CRC December Colloquium Lecture: Taking Images Seriously

Dating back at least as far as the Enlightenment, emotion and images have been set against reason and the written word. Today, in most parts of the world, the written word is still canonized as the conduit of information that sustains participatory citizenship. By contrast, images are treated as both low in information value and a source of pressing contemporary concern. As the capacity for AI generated images proliferates, the public consternation about deepfakes seems disproportionate to concerns expressed about AI-driven linguistic utility or software development. This visual-linguistic schism is also observable in research. Most predictive models of knowledge acquisition and active citizenship are still anchored in the Gutenberg legacy of linguistic primacy. Yet multimodal media environments with life-like full motion images and sound are arguably as central to contemporary life as the printed word has been for the past five centuries. This talk will meander through natural history, contemporary research on human cognition, differences between image and linguistic communication, and arrive at the simple conclusion that images should be taken seriously. Speaker: Dr. Maria Elizabeth Grabe, Dalton Family Professor and Director of Emerging Media Studies

When 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm on 4 December 2024
Building George Sherman Union Auditorium, 775 Commonwealth Ave