Convergence Shaping the Future of Media Studies?

With the growing strength of convergence and a movement towards a completely networked society it is necessary to question and revaluate what is being taught in universities around the world to ensure that tomorrow’s students are equipped to take hold of the opportunities arising from this ever converging social landscape. A frontrunner in understanding this need for a new approach to studying media is the Massachusetts Institute of Technologies (MIT) development of a Comparative Media Studies course with the key goal of giving students the opportunity to apply what they are learning in the classroom to core challenges being faced in the media industry as institutions confront a shifting media society. By doing this the CMS course hopes to encourage students to approach the process of media change in more imaginative and dynamic ways (MIT: about Comparative Media Studies, 2010).

The key advantage of the CRM is its comparative nature which allows students to utilise a wide array of interdisciplinary electives available through the institute. The theory behind this is that the academic disciplines which emerged around the problems that were evident in the industrial age have become largely redundant due to the rise of a networked culture and therefore there is a need to reconfigure the way in which teachers organise and communicate with their students (Jenkins, 2010). There are six areas of comparison within the CRM degree; Comparison Across Media, Comparison National Borders, Comparison Across Historical Periods, Comparison Across Disciplines, Comparison Across Making and Thinking and Comparison Across Perspectives. By allowing students to interact with these six areas the CRM course manages to provide coherence while still allowing students to shape the course to fit their individual needs (MIT: Comparative Media Studies Research Initiatives, 2010).

In many ways this development of a course which teaches theory regarding the growth of convergence and the movement towards a completely networked society but also uses this theory to better understand its practical applications on media change is echoed in Chris Gilbey’s adaption of the University of Wollongong’s, Bachelor of Communication and Media Studies Course. The course is increasing its focus on preparing students for an informed engagement within the field of media and communication by developing their understanding of how the changing media landscape impacts modes of communication and the implications that these changes have on society. Furthermore the course assists students in understanding how the converging media landscape differs from traditional theory and how prior models for regulation of media and communications have varied effects when dealing with the convergence of a socially networked society (University of Wollongong, 2010). But above all else, Gilbey’s adaption of the course focuses on how students apply their vast spans of knowledge in a practical way to predict future developments of new forms of media and communication.

REFERENCES:

Jenkins, H 2010, Confessions of an Aca-Fan: The Official Weblog of Henry Jenkins, accessed: 15/9/2010, http://henryjenkins.org/aboutme.html

MIT: about Comparative Media Studies, 2010, accessed: 15/9/2010, http://cms.mit.edu/aboutcms/whatscomparative.php

MIT: Comparative Media Studies Research Initiatives, 2010, accessed: 15/9/2010, http://cms.mit.edu/research/index.php

University of Wollongong, 2010, ‘Subject Outline: History of Media and Communication, BCM301’, accessed: 15/9/2010, http://bcm301wollongong.wordpress.com/