04/22/2010 5:00 PM Bartos theater
Henry Jenkins, Provost's Professor of Communication, Journalism, and Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California; ; William Uricchio, Professor of Comparative Media Studies;

Description: In conversation with William Uricchio, Henry Jenkins returns to reflect on his time at MIT and offers insights into MIT's culture, his new life at USC, and the state of digital cultures, new media and collective intelligence.

Jenkins shares that complex feeling of loving and hating MIT, at the same time and often within the course of one day. Providing his own insights into MIT's culture and the legacy of IHTFP, he looks back on a long career and the evolution of film and media studies into the Comparative Media Studies program we know today. He attributes his longevity at MIT to the inspiration provided by the students, and makes a strong case for the value of humanities education, while questions remain for some on how the humanities fit into an MIT education.

The reflection ends with Jenkins reading The Cat in the Hat-his annual salute to Dr. Seuss. This tradition, began 18 years ago, became a staple of IAP. Jenkins says he is reminded "how much it characterizes to me that creativity and imagination, which is so vital at MIT, and that we turn our back on at our own peril."

Host(s): School of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences, Communications Forum