[open-humanities] Coventry University Open Media Research Seminars

Thu Oct 20 21:28:55 UTC 2011

Coventry School of Art and Design<http://wwwm.coventry.ac.uk/artanddesign/Pages/SchoolofArtandDesign.aspx>
and the Department of Media and Communication<http://wwwm.coventry.ac.uk/artanddesign/mediaandcommunication/Pages/MediaandCommunication.aspx> invite you to

                        - OPEN MEDIA -

A year-long series of research seminars on the theme of openness in media in all its forms. All the seminars are free to attend and open to all.

For more information see: http://coventryopenmedia.wordpress.com/

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Digital Media have become ubiquitous. Our experiences are on the verge of being mediated and augmented non-stop via mobile and web-based recording devices which offer the possibility to merge, mix, and mash up texts, images, sound and other data formats. In the digital age we seem to be no longer confined by the boundaries that have governed traditional media. Notions of authorship, expertise, authority, stability, ownership and control from above are being challenged by the prosuming multi-user and crowd-sourced use of borderless multimedia applications. People can produce and publish their own books via Lulu.com, promote their art on online gallery sites, and advertise their music via Myspace and Youtube. They can follow an education via iTunesU, call friends abroad via Skype for free, connect and update the world via Facebook and Twitter and fund projects via Kickstarter.
These developments have led many to claim that the web and digital media offer unprecedented democratizing options for media producers, consumers and critics. However, reality is more complicated. Many (public and tax-funded) media are still behind pay-walls. Our private data are hosted and distributed via commercial social media platforms. Blogs are still not taken seriously in the academic world. Google is digitizing our books. Music mash-ups are sued for copyright infringement and fears for ebook piracy rule the literary world.
The concept of openness forms a radical critique against the closed-off worlds of what we might call the ‘traditional media’. It urges for the right to transparency, the ethics of sharing, the value of re-use and the benefits of connecting. However, openness also has its drawbacks. If cultural products are freely available, who pays the producers? Do open data pose security risks and who gets to control these data? Who governs our creative output? In what way can we control and keep check on the media we use? Is there still a place for authority and expertise in open media or are these notions explicitly being challenged? In which way can media be open, and can they really be truly open? Where does openness end or should we focus on aspects of openness? How can we compose a media critique when media are constantly updated and changed, including our critique itself?
In this lecture series various examples of aspects of openness in media will be explored. Special attention will be given to what the benefits and drawbacks of openness are and what kind of possibilities openness offers for the future of media production, use and critique.

Programme: November-December 2011

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November 1st:

William Merrin<http://www.swan.ac.uk/staff/academic/artshumanities/merrinw/> (University of Wales, Swansea) – ‘Open Sourcing Knowledge: Towards a University 2.0′ (Read More<http://coventryopenmedia.wordpress.com/2011/10/16/172/>)

November 15th:

Gabriela Mendez Cota (Goldsmiths, University of London) – ‘Mediating Agriculture in the Age of “Open-Source”: Potential Contributions from Cultural Studies’

November 22th:

Living Books about Life<http://www.livingbooksaboutlife.org/> launch (Coventry University, Goldsmiths, the University of Kent, and Open Humanities Press) – Talks by Clare Birchall<http://www.kent.ac.uk/sspssr/staff/academic/birchall.html> (University of Kent), Gary Hall<http://www.garyhall.info/> (Coventry University), Joanna Zylinska<http://www.joannazylinska.net/> (Goldsmiths, University of London), Peter Woodbridge<http://www.petewoodbridge.info/about/> (Coventry University), and Janneke Adema <http://openreflections.wordpress.com/about/> (Coventry University).

December 6th:

Isis Hjorth<http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/?id=169> (Oxford Internet Institute) – ‘Peer-production of culture: Independent film making in the Wreckamovie community’

December 13th: 3:00 -5:00 (at Meter Room <http://meter-room.org/about/> - 58-64 Corporation Street, Coventry, West Midlands, CV11GF)

Round table on ‘Open Art, or What could Open Art mean?’
Participants: Elly Clarke<http://www.ellyclarke.com/> (Coventry University), Penny Whitehead and Daniel Simpkins<http://www.disruptdominantfrequencies.net/main/contact.html> (Independent Artists), Ruth Catlow<http://www.furtherfield.org/user/ruth-catlow> (Furtherfield), and James Wallbank<http://www.access-space.org/?c=overview> (Access Space Sheffield).

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When: 1:45-2:45 on selected Tuesdays in November and December (except the final round table,

which will be held from 3:00-5:00)

Where: ICE, The Screening Room (except the final round table, which will be held at Meter Room<http://meter-room.org/about/>)

Institute for Creative Enterprise (ICE)
Coventry University Enterprises
Puma Way, Coventry
CV1 2TT

All seminars are free to attend and open to all

For further details on how to get to Coventry see:
http://wwwm.coventry.ac.uk/university/maps/Pages/Travelinformation.aspx

How to get to ICE, see:

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=&daddr=52.403937,-1.505545

All enquiries please contact:

Janneke Adema | Email: ademaj at uni.coventry.ac.uk<mailto:ademaj at uni.coventry.ac.uk>|
www.openreflections.wordpress.com<http://coventryopenmedia.wordpress.com/schedule/www.openreflections.wordpress.com> | http://twitter.com/Openreflections
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