About ETC
ETC is made possible by the generous support of the Associated Colleges of the South (ACS) and Centenary College of Louisiana.
This site explores the relationship between new media and the natural world - construed more broadly as the socio-ideological relationship between technology and ecology. Operating from the nexus of multiple disciplines (media studies, cultural theory, ecocriticism, film and television studies, and so on), ETC allows users to examine cultural anxieties about the intersections of technology and ecology in contemporary American culture. The site will provide access to a variety of approaches to cultural inquiry - literature, film, visual arts, political science, economics, philosophy, history - that will round out user's understanding of our complex relationship to the natural world, a relationship which we see investigated more and more frequently through the mediating lens of representational technologies: writing, painting, photography, film, television, the Internet. Site content will include research and study material, including links to relevant online resources, original content, and discussion material.
About the ETC Wiki
The ETC wiki was created as a way for students to contribute their own discoveries to the ETC course content. It is an archive of interesting readings, study ideas, and relevant weblinks, but it is also a forum for the open exchange of ideas. Most importantly, the ETC wiki provides an electronic pedagogical space that is open and democratic, a space that allows students to comment on and even criticize course material—readings, assignments, and discussions.
Ideally, the ETC wiki takes advantage of digital technologies in order to facilitate what Carl Raschke calls "transactional learning," a pedagogical paradigm that decenters the institutionalization of knowledge by transferring the control of knowledge production back to the learners. Raschke writes, "In the transactional paradigm teaching and learning are no longer separate activities, or even abilities, in the generation of knowledge. The universe of transactional learning is no-longer bi-directional, but multi-polar with the numerous ripples and eddies of intellectual experience roiling about that center of investigative activity we call the 'learner.'"
For Wiki formatting questions, please refer to the basic wiki syntax examples provided by Centenary's web development team.
Bibliography
Raschke, Carl. "Beyond Education: The Age of Transaction and the 'Scene' of Digital Learning." Syllabus: Technology and Higher Education. 13:4 (Nov/Dec, 1999).
About the ETC developers
Jeanne Hamming teaches New Media, American Literature, and Environmental Humanities at Centenary College of Louisiana. Her current research explores pop-cultural representations of nature. Email Jeanne at email.
Sara Hebert, now pursuing a Master's degree in Digital Media Studies at the University of Denver, graduated from Centenary College of Louisiana in 2006 with a degree in Art and Communication. She is interested in the role of technology in art, culture, and the future. Her recent work includes freelance webdesign and a graphic novel tentatively titled "Arbor's Day," which follows the toils and trials of a robot and its love for nature. Email Sara at email.
Daniel Kersting graduated from Centenary College of Louisiana in 2008 with a degree in Film and Visual Culture. He is interested in the different ways film and television shape human conceptions of nature. Email Daniel at email.
Malari Coburn is a junior at Centenary College of Louisiana.