Events

From 1934 to 1954 Joseph I. Breen, a media-savvy Victorian Irishman, reigned over the Production Code Administration, the Hollywood office tasked with censoring the American screen. Though little known outside the ranks of the studio system, this former journalist and public relations agent was one of the most powerful men in the motion picture industry. As enforcer of the puritanical Production Code, Breen dictated "final cut" over more movies than any other individual in the history of American cinema. His editorial decisions left a profound impact on the images and values projected by Hollywood during the Great Depression, World War II, and the Cold War. Thomas Doherty is professor of American studies at Brandeis University. He serves on the editorial board of Cineaste and Cinema Journal and is film review editor for the Journal of American History. His previous books include Cold War, Cool Medium: Television, McCarthyism, and American Culture (2003) and Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema, 1930-1934 (1999).

Non-traditional and viral marketing campaigns raise questions about the content status of advertising and the authenticity of commercial art. This panel discussion will consider the challenges of engaging audiences in non-conventional ways, looking at the status of viral media and the nature of non-traditional marketing campaigns. Berkman Center Fellow and C3 Consulting Researcher Shenja van der Graaf will moderate the converation with Natalie Lent from Fanscape and Mike Rubenstein of The Barbarian Group. Co-sponsored by the Convergence Culture Consortium.

On February 28, CMS will hold our annual Research Fair, a chance to highlight our latest research and bring attention to new research staff and initiatives. In addition to displays in the Stata lobby, this year's event will include a panel discussion with current research staff, led by Henry Jenkins and William Uricchio. This discussion will consider the theoretical contributions of CMS research and the role each initiative plays in the CMS research culture. The Fair will be held on Thursday, Feb. 28th from 5-7 PM in the Stata Center TSMC lobby. The panel discussion will begin at 6 PM. Refreshments will be served.

A salient feature of contemporary TV has been the appearance of programs that appeal more widely across national boundaries than many earlier television shows. Examples include a range of reality shows such as Big Brother or Survivor as well as fiction series such as Ugly Betty, which undergo relatively small facelifts before being introduced to new audiences. And many American programs - e.g., Lost, Desperate Housewives - travel abroad with no alterations, as country-specific promotion and distribution strategies adjust them to their new national contexts. In this forum, distinguished media scholars Eggo MŸller, Roberta Pearson and William Uricchio will discuss the origins and significance of the international distribution of television formats and programs.

Denis Dyack is the founder and president of Silicon Knights. In this capacity, he oversees the creation and development of games, and continues to further the growth of the company. Dyack is a noted authority on interactive software development and offers valuable insight into the process of designing next-generation games that appeal to the masses. Under Dyack's direction, Silicon Knights has evolved into one of the top independent interactive software developers in the world. Dyack (B. Phed, H. B.Sc, M. Sc.) founded Silicon Knights in 1992 after publishing Cyber Empires in 1991. Since that time, Silicon Knights has moved from creating PC games to premiere AAA console titles, such as Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain for the original PlayStation. Working with Nintendo as a second party, Silicon Knights created the critically acclaimed Eternal Darkness. Together with Nintendo, Silicon Knights worked with Konami to create another critically acclaimed game, Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes. Dyack and his team are currently working with Microsoft on the Too Human trilogy for the Xbox 360, and developing an exciting new game for Sega of America. Co-sponsored by the Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab.

Much discussion of our impending digital future is insular and without nuance. Skeptics talk mainly among themselves, while utopians and optimists also keep company mainly within their own tribal cultures. This forum challenges this unhelpful division, staging a conversation between Yochai Benkler and Cass Sunstein, two of our country's most thoughtful and influential writers on the promise and the perils of the Internet Age. Co-sponsored by the MIT Center for Future Civic Media.

Los Angeles artist and special effects virtuoso Pat O'Neill filmed The Decay of Fiction (2002) in the landmark Ambassador Hotel, once the center of Hollywood celebrity culture. His film blurs the boundaries between architectural investigation, urban documentation, and aesthetic exploration. At once a poetic homage to classical film genres, it is also a suggestive indication of how remembering the city is changing in response to new technologies. Edward Dimendberg is Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies, Visual Studies, and German at the University of California, Irvine. He is author of Film Noir and the Spaces of Modernity (2004), co-editor of The Weimar Republic Sourcebook (1994), and currently serves as Multimedia Editor of the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians.

The current generation of young citizens is growing up in an age of unprecedented access to information. Will this change their understanding of democracy? What factors will shape their involvement in the political process Lance Bennett is Ruddick C. Lawrence Professor of Communication and Professor of Political Science at the University of Washington, where he founded and directs the Center for Communication and Civic Engagement. Ian V. Rowe is the Vice-President of Strategic Partnerships and Public Affairs for MTV. His department oversees MTV's online community think that informs viewers on domestic and global issues, and he is helping supervise MTV's 2008 Choose or Lose campaign, which includes a team of 51 citizen journalists - one in every state and the District of Columbia. Co-sponsored by the MIT Center for Future Civic Media.

The Blaffer Gallery at the Art Museum of the University of Houston, the MIT List Visual Arts Center, The Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, and Miami Art Central/Miami Art Museum are collaborating to organize Chantal Akerman: Moving through Time and Space. This is internationally renowned filmmaker and video artist Chantal Akerman's first major museum exhibition in the United States. The exhibition will feature five multi-media video installations: her "documentary series" comprised of D'Est (From the East), Sud, From the Other Side, La Bas, and a new work commissioned especially for the exhibition. Chantal Akerman will also be conducting an artist's residency at MIT. This lecture will be followed by the opening reception to the exhibition. Co-sponsored by the List Visual Arts Center.