Our Very Own Participatory Media at MiT5

It was a real joy in the last weekend of April to be part of Media in Transition 5, the party that the cultural studies folks at MIT throw for their friends.(Sample the guest list and other goodies at http://web.mit.edu/comm-forum/mit5/.) In the best spirit of Henry Jenkins' Convergence Culture (the title of his latest book), the event was participatory and multimedia. Craig Watkins from University of Texas at Austin talked about hip hop culture, and Mimi Ito from University of Southern California stuck up for Pokemon culture. Renee Hobbs from Temple showcased her interactive media literacy website for young girls, MyPopStudio, and Tony Cokes from Brown University showed what happens when art meets digital possibility. The Center's latest video, Remix Culture, got a receptive showing, and it was thrilling to see others respond to the notion that creating grassroots standards documents, like the Documentary Filmmakers' Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use, can enable more creativity. Best of all, School of Communication students Maura Ugarte, Paul Kim and Yi Chen debuted their half-hour films, each of which is both an elegant film and a media literacy training tool. Watch for them next month on our website!