Figure/Ground latest interview is with Peter Haratonik. Although I’ve been trying to remain as neutral as possible when conducting – and presenting – my interviews, I must say that this man truly made an impression on me personally, even though (or perhaps because) he was completely unknown to me until his name came up in a conversation with Casey Lum. I had the great pleasure of interviewing Peter via Skype a few days ago; we conversed for about 50 minutes, and I have to say that I was blown away by his knowledge and expertise. He seems like a very experienced fellow and I would recommend this particular interview to anyone interested in
first-hand, anecdotal input about John Culkin, McLuhan and Mumford.
As you probably know, Peter is Media Studies Chair and Associate Professor at The New School for General Studies, where he specializes in Media education, media and children, social effects of technology, media and urban issues. He began his career as an educator with the New York City Board of Education where he taught Social Studies and served as a media coordinator. As a student and eventual colleague of media theorist Neal Postman, he has continually addressed the issue of the need to understand media in relation to education in its broadest terms. He created one of the earliest programs in video production for middle school-students and wrote curricular materials on media education. He has lectured and consulted at a number of universities both in the United States and in Ireland, Turkey, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and China. Having served as department chair at three major universities, Haratonik’s expertise and interests are broad. He seeks to explore the relationships among academic research, media practice, and media management. He has also conducted extensive research on the life and work of social theorist, critic, and philosopher Lewis Mumford.
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