Please join us for the third and final Critical Media Lab research sharing session of the winter term, featuring digital media research talks by Philosophy/English major MAXWELL KENNEL and English PhD candidate DANI STOCK.

WHEN: Thursday, March 28 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
WHERE: Critical Media Lab, 158 King St. W., Kitchener

All are welcome!

Dani Stock is a PhD candidate in the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Waterloo. Her dissertation uses posthumanist philosophy, new media theory, disability studies, and medical humanities to critically investigate contemporary movements in North American healthcare, such as participatory medicine and patient-centred care.

About the CML Salon

While the research sharing session focuses on the work of two presenters, the goal is to create discussion about digital media research in general. In the spirit of the salon, attendees will have an opportunity to share details about their own past and current research, to field ideas for digital media projects, to discuss research questions or methodologies, and so on.

If you are interested in presenting your digital media research at the CML in the coming months, please contact Dani Stock at dstock@uwaterloo.ca.

On February 27th, the Critical Media Lab hosted an exciting night of poetry and performance by Vancouver poet Wayde Compton. The event was part of the Affective Environments speaker series sponsored by the UW Department of English.

Compton read his poem “The Reinventing Wheel” from his 2004 collection Performance Bond, which explores such themes as biraciality and border-crossings, personal history and cultural tradition, and collective memory versus individual identity. His reading was complemented by the live musical accompaniment of Toronto musician and experimental turntablist Nick Storres. Having first met just an hour before the performance, the collaborative energy between Compton and Storres during the event was nonetheless invigorating, producing a fascinating interplay between spoken word and musical soundscape.

In case you missed this unique showcase of literary and musical talent, you can check out the video recording of the performance and question period on the Department of English YouTube channel.

Image credit: http://www.mindkits.co.nz

Come out to the Critical Media Lab this March for two exciting skills-development workshops! Learn how to incorporate new digital media techniques into your research practice and widen your range of technical skills. This is what critical media is all about.

INTRODUCTION TO ARDUINO MICROCONTROLLERS
Saturday, March 9 from 9:30 – 2:30
with instructor Pouya Emami

INTRODUCTION TO THE PROCESSING LANGUAGE & DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT
Saturday, March 23 from 9:30 – 2:30
with instructor Magda Milosz

Both workshops are free and open to the public. No previous experience required. Email dstock@uwaterloo.ca to register. See the link below for more information, including course descriptions!

CML Research-Creation Skills Workshops

Image credit: http://bigthink.com/endless-innovation/

Join us for the second Critical Media Lab research sharing session of the winter term, featuring digital media research talks by PROFESSOR MARCEL O’GORMAN and PhD student JUDY EHRENTRAUT of the UW Department of English Language and Literature.

WHEN: Thursday, March 7 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
WHERE: Critical Media Lab, 158 King St. W., Kitchener
All are welcome!

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PROJECT ONE: Dr. Marcel O’Gorman, “Necromedia: The Book”

In this talk, I will speak about the book manuscript I have completed, read some of its most “lively” passages, discuss the challenges of publishing a book about “objects-to-think-with,” and answer questions about the perils of publishing a monograph with a university press.

Dr. O’Gorman is an Associate Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature and Co-Director of the Critical Media Lab. His book manuscript called _Necromedia: Terror and Technology_ looks at the relationship between death and technology from a posthumanist and existentialist perspective. Each theory chapter is followed by a chapter outlining a digital project from the Critical Media Lab.

PROJECT TWO: Judy Ehrentraut, “Utopia Imperfect: Re-imaging Past Worlds”

This talk will look at some theoretical visions of what makes utopia, including the traditionalists in the early Marxist period and Frederic Jameson and Michel Foucault’s ideas of reconstructed pasts. I will also introduce some of my newer research on Benjamin and Foucault’s “heterotopian” spaces and urban development in the city.

Judy Ehrentraut is a PhD student in the Department of English Language and Literature. She specializes in digital humanities, new media and game studies. Her research interests include agency and identity in role-playing games, immersion and interactivity, spatial theory, cybercultures, and utopian/dystopian themes in games and literature.

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In the spirit of the salon, attendees will have an opportunity to share details about their own past and current research, to field ideas for digital media projects, to discuss research questions or methodologies, and so on.

If you are interested in presenting your digital media research at the CML in the coming months, please contact Dani Stock at dstock@uwaterloo.ca.

Greetings and happy new year! We’re kicking off 2013 at the Critical Media Lab with a digital media research sharing session featuring UW Professor Beth Coleman and UW PhD candidate Steve Wilcox.

WHEN: Thursday, January 24, 2012 from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
WHERE: Critical Media Lab, 158 King St. W., Kitchener

All are welcome!

In the spirit of the salon, attendees will have an opportunity to share details about their own past and current research, to field ideas for digital media projects, to discuss research questions or methodologies, and so on.

If you are interested in presenting your digital media research at the CML in the coming months, please contact Dani Stock at dstock@uwaterloo.ca.

**** PROJECT ONE: Dr. Beth Coleman ****

City as Platform I: The Digital Dérive
In this talk, I present a critical investigation of contemporary networked society that addresses emergent phenomenon such as the Internet of Things and Locative Engagement. In thinking about an ontology of sensible objects and the urban experience, I will discuss an idea of the digital derive that describes the chance encounter in a networked world and cutting through buildings as rhizomic escapade.

Dr. Beth Coleman is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English Language and Literature. She is the Director of the City as Platform Lab at the UW Games Institute and co-director of the Critical Media Lab. Her book Hello Avatar: Rise of the Networked Generation is published with MIT Press.

**** PROJECT TWO: Steve Wilcox ****

In 2010 I set out to recreate Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Purloined Letter” as an interactive murder-mystery. The result was a 30-day real-time web-based narrative and a renewed interest in digital design and narrative. Ever since then I have been thinking of a process-oriented definition of diegesis, a sort of procedural diegesis, that would emphasize the role of interface design and gameplay operations in constructing narrative. In this talk I will attempt to pair Poe’s “Philosophy of Composition,” which suggests starting with the intended effect and working back to the cause, with the algorithmic nature of digital media projects. In other words, a philosophy of digital composition that is oriented around a procedural diegesis.

**** DISCUSSION TO FOLLOW ****

Looking forward to seeing you at the lab!