The advent of electronic media, and by extension the Internet, marks a shift in human history so all encompassing that it at once goes without saying and without notice. Make no mistake, though, new modes of thought and perception are quickly emerging and for those of us caught in the crossfire (between the semi-traditional and the “big other” of the digital future that is) their impact is all but impossible to predict. Luckily, there are a couple of helpful Media Sherpas milling about out there who might be able to help us to scale the mountain of technological transformations! But can we trust them? Well, now that we can make out the cool blue light of the digital dawn, Dan Roe would like to re-examine the ideas and theories of one such media mentor, Marshall McLuhan, and see how they hold up. Through this re-appraisal of history’s most popular media theorist, we might begin to understand our current trajectory and maybe then stand a better chance than the scribes who found themselves on the street once Gutenberg hit the scene! At the very least we can take stock in what it is exactly digital media is doing to us right now.
PRODUCER: Dan Roe
Dan Roe teaches media studies part time at Ross School in East Hampton, NY, where he has been developing the media studies curriculum for the better part of the past two years. He is also a member of the media department of Ross Institute where he produces, shoots, and edits Ross video content. A graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Dan has directed several documentaries that have been featured in festivals, most notably Ascodimaya, a short documentary produced in association with a Mayan civil rights group and filmmaker Molly O'Brien. He is currently in various stages of production on numerous fiction, non-fiction, and experimental films, including An Interview with Gahan Wilson about his experiences with New Yorker cartoonist Gahan Wilson. He was also script developer on the feature films Monument to Michael Jackson and Here and There, providing illustrations for latter’s poster. Dan is a Ross School alumnus from the class of 2004.