Administration: program design and direction

During the past six years, I have participated in the creation and administration of two academic programs at USC that are devoted to merging theory and practice through the use of media and technology. I was the principle architect and for three years (2004-07) served as Director of the Institute for Multimedia Literacy’s Honors in Multimedia Scholarship program, a four-year undergraduate program that seeks to develop innovative, media-rich modes of academic production across multiple disciplines. In 2008, the program graduated its first cohort of 31 students from disciplines as diverse as Biophysics, Engineering, Theater, Music, Cinematic Arts, Classics, East Asian Literature, Linguistics, Broadcast Journalism, International Relations and Business, each of whom had created a media-rich project based on research in his/her major; the program currently enrolls more than 150 students from across the university.

In my current position as Director of the interdivisional Media Arts & Practice Ph.D. program, which I helped design and found in 2007, I have had a rare opportunity to create a graduate program that responds to rapidly shifting practices in media and technology-enhanced scholarship. As we welcome our third cohort of students to the program in fall 2009, I believe iMAP has the potential to set an international standard among universities seeking to recognize emerging forms of scholarship at the intersection of theory and practice.

I believe USC’s establishment of these programs signals the importance of research that responds to changing paradigms of scholarship in the 21st century. Indeed, the university’s visionary strategic “Plan for Increasing Academic Excellence” (2004) cites the need for USC to continue its commitment to scholarly work that links fundamental research with applied research as a key element of its future success. I am proud to be associated with several of this university’s most provocative efforts in this direction, from the reshaping of undergraduate and graduate education through media and technology to the redefining of scholarly research and publication at the faculty level.

New to the School of Cinematic Arts in 2007, the interdivisional program in Media Arts and Practice (iMAP) situates technology and creative production alongside the historical and theoretical contexts of critical media studies. This practice-oriented Ph.D. program provides students with both practical experience and theoretical knowledge as they work to define new modes of research and production in the 21st century.

Media Arts and Practice was inspired by recent developments in media and technology that have altered the landscape of media production, analysis, distribution and display. Our goal is to support a new generation of scholar-practitioners who are able to combine historical and theoretical knowledge with creative and critical design skills. Students who complete a Ph.D. in Media Arts and Practice will be uniquely prepared to shape the future of media and scholarship, and to actively engage in the emerging cultural, technological and political dynamics of a global media ecology.

Honors in Multimedia Scholarship is an innovative four-year program for undergraduate students from across the USC campus who are interested in exploring new forms of scholarship and research. Working closely with leading USC faculty, students develop critical and creative abilities in the use of images, video, sound, text and interactivity, crafting media-rich forms of scholarship.