Institutt for medier og kommunikasjon Det humanistiske fakultet

Til: Instituttstyret ved IMK Sak nr.: 39/2012 Fra: Instituttleder Espen Ytreberg Møtedato: 6.11.2012 Sakstype: Diskusjonssak Notat: Espen Ytreberg

NY PROSESS FOR FAGLIGE PRIORITERINGER VED IMK IMKs faglige prioriteringer ble vedtatt i IMK-styret ultimo 2009, og løper fra medio 2010 til medio 2013. Vedlagt er utlysningsteksten, som ga de sentrale føringene når det gjaldt avsatte ressurser, søknadsprosess og tildeling. Det ble også holdt en separat utlysnings- og søknadsprosess i 2010 om midler til individuelle bokprosjekter. Det fungerte til å balansere den foreliggende utlysningen: Denne siste var rettet mot kollektive initiativer, den søkte særlig mot å styrke utvalgte forskningsmiljøer og å skape større aktivitet i genereringen av eksterne prosjekter. To av fire søknader ble innvilget og resulterte i IMKs to prioriterte områder. De to søknadene er vedlagt, sammen med rapporter fra de to områdene, satt sammen av områdenes ledere Liv Hausken og Tanja Storsul. Slik skal Styret kunne diskutere forholdet mellom ambisjonene i de innvilgede søknadene og resultatene så langt - og dermed hvordan de strategiske prioriteringene har fungert.

INSTITUTT FOR MEDIE OG KOMMUNIKASJON

Utlysning av prioriterte forskningsområder ved IMK Styret ved IMK har i møter 20. oktober og 15. desember 2009 fastsatt at strategisk prioritering av forskningsområder ved IMK skal skje gjennom en søknadsprosess som er åpen for instituttets vitenskapelig ansatte og at det skal lyses ut inntil to slike områder. Utlysningen nedenfor følger av styrevedtakene: ’Område’ utgjør et faglig territorium som er mer avgrenset enn ’medieviten-skap’, men mer omfattende enn hva enkeltprosjekter dekker. Ordet skal forstås på linje med fagkonferansenes arbeidsgrupper, divisjoner og seksjoner. Siktemålet er å øke andelen eksternt finansierte prosjekter ved instituttet, og å styrke forskningskvaliteten. Dette skal gjøre det mulig å bringe IMK nærmere målet om å bli blant de fremste medieforskningsmiljøene i Europa. Dessuten skal det sette IMK i stand til å møte kravene i Prosess Faglig Prioritering (PFP) ved UiO og fakultetet. Søknaden skal gjøre rede for og dokumentere søkergruppens planer i forhold til hver enkelt av vurderingskriteriene. Det skal angis en leder for gruppen, som skal være fast vitenskapelig ansatt ved IMK. Søknaden skal være på maksimalt 10 sider inkludert CV’er og vedlegg. Den skal skrives på engelsk. Søknadsfrist er mandag 22. mars kl. 1000. Søknaden sendes elektronisk til instituttets forskningskonsulent. Samme person kan delta i flere søknader. Vurderingsprosessen vil bli ledet av instituttets forskningsleder i samråd med instituttleder, på oppdrag fra styret. Det vil bli innhentet to fagfelle-vurderinger for hver søknad, en norsk/nordisk og en videre europeisk. Det skal gjøres en vurdering av om søkerne tilfredstiller søknadskravene, og de skal rangeres. Det kan forventes avgjørelse i slutten av april 2010. Oppstart av de prioriterte forskningsområdene kan skje med forberedelser umiddelbart etter tildeling, men formell etablering er fra 1. juli 2010, med tre års virketid til 30. juni 2013. Oppstart kan etter avtale skje senere i 2010 med tilsvarende avkorting i finansieringen for første år. Oppfølging av den foreslåtte prosjektaktiviteten skjer ved IMKs forsknings-leder i henhold til de aktivitetene og målene som er satt opp i søknaden. Innlemming av nye prosjekter og fagaktiviteter på et prioritert område skjer via søknad som behandles av forskningsleder. Evaluering av ordningen kan foretas av nyvalgt styre/nytilsatt instituttleder fra 1.1.2013, som også avgjør eventuell fortsettelse.

UNIVERSITETET I OSLO Side 2 av 2 Institutt for medier og kommunikasjon

Vurdering av søknader om å bli prioritert forskningsområde ved IMK skjer via: - Plan for en eller flere prosjektaktiviteter, med angivelse av bærende

forskningsidéer og/eller problemstillinger. - Redegjørelse for fagområdet/ene som prosjektaktiviteten/e plasseres

innenfor, og for bidraget søkerne ønsker å gi til områdets utvikling. - CV’er som redegjør for søkernes relevante publisering og prosjekterfaring. - Redegjørelse for samarbeid om felles prosjektaktiviteter mellom

faggruppene. Søknaden skal kunne vise til medvirkning fra både fast vitenskapelig ansatte og midlertidig vitenskapelig ansatte. Den skal romme planer for studentmedvirkning, for eksempel i form av forslag til forsknings-baserte kurs, og for bruk av informasjons- og forskningskonsulentstøtte.

- Redegjørelse for nasjonale og internasjonale nettverk og samarbeids-partnere.

- Hvis flere forslag tilfredstiller søknadskravene, skal det prioriteres områder fra ulike deler av medievitenskapen.

Ressursene som vil bli fordelt til hvert av de prioriterte områdene er - For leder av gruppen: frikjøp inntil 70 % forskningsandel i 1.5 år - 50000 pr. år i driftsmidler over tre år - 10% av kapasiteten til IMKs informasjons- og forskningskonsulenter over

tre år - Det høyest vurderte området får allokert ett allerede innvilget strategisk

doktorgradsstipend. Dersom to områder prioriteres alternerer områdene om å være prioritert ved IMKs søknader om strategiske doktor- og postdoktorstipendier i perioden 2010-2012.

- Den høyest vurderte området får prioritet ved ansettelse av ny professor II i 2010.

For de to halve årsperiodene i 2010 og 2013 reduseres årsbeløpet tilsvarende. INFORMASJONSMØTE:

Det holdes informasjonsmøte om utlysningen tirsdag 19. januar kl. 1300- 1400, i forkant av det tillyste forskermøtet.

21. desember 2009 Knut Lundby Forskningsleder

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Research area proposal:

Media technologies, innovation and transformation of the media sector (MIME)

Field of research The proposed research area Media technologies, innovation and transformation of the media sector (MIME) explores how changing technologies and modes of usage and engagement with media are bringing about innovation and transformation in the media sector. The development and expansion of digital technology has prompted investigations into a range of media practices and aspects of media provision. Over the last decade a number of studies have focused on how Internet and mobile communication impact on media services, business models and strategies, as well as user patterns. MIME builds on a large body of research, but aims to bring it one step further by explicitly integrating perspectives on the role of media technology with perspectives on the role users have in generating innovation and transformation in the media sector. Users of digital media are becoming increasingly more active as producers (and re-distributors) of content, contributing to new services, new social constellations and new business models. By emphasising how interrelations between media technology and users contribute to driving innovation, MIME will provide a framework for studying change that enables a deeper understanding of the ongoing developments and challenges. This perspective will also facilitate critical reflection of the social, economic and political implications of the changes – in addition to the implications for the media sector itself. The objectives of MIME are dual. One is to strengthen the cumulative effect of research at IMK by bringing together researchers with a joint focus. The other is to provide an arena for generating new research projects on innovation and transformation of the media sector. For both purposes, we will focus especially on the following four areas of change: 1. New media services: New media services now develop on multiple platforms (divergence), and integrate different modes of communication (convergence). Services range from multiplatform TV-formats integrating SMS and web as return channels to online journalism incorporating television services, and from social networking sites and new search engines to location-sensitive services such as augmented reality where digital layers of information are added when viewing real objects (see e.g. Retteberg 2008, Ling and Donner 2009). 2. New players: The concept of “the media sector” is increasingly blurred as players not formerly associated with the sector begin to incorporate media practices into their mode of operations. Software and hardware developers, telecoms, search engines and catalogues, travel agents and booksellers, educational institutions, state agencies, and non-governmental organisations are only a few of the actors that now view social media, response facilities, media and music players, and mobile applications as tools to achieve their societal and commercial goals. These players draw on their particular

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competences and market logics, which in turn impose changes on the media market and thus intervene with and change established notions of mass communication (Burgess and Green 2009). 3. New roles of users: New modes of communication emerge as a growing portion of the population in developed economies use personal digital media to interact with the mass media and to form new arenas for horizontal and vertical communication (Rheingold 2002, Shirky 2008). Relations between the public and the media sector are undergoing a genuine transformation. The public – whether viewed as consumers, citizens or social beings, as users, producers or redistributors, as fans or co-creators – now feature as a fundamental part of any innovation strategy in the sector. The changes, while facilitated by digital technology, have roots in changes in society and culture, such as the long-term trend towards greater involvement amongst users in the origination and creation of content (Lessig 2008, Hindman 2009). In the course of just a few years, use of social media like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and blogs have become everyday practices such as shopping, playing, working, reading and debating, as well as arenas for agenda-setting and socializing (Tapscott and Williams 2007). 4. New practices by existing media organisations: New products and services and changing patterns of usage and demand require market incumbents to regroup and reconsider their strategies. Traditional business models fail and existing media organisations struggle to innovate, adapt, defend and expand their positions in the market (Benkler 2006, Castells 2009). They increasingly seek innovation through integrating new forms of user interaction in their services, through adaptation of production and distribution activities and through alliances with new players in the market. For all four areas, the interrelations between media technology and its users in driving innovation will be emphasised. Innovation has in recent years become an area of considerable interest in research related to media and creative industries, with earlier work involving diverse approaches. Through our research we will seek to contribute towards a clearer and more informed understanding of how innovation can best be understood, analysed and theorised in the context of media products and services, media production and distribution processes and media organisations. It is also our ambition to have impact on innovation processes through research-based design of media genres.

Main research questions Consequently, the research area aims to contribute with empirical, theoretical and critical insight about recent and ongoing changes in the Norwegian and international media sector. Ongoing and future research projects within MIME will have their own specific research questions, but on the co-operative level we ask: A. To what extent and how do use and conceptualization of new digital media technologies influence change in the four areas of change mentioned above? The purpose of this research question is to address the significance of digital media as a driver of change and re-invention in the media sector (Thorburn and Jenkins (eds.) 2003). We will study how old and new players in the media sector take the new

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technological landscape into consideration strategically and commercially and the effects of identified strategic choices. We will focus on the role that use and conceptualization of new digital media plays in processes of innovation in a broad sense. This includes innovation in technologies, services, business models and other practices where digital media may enable change (Christensen 1997, Küng et al 2008). In this context we also want to consider the stability of the changes. After a couple of decades with experimental and scattered developments in the media sector, we may now reflect on the degree to which the changes contribute to long-term innovation and transformation of the media sector. B. To what extent and how do users and their actions influence these four areas of change? The purpose here is to investigate how the changing role of users and their modes of engagement and usage of personal and other media present new constraints and possibilities for innovation in the media sector. Increased participation changes and modifies established media formats and genres, and contributes to the creation of new ones. We will study everyday digital practices in relation to the industry, but also interpersonal communication that may be targeted by the industry in its innovation processes. These developments call for a reinvention of the concepts of audiences, power relations between audiences and the media, and power relations between audiences and other institutions (Jenkins 2006, Castells 2009). C. What are the social, economic and political implications of these changes? In developing and drawing together the two above-mentioned key areas of research work, our aim is also to shed light on wider implications the observed transformations may have for everyday life, the digital economy, cultural production and distribution, and public policy-formation and non-commercial practices such as political parties, social movements and NGOs. Within each of these topics, there is a plurality of theories and issues that will be addressed empirically and theoretically.

Position of the research area MIME is safely situated within the wider field of media studies. In international conferences, relevant sections are named for example “Communication and Technology” (ICA), “Digital Culture and Communication” (ECREA), and “Communication Policy and Technology” (IAMCR). These sections typically emphasize sociology, aesthetics or policy in their approaches to technology. MIME seeks to go beyond disciplinary distinctions. Participating researchers integrate perspectives and theories from media sociology; media institutions and media policy; media economy and media management; innovation studies; user/audience studies; media theory; and technology studies. The complexity of the media sector and its environment justifies such multi-disciplinarity.

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As the title indicates, the research area is wide. Also, as the media sector changes, the research agenda must evolve alongside it. We argue that this is an advantage for developing a dynamic platform for long-term collaborative research on shifting phenomena in the media landscape. In order to keep co-operation focussed, we will decide on topics within this area for given time-periods. In the coming three-year-period (the application period) we will, as described above, concentrate on how changing technologies and modes of usage bring about innovation and transformation of the media sector. The knowledge and expertise generated in MIME will be of importance to: o International Scholarship. Research on the impact of changing technologies and

the evolving role of users is needed to advance academic understanding and provide a strengthened basis for theory building in relation to innovation, media systems, media power etc.

o Industry. Both established media companies that seek to reinvent products and services in restructured markets and new, innovative companies need expertise and research-based knowledge on service developments, on user involvement, on business models, etc. in order to make strategic decisions about their future.

o The public. Users, citizens, consumers and in particular, institutions and organizations need more knowledge on the emerging media landscape and the implications this has for our society.

o Political decision-makers. Market regulations, subsidy systems and legislation are dependent on knowledge about the transformation of the media sector.

Research activities and organisation of research area MIME brings together a group of researchers all of whom have been doing substantial research in the described area. The objectives of establishing this group are dual. Firstly, we aim to strengthen the quality of research. The participating researchers all gravitate towards this area. By bringing this group together we aim to strengthen the cumulative effect of research conducted at IMK, by sharing and collaborating more effectively with others working on similar research within the Department, as well as strengthening the existing networks and collaboration with research environments and partners outside of the Department. Secondly, the group aims to generate new large-scale projects. MIME corresponds well with several programmes in the Norwegian Research Council (such as VERDIKT and VAM) and the group aims to generate and get funding for at least two new, large research projects. In addition, a realistic objective is to be involved (as leader or core partner) in at least one application for EU funding. In order to achieve these objectives we will:

o Establish theoretical discussions and conceptual innovation that will enable research at the Department to be in the forefront internationally.

o Develop new research projects by providing arenas for project generation and elaboration of new and innovative ideas both within the group and with external partners.

o Co-operate on empirical studies that will generate new knowledge in the area.

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o Work to strengthen collaborative writing skills, co-author publications – as well as and support each other’s individual publications.

o Participate in processes of research-based invention and design. o Strengthen project management in research projects.

For these purposes, research activities will be organised around ongoing and new projects and concrete assignments (such as publications, empirical data collection, project generation etc). This means that much of the work within the group will be project based, with several project groups working with short-and medium term dead-lines. In addition we will have several ongoing events and ways of working together, which secure the long term and cumulative aim. One such important event will be an annual workshop for all members of the group. This will also serve as a place for working together on the various ongoing projects within the group, presenting ongoing work for the rest of the group, as well as discussing outlines for future projects. We will also seek to initiate a couple of large empirical studies, which will serve as a common ‘data bank’ to be shared within the group. This model is adapted from the previous IMK project ‘Participation and Play in Converging Media’, where two large studies were performed; a survey on media participation (with TSN Gallup), and a large interview study with media executives. Both served as empirical data for several publications with different theoretical perspectives by researchers in the group. While the focus and topic of such studies still needs to be discussed further, and additional funding will need to be secured, tentative ideas for such studies include the use of media technology by young vs. elderly users, and a study of innovation processes in old media institutions and new start ups. In all these activities, cooperation with external partners is important. Among the first activities the group will initiate is to arrange a symposium where we will invite key people in our network of international and national researchers as well as industrial partners to discuss our research agenda. This will serve to strengthen our ties with external partners, and develop joint projects. From our network, we will ask a couple of people to serve as our external advisors. The advisors will be expected to evaluate the activities within the research area annually, assess the group’s publication profile, the soundness of research questions, the relevance of the activities etc. Associate professor Tanja Storsul will be the leader of the group. During the fall term 2010 she will spend her sabbatical in Oslo and will be able to focus on establishing the research area. For all of 2011 and spring term 2012 she will have her capacity reserved for research extended to 70%. During the last year of the call she will use some of her ordinary time reserved for research to lead the group.

Networks and partners The research area already has a large network. Previous, ongoing, and planned research projects, have established research collaborations both nationally and internationally. Nationally, the network includes researchers across faculties at the

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University of Oslo, our sister departments at the universities of Bergen and Trondheim, research institutes such as Sintef, NIBR and ISF, and industrial partners such as NRK, Telenor, TNS Gallup, New Media Network etc. Internationally, networks include the ongoing COST action ‘Transforming audiences – transforming societies’, the international network ‘Media and participation’, The Euromedia group, the EMMA (European Media Management Association) innovation network, as well as individual researchers. MIME will integrate these networks and develop more in-depth partnerships through conference panels, publications and proposals for new research projects, as well as the mentioned symposium. As these are existing networks no partners have been explicitly asked in the context of this application.

Student involvement The research area emphasises student involvement on PhD and master level. A PhD-seminar on Media technologies, innovation and transformation of the media sector will be proposed for the PhD programme. Such a seminar will be held in Oslo and will be open to Nordic PhD-students. The participants will use the opportunity to teach classes and supervise student papers and dissertations that fit the research topic of MIME within several existing master courses at IMK, and will seek to develop one or two new courses related to the empirical cases we wish to investigate.

Dissemination of results MIME will publish its result in academic publications and at conferences. In addition we wish to develop dialogue with industry and the interested public. The purpose is both to disseminate results and to develop contact points with potential partners in future projects. We also wish to develop and operate a website and write and participate in media debates including social media. A strategy for this will be developed together with IMK’s information officer.

Resources The group plans to use the resources allocated to the research area in the following way: o The 50 000 NOK each year will be used to cover the annual internal workshop,

part of the international symposium, and other operating expenses such as visits from external advisors.

o The leader of the group will use extra time reserved for research to lead and coordinate the activities described.

o IMK’s information officer will be asked to develop an information strategy for the group and help the group to implement this strategy. This will include developing a dynamic website for the research area and a strategy for using social media.

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o IMK’s research officer will be asked to assist to develop applications to NRC and EU. The research officer will also help to arrange the annual internal workshop and to document the activities of the group for the annual assessment.

o Strategic PhD/postdoc scholarships will contribute with new research in the area and a new professor II will strengthen both research and teaching within the area.

CV - projects Participants in MIME have broad experience from research projects relevant to this research area:

o NRC projects: Internet in Transition I, II and III (Rasmussen (leader), Liestøl, Fagerjord).

o NRC project: Participation and Play in Converging Media (Syvertsen (leader), Fagerjord, Maasø, Sundet, Ihlebæk, Storsul, Enli).

o NRC project: ICT and Local Democracy (Skogerbø (leader)). o NRC projects: Telecom-projects (Skogerbø (leader), Storsul). o NRC project: Inventio (Liestøl (leader), Rasmussen). o UiO programme: Competence and Media Convergence (Storsul (co-

ordinator), Rasmussen, Liestøl, Sundet). o UiO programme: The Democracy Programme (Skogerbø). o IMK network: Professionals and Amateurs (Enli (leader), Ihlebæk, Sundet,

Løvheim, Skogerbø, Storsul, Krumsvik).

CVs - the participants Full references, CVs and further publications for the different participants may be found on the website at the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo (IMK) (cf. http://bit.ly/IMKstaff) and on FRIDA (http://bit.ly/FRIDA-eng). Gillian Doyle, PhD, is Professor II at IMK, and Director of the Masters programme in Media Management, University of Glasgow. Her research interests are related to media economics and media and cultural policy. Her work on the economics of mass media and on media ownership has been translated and published in several languages. Relevant works include The Economics of Mass Media (ed., 2006), Understanding Media Economics (2002), “Financial News Journalism: A Post-Enron Analysis of Approaches towards Economics and Financial News Production in the UK” (2006), and “Managing global expansion of media products and brands: A case study of FHM”, (2006). Doyle will continue her research on political and economic aspects of media, and new business models and patterns of use in new media. Gunn Enli, PhD, is Associate Professor at IMK. She has published widely on multi-platform media and audience participation in journals such as Media, Culture & Society, Television and New Media, Javnost- The public, and Convergence. Relevant works include Digitale Dilemmaer (2008, ed. with Skogerbø) TV- en innføring (2010, with Moe, Sundet and Syvertsen) and “Small talk makes a big difference: recent developments in interactive, SMS-based television” (2007, with Beyer, Maasø and Ytreberg). Enli will contribute with research on how combinations of social media and broadcast media create new business models and new user patterns.

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Anders Fagerjord, dr. art, is Associate Professor at IMK. He has published internationally on questions of web media, convergence and hypertext and multimedia theory. Relevant publications include Web-medier (2006), “Prescripts: Authoring With Templates” (2005), “Questioning Convergence” (2007, with Storsul), and “High Risk, Strong Belief: Images of the Future in the Media Industry” (forthcoming 2010, with Maasø, Storsul and Syvertsen). Fagerjord will contribute with a study on how publishing systems and ‘content management systems’ influence and channel internet communication, both in amateur settings (Social Network Sites, blog systems) and professional organisations (Web News sites, etc.). Karoline Andrea Ihlebæk is a PhD candidate at IMK. Her research interests include media policy, audience participation and public journalism. A particular focus in her research has been concerned with how gate-keeping mechanisms and control is carried out in a digital media environment. Ihlebæk has published several articles in Norwegian journals and books. Relevant publications include “Publikumsdeltakelse og redaksjonelle dilemmaer” (2008), “Folkejournalistikk i NRK redaksjonelle valg og utøvelse av kontroll” (2009), and “Moderering av digital publikumsdeltakelse. Idealer, praksiser og dilemmaer” (2009, with Ytreberg). Ihlebæk will work on the media industry’s control over participation formats, participation in the media by children and youth, and will contribute to a study of how young and elderly users adopt media technology. Arne H. Krumsvik, PhD, is Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at IMK, Associate Professor II at BI Norwegian School of Management, and secretary for the Norwegian Public Media Support Commission. His research interests include media management, media regulations, journalism, and freedom of expression. Relevant publications include “Strategy and Structure for Online News Production - Case Studies of CNN and NRK” (2010), The Online News Factory: A Multi-Lens Investigation of the Strategy, Structure, and Process of Online News Production at CNN and NRK (2009), and “Online News in China and Norway” (2008, with Wang). Krumsvik will be working on matters of expression, the professionalization of journalism, media ownership, and how social media affect the media industry. Gunnar Liestøl, dr. philos, is Professor at IMK and leader of the INVENTIO-project. He has published widely on digital media, hypertext and rhetorics of digital design. Relevant publications include Digital Media Revisited: Theoretical and Conceptual Innovations in Digital Domains (2003, ed. with Morrison and Rasmussen), Digitale medier. En innføring (2007, with Rasmussen), and Sammensatte tekster (2009, with Fagerjord and Hannemyr). Liestøl will work on genre design and innovation in the field of mobile augmented reality and location based media. Arnt Maasø, dr. art, is Associate Professor at IMK. His research interests include music and sound in film and TV, media technology, communication and social media. Relevant publications are “Small talk makes a big difference: recent developments in interactive, SMS-based television” (2007, with Beyer, Enli and Ytreberg), “’Fordi de fortjener det’. Publikumsdeltakelse som strategisk utviklingsområde i mediebransjen” (2007, with Sundet and Syvertsen), and "Mediating Music: Materiality and Silence in Madonna's "Don't Tell Me" (2009, with Danielsen). In MIME Maasø will work on technologies of sharing and using music and shifts in the music industry, and will contribute to a study of how young and elderly users adopt media technology.

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Terje Rasmussen, dr. philos, is Professor at IMK and part-time professor at National Institute for Consumer Research. He has published widely on media theory and digital media. Relevant publications include Digital Media Revisited: Theoretical and Conceptual Innovations in Digital Domains (2003, ed. with Liestøl and Morrison), Kampen om Internett (2007), and Nettverksformelen. Hvordan det sosiale livet henger sammen (2008). Rasmussen will work on social experimentation of augmented reality-services (INVENTIO), and be involved in methodological and theoretical issues concerning new media and services and consumer influence/freedom. Eli Skogerbø, dr. polit, is Professor in Media Studies. She has authored and co-authored and co-edited a number of publications, among them Digitale Dilemmaer (2008, ed. with Enli), “Community Re-engagement of youth: e-participation realities in Uganda and Norway” (2010) and “Towards and information society? The value of media production and consumption” (2004, with Syvertsen). Skogerbø will continue her research on local media and political communication, focusing on the interaction between local media and local content online and offline, and on the integration of social and personal media into the communication strategies of political actors and political journalism. Tanja Storsul, dr. polit., is Associate professor at IMK, and member of the Norwegian Public Media Support Commission. Her research interests include political and economic aspects of telecommunications, digital television and social media. Among her relevant publications are Ambivalence towards convergence. Digitalization and media change (2007, ed., with Stuedahl), “The impact of convergence on European television policy: Pressure for change - forces of stability” (2007, with Syvertsen), and “Television in cyberspace. The net neutrality tussle in Norway” (forthcoming). Storsul will do research on how young people use social media for political purposes and continue her research on political and economic aspects of new media. Storsul will be the leader of MIME. Vilde Schanke Sundet is a PhD candidate at IMK. Her research interests include media convergence, digitalization, media institutions, mobile media, audience participation, and television studies. She is currently finishing her thesis on how the established Norwegian media industry adapts to technological change and make sense of mobile media. Relevant publications include “Innovasjon og nyskaping i NRK: En analyse av platform- og sjangerbruk i Rubenmann-prosjektet” (2008), “Working notions of active audiences: Further research on the active participant in convergent media industries” (2008, with Ytreberg), and TV - en innføring (forthcoming 2010, with Enli, Moe and Syvertsen). In MIME Sundet will work on ‘professional amateurs’ in the media, and will contribute to a study of how young and elderly users adapt and use media technology. Trine Syvertsen, PhD, is Professor at IMK and Dean of The Faculty of Humanities, University of Oslo. She has published widely on Television, media policy, broadcasting history, public service, and audience participation in new media. Relevant publications are Mediemangfold: Styring av mediene i et globalisert marked (2004), “Citizens, audiences, customers and players. A conceptual discussion of the relationship between broadcasters and their publics” (2004), Den store TV-krigen (1997), “Non-professional Activity on Television in a Time of Digitalisation. More

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Fun for the Elite or New Opportunities for Ordinary People?” (2009, with Karlsen, Sundet and Ytreberg), In MIME Syvertsen will contribute to a study of how young and elderly users adopt and use media technology, and continue her work on media policy, audience participation and new media.

References Benkler, Yochai (2006) The Wealth of Networks. How Social Production Transform

Markets and Freedom. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. Burgess, Jean and Joshua Green (2009) YouTube, Online Video and Participatory

Culture. Digital Media and Society Series. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Castells, Manuell (2009) Communication power. Oxford: Oxford University Press Christensen, Clayton (1997) The Innovator’s Dilemma. When New Technologies

Cause Great Firms to Fail. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Hindman, Matthew (2009) The Myth of Digital Democracy. Princeton and Oxford:

Princeton University Press. Jenkins, Henry (2006) Convergence culture: where old and new media collide. New

York: New York University Press Küng, Lucy, Robert.G. Picard, Ruth Towse (2008) The Internet and the Mass Media.

London: SAGE. Lessig, Lawrence (2008) Remix. Making art and commerce thrive in the hybrid

economy. Great Britain: Bloomsbury. Ling, Rich and Jonathan Donner (2009) Mobile Communication. Digital Media and

Society Series. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Retteberg, Jill Walker (2008) Blogging. Digital Media and Society Series. Cambridge,

UK: Polity Press Rheingold, Howard (2002) Smartmobs. The next social revolution. Cambridge: Basic

Books. Shirky, Clay (2008) Here Comes Everybody. The Power of Organizing without

Organizations. London: Penguin Books. Tapscott, Don and Anthony D. Williams (2007) Wikinomics. How mass collaboration

changes everything. London: Atlantic Books. Thorburn, David and Henry Jenkins (2003) Rethinking Media Change. The Aesthetics

of Transition. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.

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PROPOSAL FOR PRIORITIZED RESEARCH AREA AT IMK

MEDIA AESTHETICS

HEADS OF AREA: LIV HAUSKEN (Associate professor, tenure, leader of area) OVE SOLUM (Professor, tenure) JON INGE FALDALEN (Lecturer, temporary)

IMK PARTICIPANTS: TAINA BÜCHER (Ph.d.-candidate, temporary)

ANDERS FAGERJORD (Associate professor, tenure) TRINE KRIGSVOLL HAAGENSEN (Seminar teacher, temporary) GUNNAR LIESTØL (Professor, tenure) HELGE RØNNING (Professor, tenure) JOHANNE KIELLAND SERVOLL (Ph.d.-candidate, temporary) SYNNE SKJULSTAD (Post. doc, temporary) TORE SLAATTA (Professor, tenure) GRY CECILIE RUSTAD (Ph.d.-candidate, temporary) RAGNHILD TRONSTAD (Post. doc, temporary)

QUESTION: Why should IMK prioritize the Media Aesthetics research area? ANSWER: The research area Media Aesthetics exists at IMK. The overall research

question is how media mean and make sense? This question is explored through ongoing and planned research networks, projects and public-ations, both nationally and internationally, by thirteen researchers from the tenure and temporary academic staff at IMK. Through this application we would like to argue that Media Aesthetics is a research area where IMK in fact could become one of the leading research departments in Europe. Media Aesthetics should therefore become prioritized.

OVERALL RESEARCH IDEAS. How do media mean and make sense? Objects and

processes of inquiry require subjects of inquiry. Media are such objects and processes. And

media aesthetic scholars are such subjects. We respond to a new situation that has emerged

within the realm of media – culturally through the expanding use of media, technically by

means of its digitization, and theoretically through the emergence of a common realm of

reflection where the increased interaction between media studies and the aesthetic disciplines

can take place. In this situation, we see both an opportunity and the need to rethink current

ideas of the relationships between technologies, the senses and social and cultural formations.

Media Aesthetics as a distinct research area has been developed at IMK during the last

decade. In this research area we explore current media practices in order to generate cross-

disciplinary theoretical and analytical insights into the impact of the materialities of technical

mediation on communication, information and expression. To promote Media Aesthetics as a

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prioritized research area at IMK has both professional and strategic purposes: It will support

the effort to develop the area further in the direction of theoretical and critical thinking on

media technologies and aesthetics. It will also be strategically wise, since Media Aesthetics is a

research area where IMK in fact could become one of the leading research departments in

Europe – an Oslo School of Media Aesthetics. Two serious first steps in this direction are the

area publications Thinking Media Aesthetics (ed. Hausken) and Between Stillness and Motion: Film,

Photography, Algorithms (ed. Røssaak, part of national network, with contribution by Hausken

and area partners).

During the last decade, the expression “media aesthetics” has gone from more or less

non-existent to a familiar concept in interdisciplinary fields of research on media, aesthetics

and technology all over the Western world (USA, Germany, France and Britain in particular).

In certain cases it has been developed towards advanced art or media productions (often with

the notion “applied media aesthetics”). The term has also been used as referring to what one

may call a media sensitive textual analysis, as well as an alternative notion for a dimension of

the diverse fields called visual studies or visual culture particularly interested in questions

concerning technology and mediation. So, what is meant by Media Aesthetics here at IMK?

Let us first briefly indicate the field’s historical contexts by reference to a few names:

Walter Benjamin, Rudolf Arnheim, Marshall McLuhan, Harold Innis, Raymond Williams,

Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Gilles Deleuze, Friedrich A. Kittler, Noël Carroll, Mark B.

Hansen, Katherine N. Hayles and WJT Mitchell are prominent thinkers that have inspired the

development of this field so far. Several phenomenologically inspired thinkers like Maurice

Merleau-Ponty, André Bazin, Jean François Lyotard, Roland Barthes and Vivian Sobchack

also have to be mentioned before we explicate a bit further the two concepts of which media

aesthetics is combined: media and aesthetics.

First, aesthetics: Aesthetics is not viewed as a philosophy of art. Rather, aesthetics is

understood as a theory of culturally and historically embedded sensation and perception,

conceptually developed from the original Greek sense of the term, as aisthesis or sense

perception. In media aesthetics, aesthetics can be defined as a critical reflection on cultural

expressions, on technologies of the senses and on the experiences of everyday life. Briefly put,

media aesthetics may be seen as a study of ways of perceiving the world. The studies of

perception to be presented here share an interest in the reciprocity between the senses and an

ideal of a non-hierarchical view of sense perception. In contrast – both to the separation of

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the senses in neuroscience and cognitive psychology, treating each sense as individually linked

to one single physiological organ and one particular part of the brain, and also to the ranking

of the senses so common in philosophies of art – media aesthetics is interested in the

complexity of sense perception and its embeddedness in the cultures and histories of

technologies of mediation. The concept of aesthetics in the Media Aesthetics area is general

and descriptive rather than normative. Aesthetics is not defined by properties of the object of

inquiry, but by the perspective of which the objects are approached.

The concept of medium is complex in many ways, and will be treated as complex. The

concept of medium is ambiguous, as it refers both to the “middle” and to the “bridge”, to

something that separates and something that connects. It is also multidimensional and

multilayered. Its multidimensionality includes technical, social, cultural and economic

dimensions. Its multiple layers of mediation or mediality include technical properties,

traditions and conventions of different modes, genres, and styles, and the conventions of

relevant semiotic systems. The media are social practices or assemblages of materials and

perspectives. They are also very specific technological arrangements that can be identified as

such through the way they activate experiences with different media technologies. This rather

wide variety of media concepts may be the reason why the concept seems to survive all sorts

of attacks, be they from technological, sociological, economic or philosophical perspectives.

In the Media Aesthetics research area, we will not try to reduce all these media

concepts to their least common denominator. Rather, we will try to clarify some important

conceptual tensions and present a collection of suggestions regarding the direction the

discussions about the conception of medium or mediality should go. What is shared – initially

and in a very basic fashion – is the wish to move beyond the idea of a medium as something

rather fixed, an object or apparatus, towards a concept of mediation as a process, as the

performance of a function. Media aesthetic analyses refocus the study of medium from

object-orientated questions like “what is film?” and “what is photography?” common in both

communication studies and historical studies of the arts, to questions regarding social

practices and experiences of media technologies. This implies a refocus from “medium” to

“mediality” or “mediation”. By this, the media aesthetic analysis reset the study of aesthetic

expressions from the hermeneutic question “what does this work mean?” to the more

technical or rhetorical issue: “how does it work?” or “how does it mean?”. In these questions of

how things work, the medium used makes a difference.

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Secondly, and still concerning the concept of medium, what is shared is the emphasis

on the technologies and materialities of mediation. Hence, the move from media as objects to

mediations as processes and functions also implies a move from the more or less stable or fixed

materiality of a medium to the relative materialities of actual medial practices. This allows us to

look into new cultural expressions without being restrained to see them as combinations of

older media or media contained in media. Contrary to this, the media aesthetic emphasis on

mediation involves flexible distinctions between media of storage and media of display, as

well as conventions of different semiotic systems, modes, genres, and styles, so that a

particular aspect of a complex apparatus not always and in all contexts must be considered as

fixed.

Thirdly, as to the conception of medium, this research area also suggests that an

aesthetic approach to mediation moves beyond the paradigm of communication, which is the

idea that a medium first and foremost should be seen as a vehicle of communication. Studies

of communication are of course part of media aesthetics, but the conceptions of medium and

mediation should not be seen as dependent upon a theory of communication. This reflects a

more general wish to open up the conceptions of meaning and sensation so often

subordinated to a perspective of communication between senders and receivers in studies of

media. In media aesthetics, mediation is understood in a much more open and basic sense,

since experience as such is seen as culturally mediated – and cultural mediations must be

considered as having material and social dimensions that are important for the understanding

of media and aesthetics.

This situates media aesthetics at the critical intersection between aesthetic discourses

and the realm of technological and mediatic phenomena. In this critical intersection, media

specific concepts are seen as dynamic and contextually flexible, always reflecting their specific

situatedness within a medial, technological, social or cultural context. Main research interests

focus on the materialities of mediation through medial transferals, visualization and scientific

imaging and audiovisual aesthetics. The medium is not a given, and we start from concrete

cultural phenomena with a special interest in how the medium makes a difference.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS, ACTIVITIES AND NETWORKS. Media Aesthetics as a

research area at IMK is to be understood as diverse. As an existing area, the overall media

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aesthetic questions, activities and networks at IMK can be allocated in three tangent areas of

foci, namely Medial Transferals, Visualization and Scientific Imaging and Audiovisual Aesthetics:

MEDIAL TRANSFERALS. Main research interests are exploring how social,

historical, cultural and technological changes involve medial transferals that questions existing

sets of concepts, methodologies and theoretical perspectives. The research views mediation as

process, as performance of a function. Foci are performative, technological and genre transferal.

Performative transferal research in the Media Aesthetics research area explores how

performative strategies are being used in interactive media art to produce a sense of presence

and how the notion of play found in traditional aesthetic theory can be transferred and used

on interactive works. Play is also explored as a medium in itself, characterising and/or

transforming the objects and situations that are framed by it. Theories of performativity form

a perspective that has not previously been applied to media aesthetics, and the media aesthetic

implications of interactive media art practices are addressed through the notion of

performative transformation. The research also explores how aesthetic practices form the

basis of novel forms of mediated advertising and brand building within the fashion business.

How may we textually conceive of the transference of aesthetic value from aesthetic practice

to branded products through cross-media branding and advertising? Performative transferal

research is explored through the ongoing research projects Play, Performativity and Presence. A

Study of the Play Concept in New Media Art and A Media Aesthetic Perspective on Play (Tronstad),

Media Aesthetic Transferal as Performative Practice (Tronstad and Susanne Østby Sæther, part of

national network), and Branding and Advertising in Digital Domains (Skjulstad).

Technological transferal research in the Media Aesthetics research area explores how

algorithmic software prescripts transfer cultural practice, shapes identities and creates subject

positions. The research explores how new media practices are developed and formed by the

underlying features of the present software. It focuses on the cultural and media theoretical

ramifications of software in the context of social media specifically, interested in the power

dynamics between software and subjects, and specifically the ways in which software can be

seen as generating and circulating identity, as well as on the material-ideological aspects of

software itself. How are subjects addressed by the material substrates of media today? The

research also discusses how easy-to-use computer authoring systems (blogs, homepage

generators, video editing systems, social network sites) offer prewritten parts of half-finished

messages – so-called prescripts – and study how they influence on the messages users create.

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Technological transferal research is explored through the ongoing research projects Inventio

(Liestøl), Prescripts in Template Authoring Systems (Fagerjord), and Techno-Social Moments: an

Understanding of the Role of Software in Today’s Media Practice (Bücher).

Genre transferal research in the Media Aesthetics research area explores genres on

paper and on line, especially how genres on YouTube and literary forms and genres in books

are linked to socio-historical implications on aesthetics. The research also designs a system for

presenting historical church music in Rome. Using an iPhone with GPS, the application can

detect which church a user is entering, and play music written for that church, as well as

recorded talks on the music’s position in music history. Focus is on how the aesthetics of the

architecture and art on the location influences on how audience members comprehend the

music presented. Genre transferal research is explored through the ongoing research projects

The Book as a Medium (Rønning and Slaatta), Inventio (Liestøl) and The Genres of YouTube and

Genre Design: Church Music in Rome (Fagerjord).

National and international networks and cooperating partners are WJT Mitchell

(University of Chicago), Alexander Galloway (NYU), the Media Aesthetics project and its

members (Østby Sæther, Røssaak, Blom and Fetveit), The National Library (Eivind Røssaak),

the Aesthetics at work project and its members (Arne Melberg, Arnfinn Bø-Rygg, Mia Göran),

InterMedia (Andrew Morrison), Marin Engebretsen, Adrian Førde Anderssen (UiA) and the

Swedish research project Media Aesthetic Pedagogy at Malmö University (Feiwel Kupferberg).

VISUALIZATION AND SCIENTIFIC IMAGING. Main research interests are

visualizations and scientific imaginings of that which is hidden, too small, too big or too far

away to be seen. Foci are visualization and scientific imaging, two interrelated operations of

aesthetic practices considered as processes of rendering something available to sensory

perception.

Visualization research in the Media Aesthetics research area currently involves studies

of visualization of historical sites on location (Inventio, Liestøl) and of visualization of

detection in forensic fiction (Forensic Fiction and Surveillance, Hausken), as well as medical

visualization of the body (Bodies in Translation. Visualisation and Visibility in Science and Art,

Hausken), conceptualizing visualization at the nano-scale (Imag(in)ing the Nano-Scale, Hausken)

and how photographic technology and scientific knowledge changes visualization and

perception of the universe (Universal Images – Universal Knowledge?, Krigsvoll Haagensen).

Scientific imaging in the Media Aesthetics research area currently include the inter-

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disciplinary research project X-rays on Photography (Hausken) as well as studies of the scientific

images involved in the projects mentioned above (forensic fiction, nano-technological images,

medical images, photography).

National and international networks and cooperating partners are the Nano-project

and its members: Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities (UiB), Oslo

National Academy of the Arts, Dep of Philosophy (NTNU), Nanoscience Programme (UiB),

The Dep of Art & the NanoCenter (Univ of South Carolina), Inst for Science and Society

(Univ of Nottingham), Inst for Philosophy at Darmstadt Technical University (Germany), the

Bodies in Translation project (Aud Sissel Hoel, NTNU, Annamaria Carusi, Oxford e-Research

Centre) and its international network, as well as the Photography in culture project (Peter Larsen),

its members and international network, and Nomadikon (Asbjørn Grønstad, Øyvind Vågnes,

Henrik Gustafsson and Tonje Haugland Sørensen) and its international network.

AUDIOVISUAL AESTHETICS. Main research interests are audiovisual expressions

on multiple platforms, especially the style and materiality of moving images and the

significance of the platform used. How does moving images mean in different contexts? Foci

are moving images aesthetics and still moving aesthetics.

Moving images aesthetics research explores the intersection between film and

television aesthetics research and media aesthetics. It explores the film repertoire and

questions related to the aesthetical consequences of the digital turn in the Norwegian cinema

institution. It analyses films and television series from aesthetic and historical perspectives,

and asks how film and television as medium play a role, not only in creating new meanings,

but also in organizing and communicating the authorial instances of the writer of the novel

and the director in the filmic or televisual expression. It also analyses television series, such as

Mad Men and The Wire, through Jacques Ranciére’s aesthetic theory, to further the

understanding of recent developments in so-called “Quality Television” and televisuality.

Moving images aesthetics research is explored through the ongoing research projects Moving

Images Aesthetics (Solum, Hausken and Faldalen), Audiovisual Diversity in the Digital Age (Solum

and Asbjørnsen, part of national network), Film Styles in Contemporary Norwegian Cinema

(Solum), The Track Record of the Auteur Concept in Norwegian Film History (Servoll), and

Contemplating Television Fiction and Watching Television with Jacques Ranciére (Rustad).

Still moving aesthetics research in the Media Aesthetics research area explores how

moving images sometimes seemingly move to stand still. This research is done through media

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aesthetic analyses of the slide-motion film and the figure of style the static shot, and through

exploring how moving and still images, as well as sound, can be effectively used to explain

matters – for instance, but not only – in digital textbooks for pupils and students. Still moving

research is explored through the ongoing research projects Between Stillness and Motion: Film,

Photography, Algorithms (Hausken in Røssaak), Mediating Materialities of Still Moving Images – the

Static Shot in Film, Video, and File (Faldalen), and Still and Moving Images in Explanatory Web Sites

(Fagerjord).

National and international networks and cooperating partners are the Nordic network

Nordic Film Think Tank (Solum, Ib Bondebjerg and Erik Hedling), The National Library

(Røssaak), the project The Body Language in Audio-Visual Media and its members (Lennard

Højbjerg and Torben Grodal), Gunnar Iversen, Bjørn Sørensen and Stig Kulset (NTNU), Jan

Anders Diesen, Tore Helseth and Audun Engelstad (Lillehammer), Maaret Koskinen, Trond

Lundemo and Astrid Söderbergh-Widding (Stockholm) and Erik Hedling (Lund), Dag

Asbjørnsen (The Department of Culture), and Timotheus J.V. Vermeulen (Reading).

COOPERATION PLANS. To arrange the below mentioned – and as part of the aim of

becoming one of the leading research areas in Europe – to inform about our activities and to

assist with application processes, we need the prioritized resources of the information and

research consultants at IMK.

AREA WORKSHOPS. The Media Aesthetic research area at IMK will meet monthly

to a) exchange ideas in an informal setting so as to generate less structured discussions of half

baked publications and potential projects, and b) read and discuss seminal texts within the

field of media aesthetics. The area will also meet twice every term to discuss research in

progress (papers, article drafts etc.). Once a semester we will invite a relevant international

guest to an extended (2-3 days) seminar, in which we discuss our own texts. Already this

spring, a Moving Images Aesthetics workshop will develop an application to NFR in June 2010

for the research project Moving Images Aesthetics.

AREA SEMINARS. The area plan to arrange the seminars Medial Transferals,

Visualization and Scientific Imaging, Audiovisual Aesthetics, Media Aesthetics and the Cultural Industry,

(In)Visual Culture: Theoretical and Methodological Perspectives on Visibility and Invisibility in Media

Systems, Techno-Cultural Situated Selves: Identity and Subjectivity Today and Program and Programming:

Conceptualizing Media Formats and In-Formation during 2010-2013.

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AREA EXHIBITION. The area will curate an exhibition – including a seminar – in

relation to the post doctoral-project Media Aesthetic Transferral as Performative Practice.

AREA COURSE. The area will involve higher-level students in the research network

as part of a planned Master course named Media Aesthetics Workshop (10 credits), which is

integrated in the area workshops. Based on the quality of theses written within what we define

as the Media Aesthetics area during the last few years, qualified recruitment seems probable.

AREA WEBSITE. The area will create a Media Aesthetics website.

AREA NETWORK. The area will initiate and organize a Nordic network for media

aesthetics.

CV’S WITH RELEVANT PUBLICATIONS AND PROJECT EXPERIENCE.

LIV HAUSKEN (Dr.art., Associate Professor) has been the leader of the inter-

disciplinary research project Media Aesthetics – Materiality, Practice and Experience for the last five

years, and as such been responsible for several international conferences, workshops, a major

art exhibition and all sorts of project activities. The two doctoral candidates in the group both

submitted and defended their doctoral theses during that period. She is editing the anthology

Thinking Media Aesthetics to be published at Duke University Press (2010) with contributions

from WJT Mitchell, D. N. Rodowick, Mary Ann Doane, Samuel Weber, Alexander R.

Galloway, Dieter Daniels and Sandra Naumann, as well as from the members of the project

group, Ina Blom, Arild Fetveit, Eivind Røssaak, Susanne Østby Sæther and herself. With

contributions from Tom Gunning, Mark Hansen, George Baker, Christa Blumlinger, and

Thomas Elsaesser in addition to all the members of the research group, the research project

will also publish the anthology Between Stillness and Motion: Film, Photography, Algorithms (ed.

Røssaak) at the Amsterdam University Press this year. Hausken has also published a

collection of media aesthetic studies in Norwegian (Medieestetikk, Spartacus 2009). Hausken

has participated in the two inter-disciplinary NFR-projects Aesthetics at Work at the University

of Oslo (2003-2007) and The Photography in Culture at the University of Bergen (2004-2008).

She has also been part of the Nordic Network of the History and Aesthetics of Photography for five

years. Hausken is international partner in the Swedish research project Media Aesthetic Pedagogy

at Malmö University (Feiwel Kupferberg). She is also a member of the board of the Aesthetic

Seminar, an open, interdisciplinary seminar at the Humanistic Faculty at the University of

Oslo. She is the co-editor, with Peter Larsen, of Medievitenskap, a four-volume textbook in

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Media Studies (1999, revised 2008/2009), and has published numerous articles on such topics

as textual theory, narrative theory, feminism, film, television, photography, and medical

imaging, among them “Textual Theory and Blind Spots in Media Studies”, in Marie-Laure

Ryan (ed., 2004) Narrative Across Media. The Languages of Storytelling, University of Nebraska,

“Fotografisk erfaring” (Photographic Experience), in C. Krogholm and J. Uhre Mogensen

(eds., 2006) Fotografiske dialekter, NSU Press; ”Billedbehandling og troverdighet” (Image

Modification and Credibility), in E. Skogerbø and G.Enli (ed., 2007) Digitale Dilemma,

Gyldendal; and “The Aesthetics of X-ray Imaging”, in A.Melberg (ed., 2007) Aesthetics at

Work, UniPub.

OVE SOLUM (Dr. philos, Professor) has done research and published articles and

books on a wide range of subject within the field of film studies (film history, film theory,

film analysis and institutional analysis). He recently finished the book Den norske filmbølgen.

Fra Orions belte til Max Manus (The Norwegian Film Wave – From Orion’s Belt to Max Manus)

written in collaboration with professor Gunnar Iversen (NTNU). The book was published in

January 2010 and combines a historical overview of Norwegian film history after 1985 with

close readings of a selection of film texts from the period. This book follows the book

Nærbilder: artikler om norsk filmhistorie (Close-Ups: Articles on Norwegian Film History) from 1997

which dealt with the Norwegian film history from the pioneer area to the mid 1980s. In 2007

the anthology Følelser for film (Feelings For Film) was published with Solum as editor (and

contributor) discussing the emotional appeal of films. Solum is currently revising the fourth

edition of the book Introduksjon til film. Historie, teori og analyse (Introduction to Film. History,

Theory, and Analysis) first published in 1994 (Swedish edition 1997). Solum’s doctoral thesis

(2004) dealt with the development of the unique municipal cinema system of Norway, as a

part of the project titled The Municipal Cinema System of Norway. This project has resulted in

articles in national and international journals and in several reports. The last publication

related to the project was the book Film og Kino. Den norske modellen (Film and Cinema. The

Norwegian Model) which was published in 2008. Solum is part of a Norwegian network for

film historians. He is member of the Research group at the National Library and is in charge

of the annual Film History Conference arranged in collaboration with the National Library

and Norwegian Film Institute. Solum is also part of a research project on Norwegian film

history applying for funding. In April 2010 he is in charge of a seminar on Scandinavian

New Wave with contributors from the different Scandinavian countries. The plan is to use

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this seminar as a starting point to develop a Scandinavian research project focusing upon the

mutual historical and actual tendencies in Nordic film. This Scandinavian network will be

strengthened with the newly established Journal of Scandinavian Cinema. Solum is a member of

the journal’s advisory board. In relation to the digitalization of the cinemas in Norway taking

place between 2010 and 2012, Solum plans a project dealing with the different aspects of the

digitalization process. The project will study the consequences both when it comes to the

Norwegian cinema institution as such, the film repertoire and questions related to the

aesthetical consequences of the digital turn.

Blindern, March 2010

Liv Hausken Ove Solum

Jon Inge Faldalen

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Tanja!Storsul!29.!oktober!2012!!

Media&Innovations&–&resultater&pr&oktober&2012&Dette!notatet!oppsummerer!de!viktigste!resultatene!fra!Media!Innovations!fra!juli!2010!til!oktober!2012.!!!I!søknaden!om!å!bli!prioritert!område!la!vi!vekt!på!at!vi!ønsket!å:!

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! 2!

• Et!prosjekt!om!brukerevaluering!og!testing!av!App!i!kunstmuseer!er!nylig!sendt!Kulturrådet!fra!forsker!tilknyttet!Media!Innovations.!

• Sky!og!scene!fikk!tilslag!på!sin!NFRTsøknad!i!2010!(men!søknaden!var!utforma!før!Media!Innovations!ble!etablert).!

Aktiviteter&Media!Innovations!har,!slik!det!ble!framhevet!i!søknaden,!gjennomført!en!rekke!aktiviteter!som!har!hatt!som!formål!å!styrke!samarbeid,!utvikle!undervisning!og!knytte!nettverk!til!samarbeidende!miljøer.!I!tillegg!til!halvårlige!interne!seminarer!og!en!kontinuerlig!rekke!av!kollokvier/seminarer!og!gjesteforelesninger!(se!vedlegg)!vil!vi!særlig!trekke!fram:!!Masteremnet!Media$Innovations!ble!første!gang!gitt!vårsemestret!2012.!Flere!av!forskerne!i!Media!Innovations!bidro!til!undervisninga.!!The$International$Symposium$on$Media$Innovations$19.T20.!april!2012.!!Dette!var!et!symposium!med!ca!80!deltakere!fra!forskning!og!næringsliv!i!over!20!land.!Symposiet!plasserte!oss!som!stedet!der!det!forskes!på!medieinnovasjon.!Symposiet!er!etablert!som!en!årlig!event!der!arrangementet!alternerer!mellom!IMK!og!kolleger!ved!Vrije!Universitet!i!Brussel.!!Antologien!Media$Innovations!redigert!av!Arne!Krumsvik!og!Tanja!Storsul!gis!ut!på!Nordicom!tidlig!i!2013.!Antologien!er!basert!på!bidrag!til!symposiet!i!2012.!!Workshopen!ICT$and$the$global$governance$of$peace$and$security!ble!arrangert!med!tung!internasjonal!deltakelse!28.T29.!september!2012.!!PhDTworkshopen!Researching$Media$Innovations$–$approaches$to$users,$producers$and$texts!arrangeres!7.!november!2012.!!!Workshopen!Ethical$Internet$Research!arrangeres!19.!november!2012.!!!Media!Innovations!har!ikke!gjennomført!felles!store!empiriske!studier!slik!det!ble!beskrevet!i!søknaden.!Dette!er!IMKs!ledelse!orientert!om.!

Centre&for&Research&on&Media&Innovations&Deltakerne!i!Media!Innovations!har!opplevd!samarbeidet!så!fruktbart!at!vi!har!ønsket!å!gi!samarbeidet!en!noe!fastere!form!som!muliggjør!videreføring!uavhengig!av!IMKs!framtidige!prioriteringer,!og!som!letter!samarbeid!mot!eksterne!forskningsmiljø.!Media!Innovations!har!derfor!etablert!Centre!for!Research!on!Media!Innovations!(CeRMI).!Pr!i!dag!har!CeRMI!medlemmer!fra!Telenor,!Sintef,!Høgskolen!i!Gjøvik,!Høgskolen!i!Oslo!og!Akershus,!og!IMK.!!Websida!er!knutepunktet!i!sentret:!http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/research/center/mediaTinnovations/!!Og!vi!sprer!informasjon!via!Facebook:!https://www.facebook.com/MediaInnovations!!

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Vedlegg:!

Events!announced!on!the!website!T!open!to!interested!researchers!and!students.!!Upcoming!events!!

• PhD!Workshop:!Researching!Media!Innovations!T!Approaches!to!Users,!Producers!and!Texts.!Time!and!place:!Nov!7,!2012!09:15!AM!T!04:00!PM,!Room!406,!Department!of!media!and!communication!Add!to!calendar!

• Workshop:!Ethical!Internet!Research:!Challenges!and!(re)solutions.!Time!and!place:!Nov!19,!2012!12:00!PM!T!04:00!PM,!Room!208,!Department!of!Media!and!Communication!Add!to!calendar!

• PhD!Defense:!Jens!Barland.!Time:!Nov!28,!2012!Add!to!calendar!• Internal!workshop.!Time!and!place:!Dec!10,!2012,!406!Add!to!calendar!• The!International!Symposium!on!Media!Innovations!2013.!Time!and!

place:!Apr!18,!2013!T!Apr!19,!2013,!Brussels!Add!to!calendar!!Previous!events!

• Workshop:!ICTs!and!the!Global!Governance!of!Peace!and!Security.!Time!and!place:!Sep!28,!2012!09:00!AM!T!Sep!29,!2012!12:30!PM,!Rådssalen,!Lucy!Smiths!Building,!University!of!Oslo!

• PhD!thesis!defense:!Vilde!Schanke!Sundet.!Time!and!place:!Sep!19,!2012!11:15!AM,!Auditorium!6!Eilert!Sunds!hus!

• Reception:!Opening!of!Centre!for!Research!on!Media!Innovations.!Time!and!place:!Aug!27,!2012!03:00!PM!T!04:00!PM,!IMK,!room!418!

• Guest!lecture!by!Jan!Fagerberg:!“Innovasjonsstudier!–!en!oversikt”!Time!and!place:!Jun!5,!2012!12:30!PM!T!02:00!PM,!Rom!418!!

• Why!the!KGB!wants!you!to!join!Facebook!T!with!Evgeny!Morozov.!Time!and!place:!May!11,!2012!02:00!PM!T!04:00!PM,!University!of!Oslo,!Forskningsparken,!Gaustadalléen!21,!IMK,!room!205!

• The!International!Symposium!on!Media!Innovations!at!the!University!of!Oslo.!Time!and!place:!Apr!19,!2012!T!Apr!20,!2012,!University!of!Oslo,!Oslo!Innovation!Center!

• Colloquium!on!innovation!theory!and!research:!Niamh!Ní!Bhroin!and!Tanja!Storsul:!On!Social!Innovation.!Time!and!place:!Dec!6,!2011!01:15!PM!T!02:00!PM,!Rom!406!(lounge):!!

• Colloquium!with!visiting!researchers!Andrea!Calderaro!and!Jonathan!Albright.!(Andrea!Calderaro:!"New!Media!and!International!Politics:!opportunities,!despite!the!limits"!Jonathan!Albright:!"Curatorial!vs.!editorial!newsmaking:!new!forms!of!audience!participation!in!the!online!news!ecosystem")!Time!and!place:!Nov!29,!2011!12:30!PM!T!02:00!PM,!Rom!418!

• Guest!lecture!by!Steve!Jones!"Human!Augmentics!and!Persuasive!Technologies.!Bridging!Communication!and!Computer!Science."!Time!and!place:!Nov!22,!2011!12:15!PM!T!02:00!PM,!Room!202!

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• Colloquium!on!innovation!theory!and!research!Anders!Fagerjord:!On!syntheticTanalytic!approaches.!Time!and!place:!Nov!8,!2011!01:15!PM!T!02:00!PM,!Rom!406!(lounge)!

• Colloquium!on!innovation!theory!and!research.!Terje!Colbjørnsen!presents!his!PhDTproject!for!discussion.!

• Colloquium!on!innovation!theory!and!research.!Niamh!presents!her!PhD!project!for!discussion.!Time!and!place:!Jun!14,!2011!01:15!PM!T!02:00!PM,!Rom!406!

• Colloquium!on!Innovation!theory.!Gunnar!Liestøl!and!Terje!Rasmussen:!Inventio!and!Innovation.!Time!and!place:!May!3,!2011!01:00!PM!T!02:00!PM,!Room!406!

• Colloquium!on!innovation!theory!and!research.!Tone!Bratteteig!om!Participatory!design!og!innovasjon.!Internal!seminar!Time!and!place:!Mar!2,!2011!10:00!AM!T!11:00!AM,!Room!418!

• Colloquium!on!innovation!theory!and!research.!Arnt!Maasø!discusses!ties!T!i.e.!Granovetters'!theory!about!'weak!and!strong!ties'!(1973)!and!Adams'!concept!'temporary!ties'.!Time!and!place:!Dec!10,!2010!12:30!PM!T!01:30!PM,!Room!406!

• Mobile!opplevelser:!Tverrfaglig!seminar!om!design.!Time!and!place:!Nov!30,!2010!10:15!AM!T!Dec!1,!2010!01:00!PM,!Forskningsparken!

• Colloquium!on!innovation!theory!and!research.!!Tanja!Storsul!about!Tapscott!&!Williams'!Wikinomics.!Time!and!place:!Nov!26,!2010!12:30!PM,!Room!406!!

• Colloquium!on!innovation!theory!and!research.!!Terje!Rasmussen!about!Eric!von!Hippel's!Democratizing!Innovation.!Time!and!place:!Nov!12,!2010!12:30!PM,!Room!406!

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Media Aesthetics – kort rapport, oktober 2012

Aktiviteter og resultater fra området:

25 månedlige arbeidsseminarer hittil

Web: på norsk og engelsk, inkluderer Aktuelt (nye prosjekter og medarbeidere), Kalender (relevante konferanser, foredrag og seminarer), Call for papers (tidsfrister), våre egne seminarer (se egen oversikt), Curriculum (se nedenfor), Nettressurser (relevante tidsskrifter, magasiner, nettsteder, blogger, lenker og andre ressurser til inspirasjon og forlystelse), Studenter (relevant informasjon om aktuelle medieestetiske emner, tips til akademisk skriving og en idebank til masteroppgaver, som er åpen for kommentering). Underområder gir alle deltakere mulighet til å presentere prosjektene sine under prosjektporteføljene Audiovisuell estetikk, Mediale forskyvninger eller Visualisering og vitenskapelig bildedannelse, lenket til egne personsider.

Curriculum, medieestetisk leseliste (se rapport vedlagt)

Postdoc

Ph.d.-kandidater fra medievitenskap, andre institutter og andre institusjoner (se rapport vedlagt)

Studentrettet arbeid (se rapport)

Masterclass: 1.-3. februar 2011 arrangerte området Masterclass med den nederlandske nett-teoretikeren Geert Lovink

Forelesningsrekke: 10. mai – 14. Juni 2012 arrangerte Medieestetikk forelesningsrekken Screenicity: images, screens and the augment city, som bestod av forelesninger med Christian Ulrik Andersen (Aarhus Universitet), Chris Berry (Goldsmiths, London), Mark Shepard (Buffalo State University) og Nanna Verhoeff (Utrecht University).

Overvåkingsseminaret: 8. november 2012 arrangerer Medieestetikk Overvåkingsseminaret: et kritisk blikk på overvåking i Norge etter 22. Juli rapporten. Seminaret handler ikke om 22 juli per se, men ved å se på rapporten ønsker vi å stille kritiske spørsmål om åpenhet, demokrati og overvåking i det norske samfunnet (se vedlagt program).

For prosjekter og publikasjoner , nettverksbygging og innflytelse se rapporten vedlagt.

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Media Aesthetics – rapport, oktober 2012

Denne rapporten gir en kort oppsummering av de viktigste utbyttene og aktivitetene så langt, for det prioriterte forskningsområdet Medieestetikk. Rapporten presenterer først områdets overordnede faglige utbytte og betydning, før den går mer konkret inn på områdets månedlige seminarer, postdoc, web, studentrettet arbeid og andre aktiviteter.

Overordnet faglig utbytte, teoriutvikling og nye perspektiver

Prioriteringen av forskningsområdet Medieestetikk har hatt stor betydning for Medieestetikk som fagfelt på IMK, for både interne og eksterne deltakeres individuelle utbytte samt for konsolideringen og videreutviklingen av Medieestetikk som fagfelt i Norge og internasjonalt.

For den enkelte deltager på Medieestetikk har prioriteringen av området betydd en synliggjøring og styrking av et faglig fellesskap og et rom for aktuelle, faglige og kritiske diskusjoner omkring estetikk, teknologi og formidlingsformer. Dette faglige rommet er prinsipielt og praktisk åpent for alle som vil bidra. Dette har ført til at Medieestetikk ved IMK er blitt et sted både for ansatte ved IMK, studenter fra både medie- og estetikkprogrammene, interne og eksterne stipendiater (som bl.a. Kultrans), gjesteforskere (som eksempelvis David Berry våren 2012), forskere ved andre institutter (IFIKK, ILOS) og institusjoner (Høgskolen i Lillehammer, Høgskolen i Hamar, Arkitekthøgskolen i Oslo, Westerdahls) og forskere uten institusjonell tilknytning (hvorav noen, men ikke alle, søker PhD-stipend eller post.doc. stillinger). Dette har blant annet bidratt til økt samarbeid om nye prosjekter og om paneler på konferanser. Dessuten har det bidratt til å styrke troen på betydningen av et humanistisk perspektiv i forskningen og undervisningen ved IMK.

Prioriteringen av forskningsområdet Medieestetikk er av stor betydning for utviklingen av Medieestetikk som teoretisk og analytisk perspektiv. Det er alltid vanskelig å måle effekten av en slik institusjonell prioritering men det er påviselig at områdets perspektiver og problemstillinger gir stadig større og mer markant gjenklang internasjonalt på konferanser, tidsskrift og i bokutgivelser. Vi ser også mer spesifikt at de problemstillingene og forskningsinteressene områdets forskere særlig har vært særlig opptatt av (betydningen av den tekniske medieringen, mediale forskyvninger, vitenskapelig billeddannelse osv) også vokser fram internasjonalt. Prioriteringen av Medieestetikk ved IMK har slik vært viktig for deltagernes muligheter til å delta i den teoriutviklingen og kunnskapsbyggingen som foregår på disse områdene i og utenfor Norge.

Månedlige arbeidsseminarer

Siden prioriteringen av Medieestetikk ble iverksatt, eller strengt allerede fra juni 2010 og fram til oktober 2012, har vi arrangert 25 månedlige arbeidsseminarer. Disse seminarene har vært helt avgjørende for å skape et miljø og et sted for faglig utveksling. Arbeidsseminarenes overordnede formål er å være et rom hvor deltagerne kan legge frem egne tekster og ideer for tilbakemelding, et sted for diskusjon av faglige relevante

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tekster og tema, og et fast møtested for medieestetikere ved IMK og eksterne fagfolk med sammenfallende faglige interesser. Forumet har også blitt brukt til høyttenkning rundt aktuelle forskningsobjekter og til å se relevante filmer og annet materiale. Prinsippet om å holde en åpen og inkluderende linje hvor alle interesserte er velkomne har medført muligheten til å bygge opp et nettverk av interesserte på ulike nivå (fra materstudent til professor) og med ulike former for tilknytning. Dette gjør området til et svært engasjert, kompetent og fleksibelt fagmiljø.

Siden Medieestetikk har vært etablert og utviklet som fagområde over en tiårsperiode har oppgaven nå vært å konsolidere, videreutvikle og ytterligere kvalifisere begreper, perspektiver og metoder. Som ledd i dette har vi – i tillegg til å arbeide med deltakernes egne forskningsarbeider – forsøkt å bygge opp et tekstkorpus og en refleksjon omkring gamle og nye tekster av relevans for forskningsområdet. Dette har vi forsøkt å gjøre med en viss systematikk. Det første året, altså høstsemesteret 2010 og vårsemesteret 2011, ble det lagt vekt på tekster med fokus på medie- og medieringsbegreper. Høsten 2011 var tematikken tysk Medieestetikk, våren 2012 var viet til det som kan omtales som kanadisk Medieestetikk, mens inneværende semester retter fokus mot fenomenologi og estetikk (som er en notorisk vanskelig distinksjon). Formålet med en slik overordnet tematikk har vært å mer systematisk kunne arbeide seg gjennom de tradisjoner, begreper og forskningsperspektiver som er sentrale og relevante for oss. Denne gjennomgangen av tekster har også fungert som et ledd i oppbyggingen av et felles tekstgrunnlag for området – et medieestetisk curriculum. Tekstene blir derfor vurdert etter diskusjonene mht fruktbarhet og relevans for området og deretter kategorisert i en leseliste på områdets web som kjernelitteratur, utvidet leseliste og inspirerende tekster, eller ”need to know”, ”nice to know” and ”for inspiration”.

Arbeidsseminarene samler månedlig mellom tolv og femten personer. Drøyt halvparten av disse kommer praktisk talt hver gang mens de øvrige varierer pga andre forpliktelser (som undervisning ved andre institusjoner), forskningsopphold utenlands, o.a. I tillegg har vi en del interesserte som støtter opp om området, bidrar faglig på mail og som kommer når de har anledning.

Blant deltagerne i det medieestetiske området finner vi:

Ingrid Hoelzl, Jon Inge Faldalen, Kai Schwind, Lene Vibeke Hansen, Liv Hausken, Magdalena Tutka Gwozdz, Ove Solum, Anders Sundnes Løvlie, Gry Rustad, Gunnar Liestøl, Helge Rønning, Johanne Servoll Kielland, Susanne Østby Sæther, Taina Bucher, Tore Slaatta, Trine Krigsvoll Haagensen, Andrew Salway, Håvard Andreas, Nadège Lourme Hanssen, Yngvil Beyer, Andrew Morrison, Audun Engelstad, Eivind Røssaak, Ina Blom, Ingrid Rommetveit, Karolina Bieszczad-Roley, Ragnhild Tronstad, Sara Rundgren Yazdani, Siv Heidi Hansen, Steffen Krueger, Synne Skjulstad, David Berry og Audun Solli. Inneværende semester har flere masterstudenter kommet til, både fra medie- og estetikkprogrammene.

Arbeidsseminarene fungerer også som et forum hvor man kan invitere inn utenlandske forskere som oppholder seg i Norge (representert ved Tyskland, Polen, Østerrike, England og Frankrike). Thomas Elsaesser er en av de som har presentert eget arbeid på medieestetisk seminar. Arbeidsseminarene har slik fungert som en mulighet til å bygge

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opp et internasjonalt nettverk, og trekke på en bredere kompetanse. En av de utenlandske gjestene beskriver seminarene som ”exceedingly well-functioning 'sparring place' to test articles and theoretical ideas.”

Foruten å være et viktig faglig inspirerende og utviklende samlingspunkt fyller selvsagt seminaret en viktig sosial funksjon. Medieestetikk arrangerer derfor også utvidete arbeidsseminarer som avslutning på hvert semester.

Web

Arbeidet med utvikle egne hjemmesider til området startet allerede sommeren 2010.

Det legges kontinuerlig ned mye arbeid og ressurser i å få Medieestetikk sine nettsider til å fungere best mulig som forskningsgruppens viktigste kommunikasjonskanal både for interne UiO-brukere og for interesserte i Norge og internasjonalt. Det har vært et mål å informere bredest mulig, og å inkludere studenter og internasjonale ressurser.

Informasjonen blir oppdatert på norsk og engelsk, og inkluderer Aktuelt (nye prosjekter og medarbeidere), Kalender (relevante konferanser, foredrag og seminarer), Call for papers (tidsfrister), våre egne seminarer (se egen oversikt), Curriculum (se nedenfor), Nettressurser (relevante tidsskrifter, magasiner, nettsteder, blogger, lenker og andre ressurser til inspirasjon og forlystelse), Studenter (relevant informasjon om aktuelle medieestetiske emner, tips til akademisk skriving og en idebank til masteroppgaver, som er åpen for kommentering). Underområder gir alle deltakere mulighet til å presentere prosjektene sine under prosjektporteføljene Audiovisuell estetikk, Mediale forskyvninger eller Visualisering og vitenskapelig bildedannelse, lenket til egne personsider.

Curriculum

Som et ledd i konsolideringen og videreutviklingen av Medieestetikk som forskningsområde arbeider vi som nevnt med å utarbeide en medieestetisk leseliste som skal være tilgjengelig på nett. Foruten å tydeliggjøre et felles tekstgrunnlag innen området fungerer leselisten som en viktig pekepinn for studenter og interesserte fra andre forskningsinstitusjoner som ønsker å orientere seg mot og om Medieestetikk. Listene er under utarbeiding og skal også forbli åpne for kommentarer og nye forslag slik at tekstkorpuset ikke bestemmes en gang for alle og heller ikke begrenses av interessene til forskere på IMK men er i kontakt med forskningsfeltet utenfor IMK både i Norge og internasjonalt.

Postdoc

Da Medieestetikk ble prioritert ved IMK fikk vi anledning til å søke om neste strategiske stipend fra fakultetet, noe vi gjorde og fikk, med påfølgende utlysnings- og ansettelsesprosess. Stillingen hadde en overveldende høy andel internasjonale søkere og vi fikk også ansatt en søker (Ingrid Hoelzl) med forskningserfaring fra flere anerkjente

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forskningsinstitusjoner (Humboldt i Berlin og McGill i Montreal) som også har hatt stor relevans for utviklingen av medieestetikk (jf tysk medieteori og –filosofi, og kanadisk medieforskning). Holzl utgjør en viktig forskningsressurs ved IMK, og hennes kompetanse og nettverk bidrar til å utvikle kontaktflaten mellom IMK og andre forskningsinstitusjoner som er relevante for forskning på estetikk, teknologi og mediering.

Ph.d.-kandidater

Medieestetikk har vist seg å skape et særdeles viktig møtested for stipendiater. Områdets månedlige seminarer utgjør et viktig sted for å få tilbakemeldinger på egne tekster og tanker, prøve ut teorier og argumenter og bygge opp et kjærkomment nettverk av forskere med tangerende interesser. Videre medfører det å ”tilhøre et område” en sterkere følelse av å tilhøre et fagfellesskap. Medieestetikk bidrar dessuten med oppdatert informasjon på weben om seminarer, call-for-papers, etc. som er av spesiell interesse for medlemmene av området. Denne funksjonen er ekstra viktig for unge forskere.

Vi vil også understreke at den åpne og inkluderende profilen til Medieestetikk har medført et svært bredt og kompetent deltagernettverk av stipendiater både fra IMK og andre institutter ved UiO, fra Høgskolen i Hamar og Høgskolen i Lillehammer.

Studentrettet arbeid

Medieestetikk anser arbeidet med studenter som en viktig del i å bygge opp et fremtidig sterkt og kritisk fagmiljø. Det månedlige arbeidsseminarets åpne profil har slik også fungert som et forum for studenter som vil delta i faglige diskusjoner og/eller få tilbakemelding på egne prosjekter. Seminaret har hatt med masterstudenter både fra estetikkprogrammet og fra medieprogrammet. Som et ledd i det studentrettede arbeidet har også en av masterstudentene tatt emnet MEVIT4895 - Konferansedeltagelse med presentasjon på det månedlige seminaret. Flere av de nye studentene skal etter planen ta dette emnet hos oss til våren. Slik bidrar arbeidsseminaret til avlagte studiepoeng på masternivå.

Videre kan det her også sies at Medieestetikk har lagt ned et anselig arbeid i utviklingen av studentressurser på fagområdets hjemmesider. Her har vi samlet inn og lagt ut ideer til medieestetiske masteroppgaver, manual for akademisk skriving, tips og råd til innlevering av hjemmeeksamen, liste over filmatiske grunnbegreper, etc.

Medieestetiske perspektiver er også godt integrert i instituttets undervisning. Blant sentrale medieestetiske emner på instituttet finnes: det engelskspråklige emnet Audiovisual Aesthetics som ble opprettet høst 2010, emnene Filmhistorie (BA) og Alternativ film (BA/MA), Filmauteuren, Medietekster: teori og analyse, Moderne fjernsynsfiksjon (ma) 2009 og 2010, Tverrestetisk prosjektsemester (ba) og Medieestetikk (ba/ma).

Ytterligere aktiviteter

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8. november 2012 arrangerer Medieestetikk Overvåkingsseminaret: et kritisk blikk på overvåking i Norge etter 22. Juli rapporten. Seminaret handler ikke om 22 juli per se, men ved å se på rapporten ønsker vi å stille kritiske spørsmål om åpenhet og overvåking i det norske samfunnet. Jon Wessel-Aas (Internasjonale Juristkommisjon), Joakim Hammerlin, Jon Fitje (PST), Åke Refesdal-Moe (Teknologirådet). Taina Bucher (IMK), Elisabeth Staksrud (IMK), Eivind Lentz og Heidi Mork Lomell (Politihøgskolen), Liv Hausken (IMK) holder innlegg. Medieestetikk planlegger å gi ut en samling av innledningene fra seminaret etterpå.

10. mai – 14. Juni 2012 arrangerte Medieestetikk forelesningsrekken Screenicity: images, screens and the augment city, som bestod av forelesninger med Christian Ulrik Andersen (Aarhus Universitet), Chris Berry (Goldsmiths, London), Mark Shepard (Buffalo State University) og Nanna Verhoeff (Utrecht University). Denne seminarserien var et initiativ fra vår postdoc Ingrid Hoelz og skal bidra til faglig stimulans og utvikling, samt til nettverksbygging både mellom Medieestetikk og andre forskningsområder ved IMK og mellom IMK og institusjoner internasjonalt.

Fra rapporten heter det: The series brought together four international scholars with a background in art and architecture, film studies, and software studies, to investigate screenicity in terms of digital augmentation, navigation, and public screen culture. Given the multi-facetted nature of the Augmented City, the lectures covered a broad range of issues and approaches: from the Software City focussing on the role of software art and culture in the city, and public screens being the sites of both consumption and resistance culture in a suburban setting in Shanghai (Chris Berry) to the Sentient City as a near-future scenario of a city capable of monitoring and organizing the life of its citizens (Mark Shepard), and emerging Augmented Reality technologies for smartphones fostering a performative cartography of urban space (Nanna Verhoeff).

1.-3. februar 2011 arrangerte området Masterclass med den nederlandske nett-teoretikeren Geert Lovink med stor søknad og deltakelse fra studenter, stipendiater, samt noen interne og eksterne forskere. Lovink holdt også en åpen forelesning som ”trakk fullt hus” på undervisningsrom 205. Det medieestetiske fagmiljøet jobbet her strategisk med mediedekningen og fikk publisert både kronikk av og intervjuer med Geert Lovink. Dette arrangementet er også et eksempel på hvordan Medieestetikk har forsøkt å prøve ut nye seminarformer ved IMK.

Prosjekter og publikasjoner

Områdets medlemmer har naturligvis også bidratt til arrangementer av ulike slag, prosjektutvikling og annet. Å redegjøre for dette for et slikt åpent forskningsfelt som Medieestetikk lar seg ikke gjøre uten store avgrensningsproblemer. En del har tatt med seg forskningsprosjekter inn i området etter at det ble prioritert ved IMK, andre har søkt om støtte underveis, noe har fått slik støtte. Detaljerte oversikter over dette kan man utvikle hvis det er behov for det, men vi kan nevne Tore Slåttas prosjekt Kunst og Makt, Ove Solums prosjekt Den digitale film- og kinorevolusjonen, Ingrid Hölzls allerede nevnte postdoc-prosjekt, Yngvil Beyers doktorprosjekt, Susanne Østby Sæthers postdoc-prosjekt (ved IFIKK) og et mediekunstprosjekt, Steffen Krügers utstilling "Stoffskifte", finansiert av og presentert ved Barents Spektakel 2012.

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Å lage publikasjonslister og lister for konferansedeltakelse for et åpent forskningsområde er tilsvarende vanskelig. Vi er i ferd med å utvikle dette til en evt sluttrapport, men også her er avgrensningsproblemene omfattende, så vi lar dette ligge inntil videre. Avslutningsvis vil vi forsøke å konkretisere noe av vårt nettverk som stadig er under utvikling.

Nettverksbygging og innflytelse

En stor delegasjon fra Medieestetikk deltok ved den internasjonale konferansen Media Acts i Trondheim høsten 2011 og bidro med dette til å konsolidere et kontaktnett som bl.a. omfatter det nordiske nettverket NORsis og det prioriterte forskningsområdet PerFormativitet ved NTNU. Vi har også utviklet tette bånd til Nomadikon-miljøet i Bergen og til Nasjonalbiblioteket (både gjennom Archive in Motion prosjektet og gjennom filmkonferansene der). Ove Solum er sentral i det norske filmhistorie-nettverket knyttet til Nasjonalbiblioteket, mens Archive in Motion - Liv Hausken, Eivind Røssaak og Yngvil Beyer deltar i Arkivprosjektet. Jon Inge Faldalen representerer området Media Aesthetics i det nordiske medienettverket Kropsprog i audiovisuelle medier, ledet av Lennard Højbjerg ved Københavns universitet. Vi arbeider dessuten videre med planer om å utvikle et Nordisk nettverk i Medieestetikk.