Michael Wesch
Encyclopedia
Michael Lee Wesch is associate professor of cultural anthropology
at Kansas State University
. Wesch's work also includes media ecology
and the emerging field of digital ethnography
, where he studies the effect of new media
on human interaction.
Wesch is a cultural anthropologist and media ecologist exploring the effects of new media on human interaction. He graduated summa cum laude from the Kansas State University Anthropology Program in 1997 and returned as a faculty member in 2004 after receiving his PhD in Anthropology at the University of Virginia. There he pursued research on social and cultural change in Melanesia, focusing on the introduction of print and print-based practices like mapping and census-taking in the remote Mountain Ok
region of Papua New Guinea
where he lived for a total of 18 months from 1999-2003. This work inspired Wesch to examine the effects of new media more broadly, especially digital media. Also as a consequence of this trip, Dr. Wesch has gained some command in the Tok Pisin
language, a primary lingua franca
of Papua New Guinea.
To this end, Wesch is launching the Digital Ethnography Working Group, a team of undergraduates exploring human uses of digital technology. Coinciding with the launch of this group, Wesch created a short video, "Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us." Released on YouTube
on January 31, 2007, it quickly became the most popular video in the blogosphere
and was viewed over 10 million times. Wesch has won several awards for his work with video, including a Wired Magazine Rave Award and the John Culkin Award for Outstanding Media Praxis from the Media Ecology Association.
Wesch's videos are part of his broader efforts to pursue the possibilities of digital media to extend and transform the way ethnographies are presented. Wesch is also a multiple award-winning teacher active in the development of innovative teaching techniques. Most notably, Wesch has developed a highly-acclaimed "World Simulation" for large introductory classes in cultural anthropology. On Nov. 20, 2008, CASE
and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching honored Wesch as Professor of the Year.http://www.usprofessorsoftheyear.org/POY_Display.cfm?CONTAINERID=184&CONTENTITEMID=8951
Currently he is the coordinator for the Peer Review of Teaching Project at Kansas State University, part of a broader nation-wide consortium of universities pursuing new ways to improve and evaluate student learning. He is also working with the Educause Center for Applied Research on "The Tower and the Cloud" project, examining "the question of how higher education institutions (The Tower) may interoperate with the emerging network-based business and social paradigm (The Cloud)."
Content of "The Machine is Us/ing Us"
Michael Wesch: text is unilinear on paper. Digital text is different: more flexible, moveable, hyper. Hyptertext can link anywhere. Form and content became inseparable in html. But in digital text form and content can be separated. Xml does not define the form, it defines the content. That means: the data can be exported free of formatting constraints. This means users do not need to know complicated code to upload content to the web. Not just text: videos, photos. Xml facilitates automated data exchange. 2 sites can “mash” data together. Flickr maps. Who will organize all of this data? We will, you will. (diy). Xml + u & me creat a database-backed web. We are the web. When we post and tag pics, we are teaching the machine, each time we forge a link between words, we teach it an idea. Think of the 100 billion times per day humans click on a web page, teaching the machine. The machine is us. Digital/hypertext is no longer just linking info, the web is linking ppl. Web 2.0 is linking ppl: sharing, trading, and collaborating. We’ll need to rethink a few things: copyright, authorship, identity, ethics, aesthetics, rhetorics, governance, privacy, commerce, love, family, ourselves.
Cultural anthropology
Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans, collecting data about the impact of global economic and political processes on local cultural realities. Anthropologists use a variety of methods, including participant observation,...
at Kansas State University
Kansas State University
Kansas State University, commonly shortened to K-State, is an institution of higher learning located in Manhattan, Kansas, in the United States...
. Wesch's work also includes media ecology
Media ecology
Media ecology is a contested term within media studies having different meanings within European and North American contexts. The North American definition refers to aninterdisciplinary field of media theory and media design involving the study of "symbolic environment, or the socially constructed,...
and the emerging field of digital ethnography
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
, where he studies the effect of new media
New media
New media is a broad term in media studies that emerged in the latter part of the 20th century. For example, new media holds out a possibility of on-demand access to content any time, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community...
on human interaction.
Wesch is a cultural anthropologist and media ecologist exploring the effects of new media on human interaction. He graduated summa cum laude from the Kansas State University Anthropology Program in 1997 and returned as a faculty member in 2004 after receiving his PhD in Anthropology at the University of Virginia. There he pursued research on social and cultural change in Melanesia, focusing on the introduction of print and print-based practices like mapping and census-taking in the remote Mountain Ok
Mountain Ok
The Mountain Ok are a region, language, and a group of natives from Papua New Guinea. Not much is known about the obscure and hard-to-reach group at this time, as they are only reachable by a prop-plane on an ill-maintained dirt runway and no other form of transportation...
region of Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
where he lived for a total of 18 months from 1999-2003. This work inspired Wesch to examine the effects of new media more broadly, especially digital media. Also as a consequence of this trip, Dr. Wesch has gained some command in the Tok Pisin
Tok Pisin
Tok Pisin is a creole spoken throughout Papua New Guinea. It is an official language of Papua New Guinea and the most widely used language in that country...
language, a primary lingua franca
Lingua franca
A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
of Papua New Guinea.
To this end, Wesch is launching the Digital Ethnography Working Group, a team of undergraduates exploring human uses of digital technology. Coinciding with the launch of this group, Wesch created a short video, "Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us." Released on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
on January 31, 2007, it quickly became the most popular video in the blogosphere
Blogosphere
The blogosphere is made up of all blogs and their interconnections. The term implies that blogs exist together as a connected community or as a social network in which everyday authors can publish their opinions...
and was viewed over 10 million times. Wesch has won several awards for his work with video, including a Wired Magazine Rave Award and the John Culkin Award for Outstanding Media Praxis from the Media Ecology Association.
Wesch's videos are part of his broader efforts to pursue the possibilities of digital media to extend and transform the way ethnographies are presented. Wesch is also a multiple award-winning teacher active in the development of innovative teaching techniques. Most notably, Wesch has developed a highly-acclaimed "World Simulation" for large introductory classes in cultural anthropology. On Nov. 20, 2008, CASE
Council for Advancement and Support of Education
The Council for Advancement and Support of Education is a nonprofit association of educational institutions. It serves professionals in the field of educational advancement...
and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching honored Wesch as Professor of the Year.http://www.usprofessorsoftheyear.org/POY_Display.cfm?CONTAINERID=184&CONTENTITEMID=8951
Currently he is the coordinator for the Peer Review of Teaching Project at Kansas State University, part of a broader nation-wide consortium of universities pursuing new ways to improve and evaluate student learning. He is also working with the Educause Center for Applied Research on "The Tower and the Cloud" project, examining "the question of how higher education institutions (The Tower) may interoperate with the emerging network-based business and social paradigm (The Cloud)."
Administrating Tests
Dr. Wesch is significant in that the final exams for his anthropology classes only have one question: Why are you here? The responses must be an essay of a minimum of 800 words, and a maximum of 1500 words.External links
- MediatedCultures.net at Kansas State University
- Professor Wesch's Faculty Page at Kansas State University
- Michael Wesch's Cultural Anthropology Collaborative Class Wiki on WetPaint
- Michael Wesch's Twitter - mwesch
- YouTube videos by Wesch:
Content of "The Machine is Us/ing Us"
Michael Wesch: text is unilinear on paper. Digital text is different: more flexible, moveable, hyper. Hyptertext can link anywhere. Form and content became inseparable in html. But in digital text form and content can be separated. Xml does not define the form, it defines the content. That means: the data can be exported free of formatting constraints. This means users do not need to know complicated code to upload content to the web. Not just text: videos, photos. Xml facilitates automated data exchange. 2 sites can “mash” data together. Flickr maps. Who will organize all of this data? We will, you will. (diy). Xml + u & me creat a database-backed web. We are the web. When we post and tag pics, we are teaching the machine, each time we forge a link between words, we teach it an idea. Think of the 100 billion times per day humans click on a web page, teaching the machine. The machine is us. Digital/hypertext is no longer just linking info, the web is linking ppl. Web 2.0 is linking ppl: sharing, trading, and collaborating. We’ll need to rethink a few things: copyright, authorship, identity, ethics, aesthetics, rhetorics, governance, privacy, commerce, love, family, ourselves.