I no longer facilitate these Seminars, but I thought I'd provide an old page I put together that includes thoughts on structure, process, and methodology:

The McLuhan Monday Night Seminars are an open and free forum for the exchange of ideas and the generation of knowledge. The seminars take place every Monday evening beginning around 7:30pm, the location changes with the nomadism inherent in the project, and participation is open to the public at large. Traditionally the seminars have been held in Toronto Canada.

No prior experience or background is expected, as analysis of the environment and our surrounding ground is a process of generalization that arises from the combined perspectives of a diverse and multi-disciplinary group. The seminars rarely have 'keynote' speakers, and when they do, the speakers interact with the participants as equals, using the same language. The medium is the message and the audience are the content. All participants are speakers, and all the speakers listen. The discourse generated by the seminars stems from the linguistic and cultural foundations of each individual. Great effort and consideration is made by the group to include everyone and use language that is universally accessible and comprehensible.

McLuhan Monday Night Seminars: Past Examples

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The McLuhan Program in Culture and Technolgy, The Facutly of Information Studies at the University of Toronto, and TAO Communications present:

McLuhan Monday Night Public Seminars

The McLuhan Monday Night Seminars will continue in 1997 with a third series. In the tradition of the open seminars held by Marshall McLuhan, they are a forum for unrestricted discussion of topics related to media and their effect within society, culture, politics, economy, and psychology. Everyone who has an interest in such questions is invited to participate in the exchange of ideas and the connected development of new insight.

The Seminars are an open and free discussion where the medium is the message and the audience is the content. The diversity of participants will ensure a lively, spontaneous, and multi-disciplinary discussion where the ideas flow freely from one field to another. For more information on the structure see the end of this message.

Time & Location: Every Monday night from 7.15-9.30 p.m. at the Faculty of Information Studies (FIS) 140 St. George Street (the north east corner on the same block as robarts library) in the staff lounge (rm 728).

The seminars are free and open to the public. Space is determined on a first come, first serve basis. The seminars are for the open minded, no previous knowledge is expected.

Topics:

March 3 - Political Economy of the Information Age We are moving from a marketplace of ideas, to arenas of action. The Information Age is the reality of a global market and global governance. What is the changing nature of governance in the age of the network of networks and open standards? What is electronic politics? Who are the players and forces behind convergence? What is electronic activism? Who, what, where, and when is the decision making process, and how do we engage it?

March 10 - Fragmentation & Integration Are we heading towards growing social and cultural segmentation of our lives, with new patterns of communities and groups that have little in common with each other, fragmenting themselves into smaller and smaller entities, until we reach 6 billion different nations? Or are we going to be integrated into one interconnected and shared environment where mutual responsibilities become a central part of a planetarized culture? Are these two trends mutually exclusive or part of deeper reconfiguration of culture and society, accelerated by electronic media?

March 17th - Literacy in The Digital Domain What is the relationship between traditional literacy and the electronic environment? What skills and abilities are needed to explore and enjoy the benefits of the new media? What effects do changes in literacy have on the rest of our social structures? What can we learn from our cultural past to help prepare us for our collective future?

March 24th - Language and The Internet What is the language of the Internet? What effect does our language have upon our culture? How is our language changing? Will english dominate in the new media, or will we see the emergence of new hybrids? What is are the realtions between western, eastern, and digital linguistic systems? Will open standards protect linguistic diversity?

March 31st - Connected Intelligence What is the convergence of minds? What does the Internet, World Wide Web, and Virtual Reality have to do with Connected Intelligence? What is satelite psychology? Do global mass media encourage the explosion and expansion of ego? What role will artificial intelligence play in the distribution, selection, and processing of our information? What is the future of Connected Intelligence?

April 7th - Privacy, Encryption, & Surveillance How is the concept of privacy and private space being protected in the Information Age? How is the concept of the indivudal affected by new technologies and expanded surveillance? What role does encryption play in empowering and enforcing borders and identity? How much do we know about current developments in these areas? What actions can we take to empower ourselves?

April 14th - Art in The Electronic Storm How does the artist strive and survive in the Electronic Storm? What new tools and roles are available to the creative and artistic? How are artists using new media to demonstrate and explore the impacts upon society? What messages can we learn from the people experimenting with the emerging global psyche? Can we develop a culture that can shelter us from the storm?

April 21st - The Learning Organization What is a Learning Organization? How does it relate to concepts of openness, interconnectivity, interoperability, and co-operation? How can a hiearchical organization begin to learn? What are the resistances to the model of a Learning Organization? Are we approaching education without borders? What are we trying to learn?

Early Summer McLuhan Seminars
jesse@tao.ca
Tue, 20 May 1997 18:09:44 -0400

The McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology, @ The Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto

McLuhan Monday Night Seminars: Early Summer Series Free and Open to the Public

Continuing the tradition of the open seminars held by Marshall McLuhan, the Monday Night Seminars offer a forum for unrestricted discussion of topics related to media and their effects within society, culture, politics, psychology, and the economy. Everyone who has an interest in such questions is invited to participate in the exchange of ideas and the connected development of new insight. The current series will feature provocative, lively, and engaging key-note speakers, who will address topics related to their own research or current thinking.

Time & Location:

Every Monday night from 7.15-9.30 p.m. (except June 2 which begins at 6pm) at the Faculty of Information Studies (FIS) 140 St. George Street at Harbord (the north east corner of the Robarts Library Complex) in room 728.

First come, first seated. The seminars are for the open minded, and no previous knowledge is assumed. The moderater is Jesse Hirsh, Director of the New Media Unit at the McLuhan Program, and founder of TAO Communications.

Topics and Speakers:

May 26 - Naomi Klein - Writer - Toronto Star, Village Voice, THIS Magazine The Move From Identity Politics to Anti-Corporate Activism: A New Resistance for the Global Economy

*June 2 (at 6pm) - Stephen Marshall - Founder and CEO of Channel Zero The Art of Revolution: Corporate Divestment as a Contact-Sport

June 9 - John Barlow - Michael Edmunds - Jesse Hirsh - Stefan Pilipa Liquid Consciousness: The Poetics of the Electronic Spoken Word

June 16 - David Noble - Professor, York University - History The Religion of Technology

June 23 - Guizhi Wuang - McLuhan Program Fellow from China The Psychological Process of Chinese Characters With an introduction by Dr. Insup Taylor

July 7 - Marcel Danesi - Professor, University of Toronto - Semiotics Program Revisiting Origin of the Language Theories

July 14 - Mark Kingwell - Professor, University of Toronto - Philosophy Storming the Electronic Bastille: Democracy & The Internet in A Post-National World

*Note Special Time on June 2 at 6pm
McLuhan Monday Night Seminars - Late Summer
sage (jesse@tao.ca)
Sat, 19 Jul 1997 20:27:45 -0400 (EDT)

The McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology, @ The Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto

McLuhan Monday Night Seminars: Late Summer Series Free and Open to the Public

Continuing the tradition of the open seminars held by Marshall McLuhan, the Monday Night Seminars offer a forum for unrestricted discussion of topics related to media and their effects within society, culture, politics, psychology, and the economy. Everyone who has an interest in such questions is invited to participate in the exchange of ideas and the connected development of new insight. The current series will feature provocative, lively, and engaging key-note speakers, who will address topics related to their own research or current thinking.

Time & Location:

Every Monday night from 7.20-10.00 p.m. at the Faculty of Information Studies (FIS) 140 St. George Street at Harbord (the north east corner of the Robarts Library Complex) in room 728. First come, first seated. The seminars are for the open minded, and no previous knowledge is assumed.

Topics and Speakers:

July 21 - The TAO of the Internet: The Political Economy of Techno-Mysticism Jesse Hirsh - Director of the New Media Unit - McLuhan Program

July 28 - Self: Paradoxes in Math, Mind, and Nature Josh Hehner - Director of the Information Topology Unit - McLuhan Program

Aug 11 - Technology Out of Control: Will Autonomous Computers Need Humans Michael Rosenberg - Coalition Against Technological Unemployment

Aug 18 - Are The Networks Alive? Felix Stalder - Probe Think Tank - McLuhan Program

Aug 25 - Hacking Reality and Jamming The Culture Carly Stasko & Anna Melnikoff - Media Collective

Sept 8 - The Trash Chronicles - Garbage as a Medium Joey - Joey's World

For More Info Contact: Jesse Hirsh - jesse@tao.ca - (416) 978-7026
structure, process, and methodology
Jesse Hirsh (jesse@tao.ca)
Sat, 25 Jan 1997 22:10:04 -0500

Structure, Process, and Methodology

The McLuhan Monday Night Seminars are an open and free forum for the exchange of ideas and the generation of knowledge. The seminars take place every Monday evening beginning around 7:30pm, the location changes with the nomadism inherent in the project, and participation is open to the public at large. Traditionally the seminars have been held in Toronto Canada.

No prior experience or background is expected, as analysis of the environment and our surrounding ground is a process of generalization that arises from the combined perspectives of a diverse and multi-disciplinary group. The seminars rarely have 'keynote' speakers, and when they do, the speakers interact with the participants as equals, using the same language. The medium is the message and the audience are the content. All participants are speakers, and all the speakers listen. The discourse generated by the seminars stems from the linguistic and cultural foundations of each individual. Great effort and consideration is made by the group to include everyone and use language that is universally accessible and comprehensible.

The participants in the seminars recognize a moderator to act in the interests of the group and protect the rights of each individual to speak and be heard. The diversity of the group generates a multi-disciplinary and co-operative approach to innovation and the generation of knowledge. Each seminar has as a focus: an archetype, paradox, or problem, connected to the emergence and development of the new media environment that is explored or probed by the group. The seminar topics are examined in relation to cultural, economic, political, technological, theological, philosophical, linguistic and psychological effects, characteristics, patterns, and events. The analysis is non-linear, dynamic, and often spontaneous. Individuals with specialized perspectives contribute, and as the session progresses, a consensus emerges through proximity of mind. Convergence of ideas produces original and unique concepts that belong to the group as a whole, and all the individuals within.

Direct participation in the seminars is rewarded with a unique and empowering experience. The energy and momentum derived from the group is self-perpetuating. Many participants describe the event as extreme mental stimulation. Individually and collectively the seminars are a project and process of the open mind. The diversity of perspectives and the convergence of ideas dissolves barriers and constructs that prevent the free flow of information and the receptivity and flexibility of the human mind. The seminars move to resolve the fear of the unknown, and enable clear and balanced thought in an age of chaos.

Virtual participation in the seminars are and will be available in a number of formats. An email list exists for open discussion and distribution of reports originating or connected to the seminars. All traffic on the list is simultaneously archived on a web site, and with time the material available on the web will increase in both quantity and quality. The seminars themselves have access to video-conferencing facilities, and opportunities for other geographic locations to participate does exist, although the costs for the connection at present must be paid by the party calling to the seminars. With time both the accessibility, visibility, and mobility of the seminars will increase.