Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Montana bound

I flew from Berlin to Montana this week and will be based here, working for the next couple of months, before returning to UCSB for teaching in the fall. The summers here are so beautiful, as you might be able to surmise from this photo of a late night sunset in Missoula. My year at the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin was very interesting and productive. Our end of the year party was last weekend on July 13th, and many of the fellows showcased their talents by participating in original musical compositions, skits, cooking an enormous feast, and by tearing it up on the dance floor into the early morning hours! I will miss many of the fellows and staff at the wissenschaftskolleg, and am grateful to have had this past year of work abroad. I'm glad to be back home, however, and I look forward to making the adjustment here in Montana.

Sunday, July 8, 2007

Budapest Seminar on Media Globalization

I am in Budapest for a media globalization seminar at the Central European University organized by faculty at the University of Amsterdam. There are participants from Poland, Hungary, Bellarusse, Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia, Romania, Russia, Bulgaria, and Indonesia, among others. It has been a fantastic week here and the participants in the seminar are amazing. We have been discussing post-communism, national identity, media and memory, the expansion of Europe and the EU, and a variety of other topics. We are creating a blog so that participants can post their thoughts and ideas about media research in central and eastern Europe. Here is the url: www.ceumediastudies.blogspot.com

Around the Antenna Tree: The Politics of Infrastructural Visibility

Around the Antenna Tree: The Politics of Infrastructural Visibility
see my Flow column by clicking on the image

New Book

New Book
This book has just been published. An expanded version of my essay "Obscure Objects of Media Studies" is in it

"When Satellites Fall"

"When Satellites Fall"
Click on this photo of orbital debris to read my essay posted on Flow

Goodbye Rabbit Ears: Thoughts about the Digital TV Transition

Goodbye Rabbit Ears: Thoughts about the Digital TV Transition
see my Flow column by clicking on the image

Max Greuter's catalogue

Transmediale Opening - Roaming

Transmediale Opening - Roaming


Participants in CEU Seminar

Naran Satellite Station, Mongolia

Naran Satellite Station, Mongolia
Intersputnik dish

Former herder now a white phone worker

Inside Choijin Lama Temple

Inside Choijin Lama Temple

Naran's Grandma and the rug she made

Naran's Grandma and the rug she made

Satellite Dishes and Solar Panels for Sale at Black Market in Ulaanbatar

Satellite Dishes and Solar Panels for Sale at Black Market in Ulaanbatar

Ponjee and his Nokia phone

walking phone = yavdag utas

Wireless Phone Workers

Wireless Phone Worker

Wireless Phone Worker

Satellite Dish and Tool Seller at Black Market