RMeS Summer School 2011: The Future of Media Studies
The first RMeS summer school event (June 27 – June 28, 2011) was themed “The Future of Media Studies”. It focused especially on “New Methods” and innovative approaches or novel theories. During the same week, the University of Amsterdam’s Media Studies department hosted the Digital Methods Summer School, a successful initiative now in its fifth edition which attracts a substantial international crowd of students and faculty. On the second day of this RMeS launching event, we joined forces with the Digital Methods summer school and scheduled a lecture and several workshops together. The first day (Monday) featured a panel, a keynote lecture, several workshops and a social event for RMeS members.
On the first day of the summer school, there were two rounds of workshops, themed “Breaking Boundaries”. During the first round, we invited selected PhD students and junior faculty members in the disciplines (film, television, new media, journalism, etc.) to give short (max. ten minutes) presentations on the innovative approach they use in their discipline-based research. During the second round, we invited PhD students and senior faculty to pitch their interdisciplinary (innovative) approach and explain why this new methodological or theoretical approach will change the field of media studies. During the second day, we offered two workshops on “digital methods.” These workshops were hands on, to make participants familiar with practical uses and applications of digital research methods.
