Cyborg Sightings by Morgan Reitmeyer

Focusing on the intersection of “real life” and digital reality. What do we bring to our avatars and virtual selves and how do our virtual/online activities carry back to the flesh and blood of embodied experience?

Popular Fanfare by Mark Pepper

Focusing on the dynamic and interactive relationship of popular culture and new media. What new forms of popular culture are forming and how are the old forms struggling or adapting to keep up? What is "entertainment" in a world where work, play, and identity are constantly intersecting?

Writing the Web by Cat Shuler, webmistress

Focusing on new media writing and online identity. In fitting with our site's mission, Writing the Web will document the creation, development and maintenance of Student Avatar's online identity and situate those decisions within a theoretical and rhetorical context. Topics to be covered: information architecture, site planning, what constitutes new media, and pretty much whatever else stomps through the mind that is Cat Shuler.

"Reality" Check by Karen Kaiser Lee

Focusing on the challenges that new media presents us with as academics, students, and users of evolving technology. New media and virtual worlds offer a myriad of exciting possibilities. However, what issues arise when we slow down on the excitment and look at the criticisms?

 

Forthcoming column:

The Digital Professional by Sarah Robbins, Intellagirl

Focusing on the evolving role of business and professional representation on the world wide web. How does someone brand themselves for ultimate success and identity coherence in a new media environment?