Digital Carey Agenda

Conversations and Communications:
A Conference in Memory of James W. Carey

Friday, October 5th, 2007, 8:30 am - 5:15 pm

World Room (2nd floor), School of Journalism, Columbia University

2950 Broadway (at 116th St) New York NY 10027

Refreshments: 8:30-9:00

Opening Comments: 9:00-9:15

• Todd Gitlin, Acting Chair of the Columbia Communications Phd Program
• Ben Peters, Chief Conference Organizer

Democracy, Communications, and Civic Life: 9:15-10:45

James Carey argued that, for decades, newspapers and broadcast media helped to constitute the “shared political culture” of democracy in the United States. Prevailing political priorities and new communication technologies today, however, are unsettling the centrality of these fora. Is Carey’s view a relic of a bygone era? Is it relevant in today’s media environment?

• Moderator: Olivier Sylvain, Columbia University
• Craig Calhoun, New York University
• Jay T. Harris, University of Southern California
• Kathleen Hall Jamieson, University of Pennsylvania
• Michael Schudson, Columbia University

Break: 10:45-11:00

History, Media, Technology: 11:00-12:30

Is there such a thing as “revolutionary” technology? How do the features of a new medium shape patterns of communication and, perhaps, the course of history? James Carey saw profound cultural and even cognitive changes tied up in the adoption of new technologies like the telegraph. How does his work speak to persistent debates over the relationship between technology, media and history?

• Moderator: Lucas Graves, Columbia University
• Brian Larkin, Barnard College
• Carolyn Marvin, University of Pennsylvania
• Jay Rosen, New York University
• Fred Turner, Stanford University

Lunch: 12:30-1:45

Education and Journalists: 1:45-3:15

In a world where the roles, self-conceptions, and technologies of journalism are (arguably) changing, how should journalism education itself change -- or not? And how can the thinking of James Carey help us think through this important social and epistemological problem? In short-- what should journalists know?

• Moderator: Chris Anderson, Columbia University
• G. Stuart Adam, Carleton University
• Jeff Jarvis, BuzzMachine and City University of New York. "How Do We Teach the Conversation?" [1]
• Linda Steiner, University of Maryland. "James Carey and Deprofessionalizing Journalism Education."
• Nicholas Lemann, Dean of the Columbia Journalism School

Break: 3:15-3:30

James Carey as a Teacher: 3:30-5:00

Professor Carey’s unorthodox education may have led to his slightly unorthodox teaching style—a style that epitomized the idea that education is not preparation for life, but life itself. This panel presents a few former students and peers of James Carey with the opportunity to reflect on Professor Carey’s teaching style.

• Moderator: Kristen Daly, Columbia University
• Joe Cutbirth, Columbia University
• Theodore Glasser, Stanford University
• Joli Jensen, The University of Tulsa
• Catherine Warren, North Carolina State University

Concluding Remarks: 5:00-5:30

• Jefferson Pooley, Muhlenberg College