What is Media Ecology?
“Media ecology” is as intriguing a name for a field of inquiry as it is a difficult one to explain. As Dennis Cali notes in Mapping Media Ecology: Introduction to the Field, “‘Media’ itself is commonplace, but compounding it with ‘ecology’ places it just beyond the ability of the newcomer to the field to infer what it might imply.” It attracts people from a wide variety of perspectives and disciplines, many of whom value the way media ecology welcomes exploration in unconventional ways, and sometimes defies traditional methods and boundaries. However, this openness to exploration and willingness to challenge convention also creates confusion. Some people embrace media ecology at the same time as they misunderstand, misinterpret and/or distort its key texts and principles. Others might mistake its flexibility and reach with a lack of rigor or validity.
There has been a recent resurgence of interest in media ecological theories and theorists, which have been showing up in news reports, popular magazines, and podcasts. So this seems like a good time to revisit questions like: What is media ecology? What isn’t media ecology? What kinds of questions do media ecologists try to answer? What methods do they use to answer those questions? What are some good starting points for the media ecology-curious? We will explore these questions, and more, with a panel of scholars who were trained in the Media Ecology doctoral program at NYU.
Panelists
Robert Albrecht, Ph.D., began is doctoral work in Media Ecology at New York University at the same time as he began his work with the Educational Arts Team/Camp Liberty. For 40 years, Albrecht worked as a musician and workshop leader in Jersey City schools and at Camp Liberty, and he was on the faculty at New Jersey City University for more than 20 years. He is the co-author of The Arts and Play as Educational Media in the Digital Age with Carmine Tabone (2020), winner of the Media Ecology Association's prestigious Susanne Langer Award, and Past President of the Media Ecology Association.
Thom Gencarelli, Ph.D. is Professor and the founding Chair of the former Communication Department at Manhattan University in Riverdale, New York. Thom is the Treasurer of the Institute of General Semantics and Editor of the IGS’s official journal ETC: A Review of General Semantics. He is also the Treasurer of the New York Society for General Semantics and a Past President of the Media Ecology Association, the New York State Communication Association, and the New Jersey Communication Association (twice). He is co-editor (with Corey Anton) of General Semantics and Politics, co-editor (with Brian Cogan) of Baby Boomers and Popular Culture: An Inquiry into America’s Most Powerful Generation, and author of the forthcoming Searching for the Right Notes: Essays on Media, Meaning, and Music. Thom is also a songwriter, musician, and music producer, and has released four album-length works with his ensemble bluerace, World is Ready (2009), Beautiful Sky (2013), Mistral (2019), and INDYeGO (2024). The group is presently at work on their fifth album.
Terry Manzella, Ph.D. is Vice President of the New York Society for General Semantics. She has been fascinated by the ideas of Alfred Korzybski and Marshall McLuhan since her days as an undergraduate at Queens College, where she majored in Communication and Sociology. Her interests, then and now, remain in Team Building, and Mass Media. These interests developed during her work in the corporate sector. With great delight, she joined the congenial intellectual atmosphere created by Neil Postman in the Media Ecology Doctoral Program at NYU, after completing her doctoral training in sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Lance Strate, Ph.D., is Professor of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University, President of the Institute of General Semantics, and one of the founders of the Media Ecology Association. He is the author of eleven books, including Media Ecology: An Approach to Understanding the Human Condition and Concerning Communication: Epic Quests and Lyrical Excursions Within the Human Lifeworld. He has published three books of poetry, the most recent being First Letter of My Alphabet.
This event will take place from 6 PM to 9 PM Wednesday, March 25 at the historic Players Club in Gramercy Park.
Registration is free, but all attendees must be registered in order to gain admittance to the club. This includes any guests you might want to bring with you.
The program will take place in the Library on the 2nd floor of the club. Please note that, as an historic 19th century landmark, the site is not handicap accessible. Dress code is business casual and is strictly enforced, including no sneakers, shorts, ripped jeans, or t-shirts.