I always find myself struggling to discuss what I'm studying here at the New School to friends, family, and coworkers alike..."Media Studies?" And while questions about the program can be irritating at times, there are questions worth asking. What is Media Studies and why does it matter?

As a point of entry into discovering aspects of the Media Studies program’s history here at the New School along with the field in general, I decided to focus primarily on an individual who felt it imperative to educate the public concerning the media and the technologies shaping them: John Culkin.

Often people view the effects of technology and media as an “inevitable force,” however as John Culkin wrote, “The environments set up by different media are not just containers for people; they are processes which shape people. Such influence is deterministic only if ignored. There is no inevitability as long as there is a willingness to contemplate what is happening.”[1] This project contemplates the past, present, and future of media studies.

I was inspired to research this particular individual because it was not until a lively discussion at the New School Archives with Kit Laybourne and Peter Haratonik, founding faculty members of the Media Studies program, that I heard John Culkin’s name mentioned.

Shouldn’t I have known who this individual was already?

For the purposes of this online exhibit, we’re going to uncover the small things and make them big. And what better place to discover the smaller details than within the archives?