Follow the Blog of MDST majors on the NYC Trip

Follow the blog as our majors as they visit major media outlets in New York City Jan. 11 - 15, 2010 accompanied by Prof. Bodroghkozy and Prof. Press! Fourth-year major Denise Linn is our official blogger for the trip.

Media Studies New York Trip 2010

Media Studies’ Undergraduate Director, Aniko Bodroghkozy, and chair, Andrea Press, will bring a group of eighteen majors to the media capital of the world for the Department’s seventh annual New York media trip this January. Each year Media Studies majors get the opportunity to meet with highly placed media professionals – and even some celebrities – from a variety of media entities: from broadcast to cable television, to mass market magazines, to cutting edge television advertising ventures, to independent film organizations. The trip helps majors extend and expand what they learn in their Media Studies classes by exposing them to knowledgeable professionals who engage the students in expansive discussions about their media industries: what big questions animate the industry, what are the important trends, challenges, new opportunities, and new ideas. Students return from the New York trip with a unique understanding of key components of the American media environment to deepen and enrich their academic studies at the University.

UVa alums who have succeeded in media careers in New York often serve as our hosts, opening the doors to some of the city’s most important and well-established companies, as well as some of its newest and most innovative. The generosity of UVa alums and their desire to mentor current students makes our yearly trips possible. From VPs with well established careers to more junior professionals (many who are graduates of the Media Studies Department), current majors receive invaluable networking and career advice from the University’s alums. Our connection with UVa alums in New York is deepened further through our partnering with the Virginia Club of New York and its yearly Media Panel which the Club schedules to coincide with our trip. Students hear from panelists discussing up-to-the-minute media issues and get the opportunity to mix and network with the large number of New York-based alumni who come each year for this popular and always well-attended Club event.

This year, 4^th year major Denise Linn will be the New York trip’s official blogger and micro-blogger on Twitter Read the blog and follow her on Twitter.

MIT Podcast with Siva Vaidhyanathan

Check out this podcast featuring Prof. Vaidhyanathan from the MIT Comparative Media Studies Department:

Podcast: Comparative Media Insights: "The Googlization of Everything"

Google seems omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. It also claims to be benevolent. It's no surprise that we hold the company to almost deific levels of awe and respect. But what are we really gaining and losing by inviting Google to be the lens through which we view the world? This talk will describe Siva Vaidhyanathan's own apostasy and suggest ways we might live better with Google once we see it as a mere company rather than as a force for good and enlightenment in the world.