Technology – Culture – Society - Production – Research – Teaching

THE COSMOS NEW MEDIA INITIATIVE

A space for new media practices

What is New Media?

New media usually refers to a group of relatively recent mass media based on new information technology. Most frequently the label is understood to include the Internet and World Wide Web, video games and interactive media, CD-ROM and other forms of multimedia popular from the 1990s on. The phrase in fact came to prominence in the 1990s and is often associated with the creation of innovative and interactive instructional and presentation materials for delivery via CD/DVD and the Internet.

Why COSMOS?

In the face of the global vertigo spurred on by new communication technologies like the internet, digital TV, mobile phones and hand-held computers, we stand the risk of being swept off our feet, unable to understand the forces that determine our choices, our lifestyles and our thinking. This is particularly of great concern in a society like ours where development has to be our priority and a sense of contact with tradition is key to our sense of identity, both of the individual and that of the community. It is thus of crucial importance that we should be able to think critically about the new media and the possibilities inherent in them so that we may use these emerging technologies in accordance with our own needs, desires and imperatives. At a time when media formats are merging into a common digital language (convergence) we see a need for media-workers to combine, in a creative way, skills that were earlier seen as separate disciplines.

What is COSMOS?

Cosmos intends to create a space – both real as well as virtual – through which we can reflect on the New Media through an active involvement in media practices and policies. It involves not only research and development of the ways in which New Media is transforming our lives but also an exploration of the complex and densely woven field where science, technology and society come together.

How will COSMOS do this?

Cosmos seeks a self-conscious intervention into the ‘media environment’ in three types of concurrent activities:
• TRAINING of teachers, cultural activists and professionals in the creative industries through short-term workshops that would help them to understand the role of media and orient their minds to future technologies;
• PRODUCTION of films, events and media artifacts (such as children’s games and toys) to sensitise people about the new media and also to generate content for training; and
• NETWORKING for strategic alliances and partnerships with institutions, organisations and industries.
What is it doing NOW?

Though the project started only six months back, Cosmos has already branched off into a diverse range of activities:

• Organising a series of ‘COSMOS FOUNDATIONAL EVENTS’ which would help build up a community of students interested in developing their careers in the field of New Media as well as bring together a group of resource persons who are specialists and practitioners in different spheres of new media. For details, please refer to the Events page.
• Creating the curriculum of the postgraduate course on New Media Studies
• Researching teaching methodologies appropriate for the course
• Exploring partnerships and avenues of infrastructure development for the COSMOS New Media Institute
• Making a film on the Open Source movement

What are the future plans?
• Workshops, seminars and short courses for professionals and students wishing to deepen their understanding of the New Media and helping them to enhance their skills or nurture their creativity while maintaining a critical attitude towards the new media and convergence;
• These experiences and media practices would pave the way to a full-fledged M.A. degree course on New Media, possibly in association with a major university in the UK.
• A vibrant cultural centre in the city of Mumbai
When will the COSMOS New Media Institute be functional?
By the end of 2008.

If you are interested in workshops on New Media and ICTs, join this group

COSMOS Events

For COSMOS Foundational Events, goto the events page

WHERE THE NEEDS OF THE WORLD AND YOUR TALENTS CROSS, THERE LIES YOUR VOCATION. -- ARISTOTLE