Sept. 21, 2007 – How have wired media technologies such as the telegraph, radio, television, film and the Internet shaped or been shaped by the American West? That is the question the “Frontiers of New Media” symposium will address for three days, September 27-29, at the University of Utah.

The West, Utah specifically, has been instrumental throughout the development of communication technologies. The symposium is a celebration of that history and an establishment of a research agenda about media and the West. Presentations in the symposium represent cutting-edge scholarship in both new media technology and American history, joining together for rare interdisciplinary reflection.

Media scholar Henry Jenkins of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will deliver a keynote lecture titled “Participatory Culture, Lead Use(r)s, and Moral Economy: How Convergence Culture is Changing the Relations Between Producers and Consumers” on Thursday, September 27 at 6 p.m. in the Dumke Auditorium, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Marcia and John Price Museum Building, on the University of Utah campus.

On Friday, September 28, nine scholars will present papers organized around the themes of Distance, Space, and Identities. These panels will be held at the Commander’s House, Fort Douglas, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The symposium concludes Saturday, September 29 with a synthesis & discussion panel in which scholars Jenkins, Tim Lenoir of Duke University and Philip Deloria of the University of Michigan will provide critical responses to the previous day’s panels. The final panel will be held at the Hotel Monaco in downtown Salt Lake City.

The symposium is made possible by the generous support of David Simmons, as well as the College of Humanities, the History and Communication departments and the America West Center

All events in the symposium are free and open to the public. For more information about the “Frontiers of New Media” symposium, including a list of presenters and a schedule of events, visit www.hum.utah.edu/frontiers.