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New Media Lab

THE NEW MEDIA LAB (NML) assists City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center faculty and doctoral students from a variety of academic disciplines to create multimedia projects based on their own scholarly research. Our goal is to integrate new media into traditional academic practice, challenging scholars to develop fresh questions in their respective fields using the tools of new technology. The NML is committed to a vision of new technology based on open access to ideas, tools, and resources.

With ongoing support from CUNY, the New Media Lab has become a dynamic environment in which projects funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Old York Library Foundation, and other private and public sources demonstrate new approaches and methods of merging digital media, scholarship, and learning.

Located in room 7388.01 at the CUNY Graduate Center and run under the auspices of the Center for Media and Learning / American Social History Project, NML researchers:

work across academic disciplines to produce scholarly digital media projects;

analyze Internet usage in the educational, social, and commercial sectors;

construct 3-D environments that explore ways of visualizing the arts, humanities, and sciences

digitally archive and analyze a wide range of data
participate in public programs that address the critical intersection of knowledge and technology

Admins:

CFP: Future Perfect (Data & Society)

  • Posted by Matthew K. Gold (he/him) on April 19, 2017 at 5:11 pm

    <h2>Future Perfect Conference</h2>

    <hr />

    <div class=\"thumbnail\"><img src=\"https://datasociety.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/ufo-1265186_960_720-e1492623949882.jpg\" width=\"375\" /></div>
    On June 16, 2017, Data & Society Research Institute’s Speculative Fiction Reading Group will host Future Perfect, a conference exploring the use, significance, and discontents of speculative design, narrative, and world-building in technology, policy, and culture.

    The past year has been marked by frequent commentaries comparing the present moment to works of dystopian literature and speculative fiction. The sentiment that science fiction futures can’t keep up with present-day developments pervades discussions of policy, technology, and culture. But the extent to which fictional futures exercise power over our present is, in some cases, by design. For example, the influence of 2002’s <em>Minority Report</em> on gestural interfaces, surveillance technologies, and automation isn’t an accident of history–the future envisioned in the film was created in close consultation with technologists and academics actively working on products that the film imagines in real-world settings. An entire industry of speculative designers and futures consultants continues to actively construct dystopian futures on behalf of corporations and governments, transforming TED talks and architectural renders into self-fulfilling dystopian prophecy.

    In a moment when the future increasingly feels like a foregone conclusion, Future Perfect will bring actors from a variety of world-building disciplines (from art and fiction to law and science) together to explore the uses, abuses, and paradoxes of speculative futures.

    Topics of particular interest include, but are not limited to:
    <ul>
    <li>The history and political economy of the future (subtopics here might include divination, scenario planning and war games, and predictive modeling)</li>
    <li>Analyses of specific SF works that have uniquely influenced technology, politics, and/or aesthetics</li>
    <li>Challenges to dominant future narratives in popular culture and representation in speculative fiction</li>
    <li>Why Silicon Valley venture capitalists seem to think <em>Snow Crash</em> was a playbook for the next twenty-five years and not a dystopian hellscape</li>
    <li>That one scene in <em>Minority Report</em> with the cereal box that is literally the only really important part of the film</li>
    </ul>
    Proposed contributions may include, but are not limited to:
    <ul>
    <li>Academic Papers</li>
    <li>Fiction</li>
    <li>Performance</li>
    <li>Video</li>
    <li>Games</li>
    </ul>
    The conference will be livestreamed and documentation of participating projects will be posted online.

    <strong>About Data & Society</strong>

    Data & Society is a research institute in New York City focused on the social and cultural issues arising from data-centric technological development. This conference is designed to draw out unexpected insights by pairing evidence-based practitioners with imaginative creators in dynamic exchange. The conference will help Data & Society identify pressing issues in this emerging field, and help grow a diverse network of researchers and practitioners at the intersection of technology and society.

    <strong>Participation requirements</strong>

    Participation in this event is limited. Those who are interested should apply by May 12, 2017. We are interested in having a wide range of disciplines represented, including designers and artists, academics, performers, programmers, lawyers, journalists, scientists, and of course fiction writers. All participants agree to inclusion in the conference’s online documentation.

    <strong>Schedule</strong>

    Thursday, June 15, 2017 (optional)
    7-10pm Screening and Reception

    Friday, June 16, 2017
    12-6pm The Conference

    The Conference itself will morph to fit the selected participants, and includes a welcome lunch, 2-3 themed sessions showcasing work and framing participation, and other potential modes for engaging with our theme.

    <strong>Application</strong>

    If you are interested in attending this Conference, you may either 1) propose work to be exhibited and/or presented, or 2) describe how your work makes you a relevant discussant/participant.

    By Friday, May 12th, please submit the following <a href=\"https://datasociety.submittable.com/submit/82813/future-perfect\">here</a>:

    1. Name, address, affiliation, discipline.
    2. A one-page (max) description of your work and relevance to the event. Be sure to indicate whether you’re applying to present your work, or to contribute to the discussion.

     
    <ul>
    <li>I have something to present.</li>
    <li>I don’t have a presentation but believe I could contribute to the discussion.</li>
    </ul>
     

    3. At least one link or attachment exemplifying what you’d share if selected.
    4. Bio/CV
    5. (optional) Travel support request

    If you are in need of travel support, please let us know. Funding is limited; we will not be able to accommodate all travel needs so if you have grants or other means of covering your participation, please use that so that we can prioritize stipends for those who have none.

    <strong>Dates</strong>

    Application Deadline: May 12, 2017
    Selection Notifications: May 24, 2017
    Public Announcement: June 2, 2017
    Conference: June 15-16, 2017

    Questions? Contact [email protected].

    Future Perfect Conference

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