RHM 360: Media Ecology

Media ecology is the study of media environments, of how technology and techniques, modes of information and codes of communication affect human perception, understanding, feeling, and value. It is a deeply historical, meta-disciplinary, and robust qualitative approach to understanding both communication and the human condition. Some core ideas within media ecology are wrapped up in aphoristic statements such as "The medium is the message" and "Media are environments, and environments are media," and "the user is the content of any medium." This course looks closely at canonical figures within the tradition—Marshall McLuhan, Walter Ong, and Jacques Ellul—as well as its major analytic-theoretical tributaries—orality literacy studies, technology studies, and bias studies. Specific recent figures will vary.