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Charlie Rose: Fighting Extremism

June 23, 2016

Former vice-chair of the Joints Chiefs of Staff and Sam Nunn School of International Affairs professor of the practice, Admiral James A. Winnefeld (retired) was featured on Charlie Rose alongside former director of Central Intelligence Michael Morell. Topics of discussion were the struggle against extremism, homegrown terrorism, and gun control. The discussion can be watched here.

Published in: Charlie Rose
Tobin Harshaw: The Danger of Killing Islamic State's Caliph

June 17, 2016

A study by Jenna Jordan, assistant professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, was quoted in “Tobin Harshaw: The Danger of Killing Islamic State's Caliph” for The Commercial Appeal (Bloomberg).
Excerpt:
Consider a 2014 study by Jenna Jordan of the Georgia Institute of Technology on so-called decapitation strikes against major terrorist groups. On the death of al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden, she writes, “decapitation is unlikely to diminish the ability of al-Qaida, rather, it may have counterproductive consequences, emboldening or strengthening the organization.”
She bases her claim on the theory of “organizational resilience,” which may be more familiar to business school graduates than to counterterrorism operatives. Jordan doesn't buy the argument that a cohesive group sharing an intense belief in a goal depends on the “charismatic leadership” (to use Max Weber's phrase) of a single person like bin Laden or Baghdadi. Instead, she sees many clandestine groups as being bureaucracies often impervious to changes at the top. Such organizations “are diversified, have a clear division of administrative responsibilities and functions, follow rules and procedures, and are thus more likely to withstand the sudden removal of a leader or leaders.” All of those characteristics apply far more accurately to Islamic State than to the relatively decentralized al-Qaida.
You can read the full article here.

Published in: The Commercial Appeal Memphis (Bloomberg)
‘Ulysses’ and the Lie of Technological Progress

June 16, 2016

School of Literature, Media, and Communication professor Ian Bogost, Ph.D. wrote “Ulysses and the Lie of Technological Progress” for The Atlantic.
Excerpt:
Joyce’s formal innovations exerted pressure on language rather than on medium. Words work more or less the same as they did in 1904 or 1922 or 1942. Books work identically. Today, by contrast, formal media innovation rules the day. New devices and infrastructures push out old ones, and they do so at an ever more rapid pace. And yet, Ulysses too was a media product of its time, one largely unreadable absent its historical context. The bric-a-brac of Dublin shop windows; the guffaws of then-current headlines; the references to long-outmoded Celtic twilight; the intrinsic linguistic conflict of the English language in Ireland; then-new technologies now long gone.
If Bloomsday must be celebrated, it is high time that the holiday fully devour Joyce’s novel in order to expel and move beyond it. The ultimate lesson of Ulysses is that everything that seems permanent decays and returns to earth. But in so doing, it doesn’t vanish. It facilitates new growth, both native and invasive. The old bonds with the new, and in so doing it both ruins and extols it.
Click here for the full article from The Atlantic.

Published in: The Atlantic
Athlete as Moral Crusader: Is the Muhammad Ali Model Lost?

June 9, 2016

“Athlete as Moral Crusader: Is the Muhammed Ali Model Lost?” quotes School of History and Sociology assistant professor, John M. Smith, Ph.D.
From The Christian Science Monitor article:
In some ways, times have simply changed from his era of upheaval, when black Americans in the South faced not just Jim Crow discrimination but also lynchings. Moreover, athletes also are never cut from a common personality mold. And as Ali himself showed, none are paragons of unalloyed moral perfection.
But, even as some sports stars do take public political stands today, many observers say they could do more.
Athletes now prefer to be active in less confrontational ways – like giving to charities, funding scholarships, and investing in poor communities, says Johnny Smith, a historian at Georgia Tech.
Read the full article on The Christian Science Monitor here.

Published in: The Christian Science Monitor
I'm Retweeting Her

June 9, 2016

“I'm Retweeting Her” was written by School of Literature, Media, and Communication professor, Ian Bogost, Ph.D.
Excerpt:
If this were another era, when newspaper inches or broadcast minutes came at a premium, a particularly sly dig might enjoy a brief mention. The wile of politicians, after all, is part of their appeal. But the fact that so much is being said about these tweets reveals some important things about the intersection of American politics and media.
For Bogost’s full article, read The Atlantic here.

Published in: The Atlantic
How Muhammad Ali Became a Champion for Muslims in America

June 8, 2016

Many know Muhammad Ali for his prowess in the boxing ring, but according to Assistant Professor Johnny Smith the famed champion also left his mark in another way: racial and religious activism. As one of the first famous Muslims in mainstream America, Ali spent the majority of his career as an outspoken believer in Islam. At a time when the average American knew little about and mistrusted the religion, Ali’s faith became a beacon for American Muslims. He saw himself as Islam’s champion.
School of History and Sociology Assistant Professor John M. Smith, Ph.D., co-authored “How Muhammad Ali Became a Champion for Muslims in America” for The Washington Post. The article follows the beginnings of Ali’s relationship with Islam, to his public proclamation of his faith, and finally to the religious battle he fought both inside and outside of the ring. Read the full article here.

Published in: The Washington Post
How Gaming Helped Launch the Attack of the Internet Trolls

June 8, 2016

“How Gaming helped Launch the Attack of the Internet Trolls” quotes School of Literature, Media, and Communication professor, Ian Bogost, Ph.D.
From The New York Times article:
Trolling can refer to a range of online troublemaking, including posting provocative comments and purposely marring others’ online experience, and it can include attacks on people as much as on software. The practice of ruining things for others, originally known as griefing in the online gaming world, has become a sadly abundant element of internet life.
“Folks who are griefing or trolling feel like they are in a secondary universe that isn’t the same as the real world,” [Bogost] said. “It was a ‘safe space’ for them, in which they did horrible things.”
Read the full article at The New York Times here.

Published in: The New York Times
Video Games Keep Getting Tougher and That's OK

June 8, 2016

“Video Games Keep Getting Tougher and That’s Ok” quotes School of Literature, Media, and Communication professor, Ian Bogost, Ph.D.
From the Motherboard article:
Dark Souls has become one of this decade’s most popular titles. The latest game, Dark Souls III, is the fastest selling game in developer Bandai Namco’s history. What’s most interesting about this is that the Dark Souls franchise is known for some of the toughest games out on modern consoles, throwing you into a world of unrelenting boss fights and unflinching difficulty. In other words, the game not only doesn’t hold your hand, it takes that hand and pushes you into a world you don’t know and expects you to succeed, quick.
“If you go back centuries (or even millennia), you get folk games like Go and Chess, which are both difficult to learn and very hard to play well, requiring substantial investments of time” [Bogost] told Motherboard.
Read the full article on Motherboard here.

Published in: Motherboard
After UCLA Shooting, Should Colleges Fear Guns on Campuses?

June 7, 2016

“After UCLA Shooting, Should Colleges Fear Guns on Campuses?” quoted Ian Bogost, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication in the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts. The Christian Science Monitor, June 2.

Published in: The Christian Science Monitor
Forbes 100 'Most Powerful Women': A credible window on gender equity?

June 7, 2016

“Forbes 100 ‘Most Powerful Women:’ A Credible Window on Gender Equality?” quotes School of Literature, Media, and Communication professor and associate dean for Graduate Studies, Carol Colatrella, Ph.D.
Excerpt:
Forbes released its annual list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women this week and seven of the top 10 spots are held by American women. The U.S. also holds 29 of the top 50 spots and half of all 100 spots.
“They are the smartest and toughest female business leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, scientists, philanthropists, and chief executive officers making their mark in the world today,” says Forbes regarding the women on their list. “They’re women who are building billion-dollar brands, calling the shots in the financial markets, and crisscrossing the globe to broker international agreements and provide aid.”
“[The list] helps inspire women and girls to see women in positions of authority and to be recognized for their successes,” Carol Colatrella, co-director of the Georgia Tech Center for the Study of Women, Science and Technology, says in a phone interview with The Christian Science Monitor.
Read the full article in The Christian Science Monitor here.

Published in: The Christian Science Monitor
U.S. Government Close to Approving Private Moon Mission, Reports Say

June 6, 2016

"U.S. Government Close to Approving Private Moon Mission, Reports Say" quoted Mariel Borowitz, Ph.D, assistant professor in The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs. Read the full article on The Los Angeles Times.

Published in: Los Angeles Times
Here's What Mirror's Edge: Catalyst Has to Get Right

June 6, 2016

“Here’s What Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst Has to Get Right” quotes School of Literature, Media, and Communication professor, Ian Bogost.
Excerpt:
Mirror’s Edge is a story about the power of your body. The game, influenced by the parkour phenomenon so popular back in 2008, places you in the role of Faith, an illicit messenger at the fringes of a dystopian world. Digital communication is monitored, so “runners” deliver sensitive messages, running, jumping, and climbing through the city…On Tuesday, Mirror’s Edge gets the sequel fans have long demanded.
“Most adventure or narrative games, you have to traverse 3-D space,” said Ian Bogost, game designer and author at Georgia Tech. “In Mirror’s Edge, though, the environment becomes the gameplay. It made the traversal of physical space intrinsic to the gameplay in a way that most games hadn’t attempted.”
Read the full article here.

Published in: WIRED
How the Olympics Shaped Muhammad Ali

June 5, 2016

It has only been a few days since Muhammad Ali’s passing but the sporting world has demonstrated its admiration for the late boxer in full-force. Dubbed “The Greatest,” Ali is often recognized as the single best boxer of all time.
School of History and Sociology Assistant Professor John M. Smith, Ph.D., co-authored “How the Olympics Shaped Muhammad Ali” for The Wall Street Journal. The article follows Ali’s bold beginnings as Cassius Clay, through his transition period and outspoken years of activism, all the way to his run as the final torch bearer in the opening ceremony of the 1996 Olympics. Read more about Ali’s past, as well as the intimate moments leading up to the lighting of the 1996 Olympic cauldron, in the full article.

Published in: The Wall Street Journal
Jackie Robinson vs. Malcolm X: How two civil rights icons waged a public, ideological feud through op-eds and public speeches

May 25, 2016

John M. Smith's book was the inspiration for a segment of ESPN's new series “The Undefeated.” The program interviewed Smith, who is an assistant professor in the Ivan Allen College School of History and Sociology at Georgia Tech.
“To understand Malcolm as a political figure is to understand that he embodied African-American oral culture,” said Johnny Smith, co-author of Blood Brothers: The Fatal Friendship Between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X. “He believed in the power of words. He was very deliberate in his choice of words.”
Read full article

Published in: ESPN - The Undefeated
Why You Should Never Email a Social Security Number

May 23, 2016

Highlight from the Time article:
Tax season is officially in the rear view, which means most of us are breathing a sigh of relief. But some of us remain anxious. It’s not about the chance of being audited (which is small, though terrifying), but rather about the fear that we’ll have our identity stolen. If you’re self-employed — whether an Uber driver, an Etsy artist, or something less 21st century (like a freelance journalist) — the companies that pay you are legally required to provide a 1099 to help you prepare your taxes. And with the explosion of the “sharing economy,” more people are getting these documents instead of W-2s, the tax form reserved for employees. Companies physically mail out 1099s, but because mistakes happen, tax deadlines are immovable, and the Internet is so convenient, some finance departments email these forms out instead… When emails are sent, they typically move from the software on the sending computer to servers called mail transfer agents. They will likely go through several of these nodes until they reach their recipient. Between these relays, emails are encrypted, but when they hit a server, they are unencrypted, read, and then re-encrypted before being sent along to the next node.
Milton Mueller, professor of public policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology, warns this process could be “imperfect” in terms of security. “The content of the messages is revealed to, and can be altered by, intermediate email relays,” he says.
Read Full Article

Published in: Time (Fortune, MSN)
Had LSD Never Been Discovered Over 75 Years Ago, Music History Would Be Entirely Different

May 20, 2016

When we think of psychedelics and music, visions of the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane's tie-dyed "Volunteers" and the 13th Floor Elevators' mind-bending beats, dance in our heads. These bands lived and died by their trips, however, none of these bands truly consecrated the long and fruitful relationship between hallucinogens and music, which has utterly transformed the art form as we know it. Acid absolutely has, but it wouldn't have done so if it hadn't been for two bands few think of as explicitly psychedelic projects: The Beatles and the Beach Boys, whose inaugural psychedelic masterpiece Pet Sounds turned 50 on Monday.
The thing about psychedelic rock is you don't necessarily associate the Beach Boys with it," Philip Auslander, a professor in the school of literature, media and communication at the Georgia Institute of Technology, said in a phone conversation in early April. "A group like the Beach Boys — such a popular group, so successful — to start experimenting and moving in odd directions and doing things that sounded very different, I think those were what put it all on the map. I think basically that sort of opened the door — not for groups to be formed or to start to make music, but certainly to become as visible as say Jefferson Airplane or somebody like that.
Read more of what Auslander had to say in full article: https://mic.com/articles/143256/had-lsd-never-been-discovered-over-75-years-ago-music-history-would-be-entirely-different#.ucutGwDR9

Published in: Music.Mic
The Robot Uprising Has Begun

May 17, 2016

Clark Howard did a special feature on WSB-TV Atlanta showcasing Georgia Tech's work on robotics and artificial intelligence. The Robot Uprising Has Begun featured the LuminAI co-creative artificial intelligence project led by Brian Magerko, professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication Graduate Program in Digital Media.

Published in: WSBTV - Atlanta
This AI Has Killer Dance Moves

May 16, 2016

The LuminAI research project led by LMC digital media professor Brian Magerko was featured in a segment on Radio Canada.
Some people will say you should dance like there's nobody watching you. And that's just what computer scientists at Georgia Tech want you to do. Except that there is something watching you - LuminAI. It's a program that's trying to perfect what project co-lead Brian Magerko and his fellow researchers call "co-creative artificial intelligence."

Published in: Radio Canada
Virtual Reality's New Frontier: Peacekeeping, Iraq War Therapy, and Digital Paradises

May 10, 2016

LMC Professor Janet Murray was interviewed by VOX for a feature on Virtual Reality:
Janet H. Murray is the author of Hamlet on the Holodeck, a famed 1997 book examining the frontiers of online media. She told Vox that despite the wide degree of variation in VR tech that currently exists in the market, we're a long way from establishing VR as a stable creative medium.
“We are at a very early stage with VR and AR, where we have exciting new technologies for recording and viewing, but we do not yet have an actual medium,”Murray said. “To create a medium, you need much more stable platforms, with much more refined features, and new genre conventions that turn technological novelty into an expansion in human expression.”

Published in: Vox
Forget Taking Over the World. All this AI Wants to Do Is Dance

May 5, 2016

Forget Taking Over the World. All this AI Wants to Do Is Dance featured LMC professor Brian Magerko's virtual artificial intelligence project. LiveScience, May 5.
"Co-creative artificial intelligence, or using AI as a creative collaborator, is rare," project leader Brian Magerko, an associate professor of digital media [Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts School of Literature, Media, and Communication] at Georgia Tech, said in a statement. "As computers become more ubiquitous, we must understand how they can coexist with humans. Part of that is creating things together." - See more at: http://www.livescience.com/54651-artificial-intelligence-virtual-dancer-partner.html#sthash.z1BV36Fd.dpuf

Published in: LiveScience

Recent Press Coverage

Charlie Rose: Fighting Extremism

Tobin Harshaw: The Danger of Killing Islamic State's Caliph

‘Ulysses’ and the Lie of Technological Progress

Athlete as Moral Crusader: Is the Muhammad Ali Model Lost?

I'm Retweeting Her

How Muhammad Ali Became a Champion for Muslims in America

How Gaming Helped Launch the Attack of the Internet Trolls

Video Games Keep Getting Tougher and That's OK

After UCLA Shooting, Should Colleges Fear Guns on Campuses?

Forbes 100 'Most Powerful Women': A credible window on gender equity?

U.S. Government Close to Approving Private Moon Mission, Reports Say

Here's What Mirror's Edge: Catalyst Has to Get Right

How the Olympics Shaped Muhammad Ali

Jackie Robinson vs. Malcolm X: How two civil rights icons waged a public, ideological feud through op-eds and public speeches

Why You Should Never Email a Social Security Number

Had LSD Never Been Discovered Over 75 Years Ago, Music History Would Be Entirely Different

The Robot Uprising Has Begun

This AI Has Killer Dance Moves

Virtual Reality's New Frontier: Peacekeeping, Iraq War Therapy, and Digital Paradises

Forget Taking Over the World. All this AI Wants to Do Is Dance

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