Media Ecology Association Meets in St. Louis

I recall, two years ago, sitting with St. Louis University English Department chair,  Sara van den Berg, who was beaming over the prospect of soon formalizing the Walter J. Ong, SJ. Center for Language and Culture, only to be followed by hosting the Media Ecology Association’s (MEA’s) Tenth Annual Convention in 2009.

A couple of years before that conversation, GMLP member, Paul Guzzardo, had introduced me to the MEA, to media ecology…and to Sara.   I learned that media ecologists – educators, lawyers, artists, engineers, scientists, etc.–seek to make us more aware of living simultaneously in two environments…the natural environment of air, water, animals and plants,  and  the media environment of language, images, symbols and technologies that shape us.  That definition gave me a greater appreciation for Paul’s creative and thoughtful work I had come to know, and the sense that media ecology was certainly complementary to media literacy education, something I’m sure Paul first and foremost wished to convey to me.

Fast-forward to Sara and my conversation.  Given what I knew from Paul, I felt almost as excited as Sara, learning the MEA would be coming  to St. Louis.  MEA members, especially,  would appreciate the symbolism attached to a media ecology meeting, here in St. Louis…. the city where three of  media ecology’s  heroes– Father Ong, Marshall McLuhan and Neil Postman—spent so much time  studying, writing and doing  inter-disciplinary research.

Well, now having been to the conference, June 18-21, I can say, St. Louis and St. Louis University’s importance,  in this regard,  have indeed been further secured by media ecology fans, scholars and teachers,  as they celebrated Ong, McLuhan and Postman,  as well as the other greats– Jacques Ellul, Harold Innis, Leis Mumford, Suzanne Langer.

Co-hosted by St. Louis University’s Walter J. Ong, SJ. Center for Language and Culture and SLU’s Department of Communication, the convention never lost its fervor and passion for the aforementioned scholars…from the panel discussions to the  plenary sessions to the multi-media presentations  to the special awards addresses and dinners.

Among the featured occasions was SLU’s invitation to gather at the Ong Center  and be among Ong’s work, a formidable body of research and scholarship  in orality, literacy, literature, communication theory, and history of rhetoric and media studies.

Among the special guests was Marshall McLuhan’s scholar son, Eric, of Canada, whose opening plenary address not only talked about his father’s heritage but also about how his father might have looked at our world, today.  McLuhan

also shared his views about how all the different literacies figure into the educational and environmental landscapes today.  I was particularly moved by his suggestion that all the literacies might better exist under the umbrella “Literacies of the Arts and Sciences.”  What an excellent discussion topic, I thought, and it spoke to the interdisciplinary nature of the group.

And then there was another long-awaited visit from computer scientist extraordinaire, Alan Kay.  He, too, is a hero to legions;  a marvel, not only for all his accomplishments– the Dynabook, object-oriented programming and the graphical user interface– but also for his relentless pursuits to help education flourish in both  formal and informal education settings.   For me, the fascination about Kay’s success came from seeing this man’s work history….jobs in such disparate corporate cultures: Xerox, Atari, Apple, Inc, Walt Disney, MIT, Kyoto University,  and the Hewlett-Packard Lab.

In fact, what better person to comment on outlook and perspective and their key roles in the lives of so many inventors?  Kay underscored how great knowledge and high IQs, alone, don’t necessarily make for success and productivity.  He offered up different perspectives and positive outlooks as being key factors that will continue to distinguish between those who fail and  those who succeed.

And, finally, I heard one of Father Ong’s distinguished scholar “students,” University of Missouri – Columbia’s John Miles Foley, who teaches in the Department of Classical Studies, English and German and Russian Studies.  He also is the director of the Center for Studies in Oral Tradition, along with being the editor of his field’s journal, Oral Tradition.  To hear his talk, the Ideology of Text, and learn of his e-research in these areas  was particularly timely and thought-provoking.

In closing, what a coup it was  for St. Louis University and the St. Louis region  to host 160 people from this country and abroad, especially that Ong’s work is experiencing a renaissance and  digital communication is  expanding  media ecology’s  discussions.

I, myself, was quite elated getting to see rather than just pass by all the beautiful facilities on SLU’s beautiful campus, and to experience the warm welcomes from every single staffer working the conference.

Bravo, St. Louis University and, of course,  the Media Ecology Association, for choosing St. Louis as the setting for its Tenth Annual Convention.

A Tale of Three Conferences

Hello Media Literacy Proponents and Enthusiasts,

Summertime, for me, is a time to enjoy conferences…at least with fewer pressures than I would feel during other times of the year.    But there are exceptional summers.  Take this one, for instance. I’ve had three conferences on my mind, two with which I am intimately involved; the other, already concluded, for which I was just a normal paying customer,  full of joy and enthusiasm (see my story on the Tenth Annual Media Ecology Association Convention, held here at St. Louis University).

So, totally invested in the next two, I’m here to tell you, it’s both excitement and terror.  You know the feeling; you’ve probably been there.

The first conference: the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) Conference. Ever since the 2007 NAMLE Conference concluded, here in St. Louis, I, along with fellow NAMLE board members,  have been focused on this one.  Pressure?  You bet. And, for all the obvious reasons.  Regardless, that magical turn for the better has taken hold, and we are  all now glowing over  what we believe will be exceptional programming  and a rich tapestry of offerings in Detroit, Aug. 1-4. “Bridging Literacies: Critical Connections in a Digital World,” seriously takes into consideration our host city, Detroit, which has, on the one hand “been through the mill, “ and on the other hand, is providing the perfect education setting for the media literacy” conversation”…most notably around the Web 2.0 environment.  As you begin to uncover what’s going on in Motown, you can see this city’s rich technological history bridging with the future via, as one example, new technology companies that are forming formidable relationships with Detroit’s education community.  Further, that more techno giants are moving in and around the city, and that Michigan Governor Granholm is pushing film industry growth…well, it’s an exciting place to be.

Specifically, regarding the NAMLE Conference… well, there’s no better place to network with media literacy proponents and enthusiasts.  We look to this meeting as a vital coming together of media literacy professionals from around the country and abroad, at a time when focused leadership in this area  is key to its future. It’s not too late.  Go to the NAMLE web site and sign up.   www.NAMLE.net.    I join my fellow board members in welcoming you to Detroit.

As for us, right here in the St. Louis region, it’s an undertaking that is an embarrassment of riches…that’s what I’m calling GMLP’s next Media Literacy Week, “Media Literacy: Remix Culture,” set for Oct 4-11.

Where?  Thanks to many of our institutional members—Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Webster University, Maryville University, Lindenwood University, St. Louis Community College – Meramec—from St. Charles, to St. Louis  and St. Louis County to Edwardsville, Ill.; we’re covering media literacy in different ways in different places, with hopes we’ll create greater awareness about the need to for media literacy in our communities, on an on-going basis.

Stay tuned for all the details!

Cheers,

Jessica Z. Brown