Category Archives: Media Theory

What's "The Canadian School" of Media Theory?

Posted on March 3, 2012 by friesenn

  (Hint: It’s NOT the same thing as the Toronto School of Communications.) I’ve been working with Darryl Cressman on an article on “Die kanadische Schule” for a German Handbook of Media Studies. The piece will be translated and then … Continue reading →

Posted in Friedrich Kittler, Media Theory, Writing | Leave a comment

"Certain Media Biases:" Lecturing via TV, Radio, Text

Posted on January 23, 2012 by friesenn

In completing a research project looking into McLuhan, media theory and education, I’ve been reading about an early experiment on “certain media biases” and the pedagogical form of the lecture. Download a .pdf of the initial report, originally published in … Continue reading →

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German Documentary: McLuhan – Visionary of the Media Age

Posted on December 16, 2011 by friesenn

German Documentary: M. McLuhan: Visionary of the Media Age from Norm Friesen on Vimeo. (The entire broadcast can be viewed here.) Interviewer: …but [he] wasn’t a systematizer Martina Leeker (media studies, Cologne): …that makes it perhaps difficult to work with him … Continue reading →

Posted in Friedrich Kittler, Marshall McLuhan, Media Theory | Leave a comment

Bundled, Buried & Behind Closed Doors

Posted on November 15, 2011 by friesenn

Bundled, Buried & Behind Closed Doors from Ben Mendelsohn on Vimeo. A short documentary, sounding almost like a commentary and update on Innis’ Empire & Communications: It reminds us that the Internet is very much a physical infrastructure, with one … Continue reading →

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The (Dys)functionality of the User Interface

Posted on October 7, 2011 by friesenn

The [Dys]functionality of the User Interface [slideshare id=9577669&doc=doingwithiconsmakessymbols-111006112620-phpapp01] View another webinar from Norm Friesen A recording of a presentation I recently gave at the annual meeting of the (German) Soceity for Media Studies in Potsdam, Germany. The theme of the … Continue reading →

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Jesus, Computers and Communication

Posted on August 19, 2011 by friesenn

Many important characteristics and tensions in computational and other conceptions of communication find remarkable resonance in the words of the Jewish carpenter from Galilee. For example, Claude Shannon, the inventor of information theory and a proponent of digital computation (i.e. … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Media Theory, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

All Watched over by Machines of Loving Grace

Posted on July 1, 2011 by friesenn

All Watched over by Machines of Loving Grace from Norm Friesen on Vimeo. “All Watched over by Machines of Loving Grace” is the title of a 1967 poem by Richard Brautigan. Among other things, it is a rich record of what new … Continue reading →

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The Lecture as a Trans-Medial Pedagogical Form, continued…

Posted on June 6, 2011 by friesenn

This paper, posted earlier as a slidecast, recently appeared in AERA’s Educational Researcher. I’ve posted a formatted version with graphics improved (compared to the published version). I’ve also posted, on the left, images and a table that link to full-fledged documents: … Continue reading →

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Facebook and the Gothic Body -Presentation at MIT7

Posted on May 27, 2011 by friesenn

Resistance in the ‘Face’ of Relentless Conviviality [slideshare id=7983088&doc=mitconferencepresentation-a-110516112703-phpapp02] View more webinars from Norm Friesen I recently gave this presentation with Shannon Lowe, postdoctoral fellow at my New Media Studies Research Cente. Here’s the draft presentation text from the conference … Continue reading →

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The Lecture as pre- Postmodern Relic (Jean-François Lyotard)

Posted on March 8, 2011 by friesenn

“What is transmitted in higher learning? In the case of professional training, and limiting ourselves to a narrowly functionalist point of view, an organized stock of established knowledge is the essential thing that is transmitted. The application of new technologies … Continue reading →

Posted in Lecture, Media Theory | Leave a comment