CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Global Media Research Center is announcing a diverse fall 2011 speaker series that will expand to off-campus events.

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.

All of the events are free, and open to the public. The Global Media Research Center is within the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts.

Deborah Tudor, associate dean and interim director of the Center, said she is pleased the Global Media Research Center continues to offer such a diverse speaker series, and that some of the sponsored activities are going out to the community this fall.

“That is something the Center wants to do more,” she said.  “We welcome collaboration with community organizations that are interested in global issues as they pertain to media.”

The fall 2011 schedule begins with three events later this month that are part of a series of community-wide, “11 Days of Peace,” observance.  The events showcase peace-related activities in observing the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The three events are:

• Tuesday, Sept. 13 -- 7 p.m., Southern Illinoisan, 710 N. Illinois Ave., Carbondale.  Peter Lemish, a visiting assistant professor in the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts, will present, “How to Report on Conflict: The War Journalism/Peace Journalism Debate.”

• Saturday, Sept. 17 -- 7 p.m., Attucks Park, 400-800 N. Wall St., Carbondale.  An outdoor film screening of documentaries “Concrete, Steel & Paint,” and “Workers Republic.”  The Big Muddy Film Festival and the Carbondale Park District are event co-sponsors.

• Tuesday, Sept. 20 --12:35 p.m., Gaia House Interfaith Center, 913 S. Illinois Ave.  “Human Potential for Peace: Summary Discussion of Historic Peaceful Societies.”  This is a session of the SIUC Honors Program course, “Cultures of Peace.”

Additional information about the “11 Days for Peace” is available at carbondale.lib.il.us/peace.html.

The Global Media Research Center will also host three events on campus during the semester.

At 6 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 20, Steve Macek, an associate professor of speech communication and coordinator of urban and suburban studies at North Central College in Naperville, will present, “One Hundred and Fifty Years of Chicago Labor Media.” An expert in labor media, Macek will discuss the history of labor movements, organizations, and media coverage of labor issues, Tudor said.  The presentation will be in the Communications Building, room 1032.

Also during that week, graduate students within the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts under the direction of Jay F. Needham, an associate professor of radio-television, will participate in a global sound performance, “There and Back Again: A Collective Work for Internet & Radio.”

Audience members in the Communications Building’s Anechoic Chamber and at the Future Places Festival in Porto, Portugal, will participate in a real-time event through the Internet.  According to the festival’s website, the event runs Oct. 19-22, and is “four days of exhibitions and events addressing the potential and the impact of digital media on local cultures.”  The specific date and time for SIUC to participate is still being determined.

“Part of our initiative is to work more with artists who have that same kind of global media art element to their work,” Tudor said.

At 3 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 3, Kelly Caringer, a doctoral student within the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts, and Peter Lemish will examine how media officers operate within non-governmental organizations, such as various peace and refugee organizations.  The presentation, “Roles of Media & Media Officers in Global Civil Society Organizations,” will be in the Communications Building, room 1032.

More information is available at gmrc.siu.edu, or by contacting Laura Germann at 618/453-7709 or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

HERRIN - An inquiry paid big dividends for Southern Illinois University Carbondale Ph.D. student Kelly Caringer who departs today for the British Library Sound Archive in London.

He was recently awarded an Edison Fellowship that will cover his summer expenses as he will study and research some of the earliest known stereo recordings that British inventor Alan Dower Blumlein created from 1931-35.

Applying through the British Library that awards the fellowship, Caringer said, "I didn't expect them to bite on it. It's an annual award. I must have made a good pitch."

The SIUC School of Mass Communications and Media Arts student said he hopes his research will revive interest in Blumlein, who he described as kind of a forgotten genius in the world of modernizing sound.

Blumlein is credited with being a mainstay in the creation of stereophonic sound in England while companies in United States were busy inventing stereo. What differs from the work that was being done simultaneously is that the British sound thanks to Blumlein was fuller in context as the British inventor found ways to dispense uninterrupted sound waves, Caringer said.

"No one has tested Blumlein's method to see how and if it works. I will rebuild it. He came up with some crazy stuff," Caringer said.

He will have efficient material to work with as the library in 2005 received a collection of old records from a BBC sound engineer that contains some of the original laboratory tests conducted by Blumlein as he was perfecting stereo recording techniques in 1935.

"These recordings are as significant as (Thomas) Edison's wax cylinder recordings from the turn of the 20th century. This is an interesting and unique opportunity. I'm approaching this work as a critical scholar," Caringer said.

Caringer is working to finish and receive his Ph.D. by spring 2012. His future aspiration is to teach. During the course of his work at SIUC, he has built his own multi-channel sound arrays.

Last fall, students in the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts came together with other SIUC students from the School of Music, College of Engineering, and Information Science to start a local chapter of the Audio Engineering Society.

“The involvement of students from across the campus makes the SIUC student section unique,” said Kelly Caringer, AES chapter chairman. “Our AES chapter is closely affiliated with the Radio/Television department in MCMA, but we have active members from the Cinema/Photography department as well.”

According to Caringer, the group currently has about 20 members who are both undergraduate and graduate students. Todd Herreman and Jay Needham, Radio and Television Department, serve as faculty advisors.

"The Audio Engineering Society is the only professional society devoted exclusively to audio technology. Founded in the United States in 1948, the AES has grown to become an international organization that unites audio engineers, creative artists, scientists and students worldwide by promoting advances in audio and disseminating new knowledge and research," according to the AES website.

Caringer said the SIUC chapter would host a series of special lectures and workshops related to the art and science of sound recording.

“Our first event was a special lecture from French researcher/recordist, Michael Williams on March 5 via Skype,” said Caringer. “We are in contact with several scholars and practitioners who are interested in presenting to our group, either remotely or by traveling to SIUC.”

Caringer added the student section is also a venue for students to share research and creative works with other students and faculty.

“We are fortunate to have an audio research suite in the Communications building which serves as both a teaching/research space, and presentation/exhibition space for technical and experimental works in the audio arts,” Caringer said. “As part of the New Media Center, this suite of rooms (complete with anechoic chamber) will likely be an integral part of future curriculum development and emerging research at SIUC.  The AES is thrilled to host events in these unique spaces.”

The SIUC chapter of AES was recently awarded official status of a Registered Student Organization at SIUC.

Caringer is a second year Ph.D. student from Herrin, Ill. He is the recipient of the 2011 Edison Visiting Research Fellowship at the British Library Sound Archive in London.

Kelly from Southern Illinois - M.A. and starting Ph.D.

My name is Kelly Carringer, I'm from Southern Illinois and I'm just exiting the M.A. program and starting the Ph.D. program.

My research interest is in sound recording and reproduction methodology, especially how it relates to the human hearing mechanism, human perception.

The MCMA graduate program fosters a culture of critical thinking, and that's who I am, that's what I like.  Solving problems creatively.

I've enjoyed Historical Research Methods, Critical Research Methods, Political Economy in Media. I enjoy exploring different theories to arm myself, or prepare myself for solving problems when I encounter them in my own research.

I recently helped organize student chapter of the Audio Engineering Society (AES).  It's an international organization that encourages scholarship and excellence in the audio arts.  We've involved everyone on campus.  We put an invite out to all the different colleges and departments.  We've got a great response so far, and this fall will be our first semester as an officially recognized chapter and we've got all kinds of student involvement--with faculty and students as well. So it's pretty exciting.

I love being a teaching assistant.  I've worked in the field actually for a number of years before I returned to graduate school.  So I'm able to bring some of my industry experience and share that with students --undergrads especially-- who are about to leave and embark on their first job in the industry.  The teaching assistantship has been a great help.

As a non-traditional student it helps me focus on school and maintain my bills too.

I've just been awarded the Edison Research Fellowship at the British Library in London.  So next summer I'll be traveling to London in order to start research that will most likely become the basis for my dissertation.

I'm actually researching the work of Alan Dower Blumlein who was an audio recordist and engineer for EMI back in the 1930s.  So I'm looking at a series of test recordings from 1931-1935 that haven't been looked at since they were recorded.  I hope to introduce some new ideas in the audio recording arts to the industry that can be used.

I'm also interested in teaching. It's something that I've become passionate about as a teaching assistant here at SIUC.  Definitely, the program in the College of Mass Communications and and Media Arts at SIUC has definitely prepared me for a completely different track that what I was used to.

I had worked in the industry for almost 10 years in-between my undergrad work and my graduate work and now after having experienced the M.A. program in preparing me for the P.hD. program I have a completely different new look at the industry.

I think interested students should come check us out.  Talk to the faculty, talk to some students who have been here a while and know what the program is all about, tour the facilities.  I think whatever are that you're interested in, whatever your expertise is the MCMA graduate program has a path that's right for you.

My name is Kelly Carringer, I'm from Southern Illinois and I'm just exiting the M.A. program and starting the Ph.D. program.·

My research interest is in sound recording and reproduction methodology, especially how it relates to the human hearing mechanism, human perception.

The MCMA graduate program fosters a culture of critical thinking, and that's who I am, that's what I like.

Solving problems creatively.· I've enjoyed Historical Research Methods, Critical Research Methods, Political Economy in Media. I enjoy exploring different
theories to arm myself, or prepare myself for solving problems when I encounter them in my own research.

I recently helped organize student chapter of the Audio Engineering Society (AES).

It's an international organization that encourages scholarship and excellence in the audio arts.

We've involved everyone on campus.· We put an invite out to all the different colleges and departments.

We've got a great response so far, and this fall will be our first semester as an officially recognized chapter and we've got all kinds of student involvement--with faculty and students as well. So it's pretty exciting.

I love being a teaching assistant.· I've worked in the field actually for a number of years before I returned to graduate school.

So I'm able to bring some of my industry experience and share that with students --undergrads especially-- who are about to leave and embark on their first job in the industry.· The teaching assistantship has been a great help.

As a non-traditional student it helps me focus on school and maintain my bills too.

I've just been awarded the Edison Research Fellowship at the British Library in London.

So next summer I'll be traveling to London in order to start research that will most likely become the basis for my dissertation.

I'm actually researching the work of Alan Dower Blumlein who was an audio recordist and engineer for EMI back in the 1930s.

So I'm looking at a series of test recordings from 1931-1935 that haven't been looked at since they were recorded.

I hope to introduce some new ideas in the audio recording arts to the industry that can be used.

I'm also interested in teaching. It's something that I've become passionate about as a teaching assistant here at SIUC.

Definitely, the program in the College of Mass Communications and and Media Arts at SIUC has definitely prepared me for a completely different track that what I was used to.

I had worked in the industry for almost 10 years in-between my undergrad work and my graduate work and now after having experienced the M.A. program in preparing me for the P.hD. program I have a completely different new look at the industry.

I think interested students should come check us out.  Talk to the faculty, talk to some students who have been here a while and know what the program is all about, tour the facilities.

I think whatever are that you're interested in, whatever your expertise is the MCMA graduate program has a path that's right for you.