturally diverse (in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, fashion, and meanings of The Matrix). It was standing room only in the auditorium. I'll never forget the 80-something couple who took detailed notes during my presentation, while looking like how Neo and Trinity might look in 50 years, with their wardrobes right out of the Bauhaus school of fashion design.
Other panelists included: William Irwin, editor of the best-selling book, The Matrix and Philosophy (Open Court 2003); Read Mercer Schuchardt, Manhattan College.
Research Interests:
This symposium was one of the earliest events ever "streamed" or webcast via the internet. One of the earliest, ever. A decade before YouTube. Twenty years ago, doing a webcast was technologically complex. Handling the webcast of the... more
This symposium was one of the earliest events ever "streamed" or webcast via the internet. One of the earliest, ever. A decade before YouTube.
Twenty years ago, doing a webcast was technologically complex. Handling the webcast of the event was a Dallas firm called "audionet," which later became "broadcast.com" and sold to Yahoo in 2000 and made Mark Cuban a billionaire.
The event was organized by David Sedman and myself (when I was a professor at SMU in Dallas) during 1996. Culturemorph was a live multimedia symposium which explored the cultural transformations being wrought by the internet, genetics, nanotechnology, and chaos theory. The event featured five theorists, including the poet and philosopher Frederick Turner (author of The Culture of Hope and many other books), Susan Herring (The University of Texas at Arlington), Wayne Key, Sedman, and myself.
We received email feedback from viewers in Tokyo and Paris, which was radically novel proof (for that era) that we had a effected a global telecast with a computer and camera.
In 1997 and 1999, we followed up with two other cyber-symposiums: "Virtual City" and "Trajectory of the Canvas."
Because there was such limited hard-drive capacity at that time, these events were not stored in any computer and are gone forever. But, you can download the crazy posters; we were having fun. We used fractals signifying the chaotic web of the internet; at least that was the idea.
Twenty years ago, doing a webcast was technologically complex. Handling the webcast of the event was a Dallas firm called "audionet," which later became "broadcast.com" and sold to Yahoo in 2000 and made Mark Cuban a billionaire.
The event was organized by David Sedman and myself (when I was a professor at SMU in Dallas) during 1996. Culturemorph was a live multimedia symposium which explored the cultural transformations being wrought by the internet, genetics, nanotechnology, and chaos theory. The event featured five theorists, including the poet and philosopher Frederick Turner (author of The Culture of Hope and many other books), Susan Herring (The University of Texas at Arlington), Wayne Key, Sedman, and myself.
We received email feedback from viewers in Tokyo and Paris, which was radically novel proof (for that era) that we had a effected a global telecast with a computer and camera.
In 1997 and 1999, we followed up with two other cyber-symposiums: "Virtual City" and "Trajectory of the Canvas."
Because there was such limited hard-drive capacity at that time, these events were not stored in any computer and are gone forever. But, you can download the crazy posters; we were having fun. We used fractals signifying the chaotic web of the internet; at least that was the idea.
Research Interests:
This is the syllabus for my graduate level course: "21st Century Media: Now and the Future"
Research Interests:
This the syllabus for a Media Analysis course I teach, with a special topic: Images of Utopia in Media and Culture. Grad students can also enroll in the course.
Research Interests:
This is the syllabus for a grad class I occasionally teach.