Dafna Lemish
Today, obviously, is a day to celebrate, a day to be genuinely proud of success. For some skeptics in the family, maybe even a little amazement at success! For many students' families, paying for this has been a constant battle; for many students it has meant working 10, 20, even 40 hours a week on top of study. I want to begin by saluting such high levels of dedication and determination.
But - underlying our genuine happiness in marking the achievements of our family members and friends, underlying our students' pleasure – and relief! - in getting their degrees, at this point in time there is a persistent undercurrent at the back of our minds, an undercurrent we try hard to suppress, but an undercurrent which will not be squished: fear.
Fear of economic chaos. Fear of job losses. Fear of the collapse of pensions. Fear of health care getting even worse, not better. Fear of the rest of the world moving in. Fear of car bombs. Fear of endless wars grinding up our young people. Fear of offending the boss.
To say we should never feel fear would be to live in cloud cuckoo land. People who know no fear at all get medals – often posthumously – but in normal life may be known as the people you don't want to get in a car with if they're driving. Myself, I certainly know fear: fear for a loved one undergoing an operation; fear for a daughter on her fourth tour in Iraq; fear as a four-year-old on a British ship going through the Mediterranean in 1944, when deafening gun practice shook the whole ship; fear walking down a Belfast street in 1974 in Northern Ireland at the height of terrorist activity and wondering which one of the parked cars I was walking past, might be one timed to blow up.
But what I want today to ask you to think about is whether we Americans may often be nursing our fears, coddling them, obsessed with them, almost in danger of falling in love with them. Yes, fear is painful. But it also has an attraction. Some of us love horror movies. Some of us are fascinated by violence in movies and videogames and crime stories. Fear grips our minds and makes our pulses race. The thrill of fear in war, as journalist Chris Hedges has written, can be a force that gives meaning to our lives. We pay to go on the roller coaster.
Yes, I feel fear. But on many fronts, when it comes to learning to live with fear and not to be crushed by it, I have been very fortunate. At the end of that journey in 1944, surviving the Nazi submarines, I ended up in India and joined my father, an irrigation engineer there for 25 years, but himself born and raised in a tiny fishing village on the coast facing Ireland. It wasn't until many years later that I cottoned on to the enormous lesson I had learned in my two years of childhood there, and learned for good. I had learned, effortlessly, that it was not normal to speak English; it was not normal to have a white skin; it was not normal to be a Christian; and that Hindus and Muslims behaved as well, or as badly, as people in Christian countries.
For many of us here in the USA, just one of those things – language, skin color, another faith – can be enough to spook us. It's not that we love to hate - though some of us really do. It's that we live on this huge island, four time-zones across just in the continental 48, and there is so much here to see, long road journeys to take, magnificent countryside of many kinds, cities with brilliant museums and live music joints. There's football and basketball and baseball, and barbecue to die for. We have states bigger than France, Texas ranches bigger than Rhode Island. We have often a sense that if the rest of the world were to cut us off, we are big enough to survive, even if we had to tighten our belts a good deal.
But in reality surviving by ourselves hasn't been true for well over a hundred years, indeed going on two hundred. Without migration from Ireland and Germany from the 1840s on; without cheap labor in the years 1880-1920 from Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Italy, Mexico, Lebanon, Syria and many other countries; we could not have become the world's premier economic power by the end of World War I. Today only 30% of the oil we use is generated within our borders – and sometimes at great risk, as the environmental nightmare in the Gulf shows. 70% of Walmart's items come from China. We exclaim at new subdivisions growing up and new malls – but in much of the USA, those buildings only go up with Mexican and Central American sweat. Our computer industry and our medical research are highly advanced, but a whole chunk of the top talent there comes from India, Pakistan, China and other countries.
Recognize it or not, like it or not, America is in bed with the rest of the planet. We could fantasize about living behind walls and shutting out the rest of the world and feel safe. But really: would we all be just fine with living Amish-style?
In my individual experience, 21 years a citizen, 30 years living here, and visiting to date 35 of the states, we Americans tend to be more easily nervous about the rest of the world than most other nations. It's been claimed that only about 20% even of our Senators and Representatives may actually own passports.
It is strange, because technologically we have far the most powerful military in the world. What is more, we have been attacked on our own soil just three times in two hundred years: by the British in 1812; by the Japanese military at Pearl Harbor; and in the 9/11 massacre.  Talk to Russians, to Poles, to Chinese, to Koreans, to Germans, to Congolese, to many of the peoples of Darfur, to Iranians: our bitter memories of bloodshed and loss and brutality are absolutely real, but so too are theirs, and magnified in ways I cannot even imagine. The Civil War aside, we have come off rather lightly compared to some, and that war is now nearly 150 years ago.
Yet in my experience we Americans do often seem more open to panic-mongers than a number of other countries are. Our talk radio is full of screeching prophets of doom. We are a democracy, but in my experience we are amazingly apprehensive about confronting our bosses at work, and even students are very cautious about provoking their professors. We mutter to each other, but we knuckle under. We may badmouth our political leaders, but over and over again we trustingly follow them into wars, supposedly to save our skins.
The reasons for this dominance of fear, if there is truth in my views, are complicated. I suspect they have deep roots in our history as a settler nation, and in the fact we have no recent experience of prolonged war or prolonged terrorism on our soil. But I am not going into that now.
Instead I want to close by urging us all to shed timidity. When you graduates get out into your first jobs, certainly don't think you know it all – but equally, don't think you have to religiously swallow whole whatever your bosses tell you just in order to get ahead. You may have to conform outwardly to what is expected of you – but that doesn't mean you also have to fall in love with being a conformist. The jobs out there, the careers out there, are constantly changing, and you are likely over your lifetime to have several careers, not just one. You will need to be your own person in order to navigate all this – not a cushion bearing the imprint of the last patootski that sat on you, not a frightened mirror of what your last boss told you to think.
Perhaps conceive it like this: the word 'fear', a thousand years and more ago in the oldest versions of the English language, in Old English, Old German, Icelandic, did not mean the feeling of being afraid. It meant an actual disaster, an actual terrible happening of some kind. I think we need to reflect on and recover this difference in meaning. We need to be able to distinguish between actual disasters and real nightmares, and our all-too-frequent readiness to be kick-started into being afraid. Especially, of being automatically afraid of the rest of the world. It would help in that if you took learning another language more seriously. You'd have a lot more fun if you did. But engage with the rest of the planet, learn from it, grow!
Nearing 70, John Downing said he's reaching the not-so-magical retirement age, but his work is far from finished.
Downing, professor of international communication and founding director of the Global Media Research Center, will retire at the end of the semester.
Downing is known more for his work with the center because he mostly taught classes to graduate students. He also guest taught in undergraduate classes but mostly focused on upper-level courses because of his commitment to the center, he said.
The center has hosted speakers from places such as Korea, Australia and Thailand and helps students at the university with their research on global media, Downing said.
Downing's work has made him a household name with researchers in the area of mass communication, and he is still continuing several more projects involving students, said Eileen Meehan, professor in the department of Radio-Television.
"He's not somebody who trumpets their fame," Meehan said. "But he's about as close to a rock star as you can get in my part of the world."
Downing said the former dean, Manjunath Pendakur, wanted a center that would support research in global media and made the center a reality after inviting Downing to be director in 2004.
"I would hope that the center has helped to get the college to its rightful place on the map nationally and internationally," he said.
Kiran Bharthapudi, a doctoral student in international crisis and media policy from India, said Downing was the reason he returned to the university to finish his degree.
"(Downing) was one of the reasons I came back to finish my Ph.D.," Bharthapudi said. "He actually changed the way I think about the world around me."
Downing and some of his students are currently researching the Nigerian film industry, which he dubbed "Nollywood." The research focuses on race and media, and examines cinemas in the Middle East and Latin America, he said. Downing said he is also working with students to research grassroots media in communities and is working on an encyclopedia to compile the work.
The grassroots research is Downing's greatest accomplishment, Downing said.
"The books have been pouring out now on the subject and many of them have been kind enough to mention me," he said.
This research is all being done while Downing and his wife are planning to move to Brooklyn, N.Y., where they used to live in the 1980s, he said.
Moving around in the city is a lot easier than moving around in a less populated area, he said.
"As you get older you become really less viable as a driver to yourself and others,"Downing said. "Here we would end up marooned in our house whereas if you're in the city with public transport, you're not marooned any more."
Downing won't let himself be marooned in the United States either, he said. He said he received offers to teach in Denmark in the fall and could possibly teach in Finland in the spring.
Meehan said she is looking forward to Downing's future visits to SIUC as he is sure to bring back more research. She said she commends him for his ability to inspire students to explore media more and more through his research.
"He brings wisdom and insight to the process of helping people transform themselves into the next generation of new researchers with new questions," Meehan said.
Downing is a tremendous asset to the college, Bharthapudi said, and it will be a great loss for the department of Radio-Television when he is gone.
Lisa Brooten, interim chairwoman of the department, said even though the department will be losing a vital member, she expects his legacy will create a positive future for the program.
"I think his retirement is unfortunate for us, but on the other hand he's given us a lot," Brooten said. "We've benefitted a great deal from him being here."
Even brighter than the bright side are the types of socks Downing said he has been wearing for more than 25 years.
"I just figured if my students get bored in class, they can look at my socks," he said.
Source: http://www.siude.com/news/founding-director-of-global-media-research-center-to-retire-1.2156088
From the Daily Egyptian.
At the height of her career, Dafna Lemish said she's ready to help others accomplish their goals in research and academics.
Lemish, who is known for her research on the effect of media on children, will become the new chairwoman of the Radio-Television department July 1.
Lisa Brooten, interim chairwoman of the department, said even though Lemish still has a while before she's formally in office, she has already begun working with the faculty and staff.
"She's been involved right from the get-go," Brooten said. "She's going to jump in running. She's very energetic and we're very lucky to have her here."
Lemish said she has many goals for the department, but the faculty and staff have already started to address them.
"My career has boomed and has been satisfying," she said. "At this time in my career I just saw that I could contribute more in leadership roles of facilitating the work of other faculty members."
Lemish said she wants the department to open up to the world of new media that includes the Internet, mobile phones and gaming.
She said the department needs to focus on training students to work with those new and different platforms.
"Media is a way to perpetuate some sort of social change for the well-being of people," Lemish said. "It's about making a difference in the world and doing it responsibly and ethically."
Lemish is new to SIUC, but not to the position.
The department chose Lemish because of her experience at Tel-Aviv University in Ramat Aviv, Israel, where she worked five years as a professor in the Department of Communication, which also experienced a budgetary crisis, said Gary Kolb, dean of the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts.
I think she has the experience to do a very good job for us," Kolb said.
Lemish said that crisis was similar to what all universities are going through — including SIUC.
"Both faculty and students know what's ahead of them and they realize it's a conjoined effort to pass through the crisis and turn difficult times into an opportunity for change," she said.
Lemish's unique work is what sets her apart, said John Downing, professor of internal communication and founding director of the Global Media Research Center. Her interest and connections in the field of children and media is something the department has never had before, he said.
Lemish said she became interested in the relationship between children and media when she became a mother. She paid close attention to what her children watched on TV as they grew older, she said.
"My career surrounded my home as my own personal laboratory," she said. "We all used to be children and in many ways, children and media are kind of the core of our world."
Lemish has written six books and is working on another, "Screening Gender on Children's Television: The views of producers around the world." She also edits "Journal of Children and Media," a journal that publishes articles by scholars and professionals in the field of children and media.
Brooten said Lemish's resume pales in comparison to her energy and desire to better the department.
"We have a lot of award-winning students and I think having her will just continue to strengthen and solidify everything we've done so far," Brooten said.
Source: The Daily Egyptian at
Permalink: http://mcma.siu.edu/news/new-radio-television-chairwoman-to-prepare-dept-for-a-global-market
Assistant Professor David R. Burns' creative research on memory and post-memory "Digital Media, Memories and Representation: Rebirth," was presented at International Society of Electronic Arts (ISEA) 2009 conference in Belfast, Ireland.  Burns' also screened his animation work, "Visit-US" at the International One Minute Film & Video Festival in Aarau Switzerland.
Dr. John Downing conducted a video interview via the Deep Dish TV network on the multiple terms used to define alternative media, shot at the July OurMedia conference near Medellin, Colombia.  The interview is online at the Deep Dish site, Waves of Change.   Downing also conducted an interview concerning his alternative media research by Patricia Wittenberg Cavalli, of the Federal University of Pernambuco, in the Brazilian Communication Studies journal FAMECOS.
Assistant Professor Sarah Lewison was nominated for the Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, a bi-annual award for artists whose work shows promise but who have not yet achieved widespread critical or commercial recognition.   Lewison collaborated with the Midwest collective Compass Group on "Region from Below: Power Plants," an installation at the Smart Museum in Chicago until January 17, as part the international exhibition "Heartland".
Associate Professor Jake Podber's book "The Electronic Front Porch" was awarded 3rd prize from the Appalachian Book of the Year Awards.
Graduate Student Achievements
MFA student Josh Gumiela presented a paper "Net Gain/Net Loss: the Googlization of Net Art in the Era of Neoliberalism" at the International Society of Electronic Arts 2009 conference in Belfast, Ireland.
MFA student Estefanía Martínez was selected to be a student volunteer at SIGGRAPH 2009 this year in New Orleans.
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- John Downing, director of Southern Illinois University Carbondale's Global Media Research Center, is a new vice president for the oldest international global media research organization.
Downing was recently selected a vice president for the International Association for Media and Communication Research, or IAMCR. The organization, with members throughout the world, works to improve media communication research, policy and practice, and provide a forum where researchers and others involved in media and communication can meet and exchange information about their work, according to IAMCRís Web site.
Downing's election was during the organization's annual meeting, held this summer in Stockholm. His term is for four years. More than 1,000 people representing 81 countries attended. The organization allows international communication researchers to share their findings with one another, and keep updated on each otherís research, said Downing, a member for 20 years.
"¨I'm very pleased to have the confidence of my peers and hope to serve their interests as best as possible" he said.
Downing wants the organization to maintain a strong intellectual level and work on finding more ways to involve researchers from what is referred to as the global south -- countries in Africa, Central and South America, and many Middle Eastern and Asian countries. He also wants strong involvement of graduate students and junior faculty in research, and in their ability to attend conferences.
The organization's next conference is in Mexico City in July. Annabelle Sreberny, a professor in the media and film studies program in the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, is IAMCRís new president. Ruth Teer-Tomaselli, a professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, is also a newly elected vice president.
The conference provides the opportunity to not only focus on scholarly research, but also enables ìpeople from very different backgrounds to dialogue with each other, and that mission continues,î Downing said.
Downing, a professor of media studies in the Department of Radio-Television, has been at SIUC since 2004. The department and the Global Media Research Center are within the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts.
Established in 2004, the Global Media Research Center's mission includes assembling a core group of faculty, graduate and undergraduate students to research global media issues, establish national and international partnerships to promote research and play host to visiting scholars and artists as it seeks to develop new courses addressing global media issues.
Prior to coming to SIUC, Downing was a professor in the Radio-TV-Film Department at the University of Texas at Austin. He has also taught at Hunter College, City University of New York, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Greenwich University in London, and Kings College in London.
Born and raised in England, Downing earned master's and doctoral degrees, both in sociology, from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He also has a masterís degree in theology from Oxford University.
Download John Downing's CVInternational communication; alternative media and social movements; racism; ethnicity, and media; media and cultural history.
John Downing, PhD, Full Professor teaches these days especially about corporate strategies and public policies for global media, and on cinema productions in other countries. Dr. Downing also directs the Colleges new Global Media Research Center. For students in the 21st century, getting a grasp of different media systems and international communication processes is essential. So is learning the basics of how to do research, so you can efficiently evaluate reports that come your way.
Most recently he finished editing the segment on international communication in the upcoming 12-volume Communication Encyclopedia. That meant editing 46 contributions on various topics, totaling 80,000 words, from about 40 specialists in around 15 countries. He is currently finishing work editing another encyclopedia of grass roots and community media.
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