McLuhan Thinkers Converge in Toronto, November 7 – 10, 2011
More than fifty years ago, writing from a modest outbuilding at the University of Toronto, Edmonton-born Marshall McLuhan gave voice to a vision that transformed the globe: of a society enmeshed in media, everywhere connected, culturally configured by mediating technologies of information and communication. In celebration of the centenary of Marshall McLuhan’s birth, The University of Toronto Faculty of Information, in conjunction with Ryerson University, York University, OCAD University, the City of Toronto, and numerous other city cultural institutions, will host a conference with a difference. McLuhan100 Then | Now | Next: International conference and DEW Line Festival to be held at the University of Toronto Chestnut Conference Centre in downtown Toronto, Canada from November 7-10, 2011 assembles a unique interdisciplinary group of Canadian and international experts on media and culture, drawn from the humanities, social sciences, and science and technology departments within universities, together with artists and leading public thinkers. Read more 
Marshall McLuhan Centenary Events in Canada and Around the World
The Institute of Scandinavian Studies and Linguistics at the University of Copenhagen is proud to present “The Legacy of Marshall McLuhan ‐ Revisiting the Message”: a seminar dedicated to this visionary yet controversial, but undeniably deeply influential media theorist on October 31st. Keynotes include: Paul Levinson, Professor of Communication & Media Studies at Fordham University, New York and U. of Toronto Professor Emeritus Robert Logan. Details. Read more
Marshall McLuhan: Is the Medium Still the Message? by Allan Sheppard – Reprised
McLuhan Marshall photographed in 1974 by Canadian photographer Yousef Karsh
The following article written (for the most part) by Allan Sheppard is reprised from the first issue of mediamag.ca published in October 2002. It’s re-appearance here is to offer a ‘mashup’ of Allan’s text and my additions as my birthday gift to Marshall McLuhan on his 100th birthday. It seems appropriate to reprise and revisit Allan’s still relevant, insightful and delightfully provocative article on McLuhan in celebration of birthdays, McLuhan’s and ours (next year I celebrate the 10th birthday as the first online magazine in Alberta with mediamag.ca). Without (yet) Allan’s permission, I have taken the liberty of adding photographs I shot at other McLuhan centenary celebrations: the June 23, 2011 in Edmonton at the opening reception of the 12th Annual Convention of the Media Ecology Association at the University of Alberta and the opening reception of Spaces + Places: Visioning McLuhan @ 100 at Latitude 53 later that evening, as well as embedding YouTube videos that I think illustrate important points Allan makes in his 2002 article. I have also added comments that support my and many other people’s claims that McLuhan’s ideas are as relevant in today’s digital world as they were in his lifetime, despite that these communication channels were not yet invented until long after his death thirty years ago on New Year’s Eve 1980 in Toronto. Read more
Marilyn
Jones is a corporate and social media advocate for individuals, small businesses
and nonprofit organizations in Alberta. She lives in Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada and is the proprietor of RiverCity Productions. You can contact her
by phone at 780-695-5675 or by email at marilyn@mediamag.ca.