Teaching
Select Courses
Graduate Seminar in Cultural Studies
A theoretical and methodological history of cultural studies (in the "British" tradition) with attention to varieties of application. Develops facility with key concepts in cultural studies: representation, difference, power, possibility, identity, agency, articulation, affect, assemblage, and conjuncture.
Graduate Seminar in Communication, Culture, and Technology
A theoretical investigation of the new media terrain drawing on communication theory, new media theory, technology studies, and cultural studies. Develops strategies for rethinking new media theory in light of emerging problematics of companion species, the biotechnological, and the digital.
Undergraduate Course in Philosophy of Technology
An exploration of philosophical assumptions that underlie the practices and policies of technological culture. Develops ability to assess beliefs with which we understand the relationship between technology and culture and what it means to be human.
Jennifer Daryl Slack teaches in several related areas: cultural studies; technology and new media; creativity and design.
Cultural Studies—Jennifer has been teaching cultural studies at both the graduate and undergraduate level for over 20 years. Her work as a cultural studies theorist began in the late 1970s at the University of Illinois; so she has participated in giving shape to cultural studies in the United States since its very beginnings. Her graduate seminar in cultural studies traces the theoretical history of cultural studies from the 1950s to the present. At the undergraduate level, she emphasizes how cultural studies can help us rethink popular culture and everyday life.
Technology and New Media—Jennifer has been teaching courses in culture and technology since 1981, having begun to explore this area in her first book on communication technologies and society. She has been a careful observer of the changes in the way her students, and the population in general, understand the role of technology in culture. She is thus able to give back to students a unique interpretation of the significant cultural shifts of which they are a part. As a critical witness to the rise of ‘new’ media, Jennifer has a nuanced understanding of the significance of the digital environment, which she takes great pleasure in sharing with her students. Her graduate seminar in New Media Theory assesses the value of old theories of media and communication as applied to the new digital environment and contributes to developing new theory.
Creativity and Design—As an artist, Jennifer has had the unique opportunity to bring theory and practice together in some especially productive ways. She has taught freshman seminars on Creativity as well as on the History, Art, and Business of Books. Recently, she began teaching Graphic Design, in which she brings together design principles and new media techniques. It's all about continuing to grow in the changing technological culture.