by Sara Duane ’20
A panel of media and technology experts will discuss where computer-generated imaging and sound technologies are going next and how these technologies, including virtual reality, affect media consumption and truth. The event, “Seeing = Believing?,” is Tuesday, April 3, 2018, at 7 p.m. in Dickinson College’s Anita Tuvin Schlechter (ATS) auditorium.
Panelists include Eitan Grinspun, associate professor of computer science and applied mathematics at Columbia University and co-director of the Columbia Computer Graphics Group; Steven Malcic, visiting assistant professor of film and media studies at Dickinson; Tabitha Peck, professor of mathematics and computer science at Davidson College; Graham Roberts, director of immersive platforms storytelling at The New York Times; and Gregory Steirer, assistant professor of English and film studies at Dickinson, who will serve as moderator.
Grinspun’s laboratory has developed technologies, funded by the National Science Foundation, for Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, major film studios such as Disney and Pixar and condensed matter physics laboratories. He was an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow, NSF CAREER Award recipient, NVIDIA Fellow and a Caltech Everhart Distinguished Lecturer.
Malcic specializes in media infrastructures, media industries and the relationship between identity and digital media. He has written articles for internationally reviewed scholarly journals such as the Internet Policy Review and the Journal of Information Policy.
Peck studies the potential for racism and stereotype threat caused by virtual body-swap illusions. She has worked for virtual reality research labs, such as the Palo Alto Research Center and the Experimental Virtual Environments (EVENT) Lab for Neuroscience at the University of Barcelona.
As head of an innovation team at The New York Times, Roberts examines advances in video, motion graphics and virtual reality. He is a five-time Emmy-nominated journalist and has also been recognized by the Pulitzer Awards.
Steirer’s work centers on the technologies, business practices and regulatory structures of 20th and 21st century media systems. His writing has been published in journals including Convergence and Television & New Media.
The event is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the departments of English, international business & management and philosophy, the film studies program and the Churchill Fund. Clarke Forum student project managers initiated this program. It is also part of the Clarke Forum’s Leadership in an Age of Uncertainty Series.
Published March 30, 2018