Category Archives: Critical Theory

Psychology & Neurology are Constructed via Media and “the Social”

Posted on May 16, 2016 by friesenn

Given the socially and technologically contingent nature of symptoms like the “flashback,” neuroscience alone cannot be expected to provide ready answers. This symptomatology of the flashback and its use as a narrative device was developed in the “age of film,” … Continue reading →

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Heidegger’s Anti-Semitic Theory of Technology & Modernity

Posted on May 30, 2014 by friesenn

I’ve been working  on a text discussing (briefly) the latest Heidegger “scandal” (one of many in recent years). One strange thing is that some of his more outrageous remarks that link his anti-semitic racism with the core concepts of his … Continue reading →

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Translating arte Documentary on the Frankfurt School

Posted on May 8, 2014 by friesenn

I’ve been working on subtitles for translating this fantastic documentary on the Frankfurt School from the French/German cultural channel, ARTE. Saw it originally in Zurich;I think this copy is from YouTube. The Frankfurt School: “Whoever thinks is not enraged” from … Continue reading →

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Wandering Star: The Image of the Constellation in Benjamin, Giedion & McLuhan

Posted on June 2, 2013 by friesenn

Did Walter Benjamin’s powerful metaphor of the “constellation” wind up becoming the titular figure in Marshall McLuhan’s Gutenberg Galaxy? Benjamin and McLuhan actually have something in common besides a shared interest in recent material histories. This commonality is a personal … Continue reading →

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Wandering Star: The Image of the Constellation in Benjamin, Giedion and McLuhan

Posted on December 31, 2012 by friesenn

Just got word that this proposal was accepted for the “14th Jerusalem Conference in Canadian Studies” at the Hebrew University. It focuses on three great writers, and three very unique texts: Walter Benjamin’s notion of the “constellation” marks a particularly … Continue reading →

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Special Issue of Techné on my Article "Dissection and Simulation"

Posted on March 30, 2012 by friesenn

Robert Rosenberger (Georgia Tech) has put together a special issue of Techné: Research in Philosophy and Technology based on my article on Dissection & Simulation: Transparency or Encumbrance? (draft). This special issue contains articles or responses by Don Ihde, Albert … Continue reading →

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(Re)Inventing the Internet: Critical Case Studies

Posted on November 15, 2011 by friesenn

Just received the cover design for a book I’m editing with Andrew Feenberg. Here’s the table of contents, and below, some sentences to appear on the back cover: This book examines examples of controversy and contestation from the Internet, focusing on … Continue reading →

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Education and the Social Web: Promise or Peril?

Posted on March 11, 2011 by friesenn

Education and the social web promise or peril [slideshare id=7212339&doc=educationandthesocialwebpromiseorperil-110309212837-phpapp01] View more webinars from Norm Friesen Slidecast from a recent presentation at the University of Edinburgh; developed with Shannon Lowe of my research centre. Abstract: Facebook and other social media … Continue reading →

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An Immanent Critique of the Net Gen Myth

Posted on February 20, 2011 by friesenn

At the up-coming Digital Future of Higher Ed. Conference (Feb. 22, 2011), I’ll be debating PowerPoint slides that attempt to reconstruct the main arguments for the Net Generation as a “force” in educational change. I’ve also been working on a … Continue reading →

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Education and the Social Web: Connective Learning and the Commercial Imperative

Posted on September 21, 2010 by friesenn

ARTICLE ABSTRACT: In recent years, new socially-oriented Web technologies have been portrayed as placing the learner at the centre of networks of knowledge and expertise, potentially leading to new forms of learning and education. In this paper, I argue that … Continue reading →

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