Symposium takes look at new media
U of L students get a glimpse of the future
Students in the University of Lethbridge New Media department had an opportunity to see some of the directions their education can take them as the department held its inaugural new media symposium on Saturday.
“Digital Vertigo: A New Media Symposium” was a firsttime event highlighting the department’s three concentrations: gaming and animation; web and graphic design; and cinema production.
Faculty and alumni from the program hosted sessions on topics such as “Smart tech makes us dumb” and “Hellblazers, Swamp Things, Vampire Slayers, and Other Problems.”
Ryan Harper-Brown, an instructor in the New Media department at the U of L, said he was very impressed with the turnout.
“The official number is our capacity, about 60,” he said. “But I know there is more because I’ve heard of some students sneaking in and grabbing a chair.”
The symposium was so popular that more than half of the reserved spots were claimed the first day tickets were made available.
“We thought we’d have trouble getting folks into it,” Haper-Brown said. “But the students were equally anticipating (the event). It’s one thing to take classes with an instructor, and most of the time you don’t know what they are doing. But now we can see them working at the cutting edge of all of these technologies.”
Seeing where their education has taken former students can be inspirational for current students.
“The students have a benchmark,” Harper-Brown said. “They can see what their fellow students are doing after graduating a few years ago.
“It inspires our current students.”
“We’re inviting the community to celebrate with us during our first-ever symposium that discusses the common ground between the diverse fields in new media,” Aaron Taylor, Chair of the New Media Department, stated in a recent news release.
“We’re excited to welcome back successful alumni along with current Master of Fine Arts candidates and New Media faculty to provide 12 engaging sessions throughout the day.”
The event was part of the U of L 50th Anniversary celebrations, and was designed so the symposium can lead into an advanced studio class exhibit at the Penny Gallery which opened Saturday and will be running through the week.