TORONTO, March 19, 1997: Marshall McLuhan, the most controversial philosopher, poet and media critic Canada has ever produced, is the focus of an innovative conference hosted by York University on March 21 and 22.

"Rethinking McLuhan" celebrates Marshall McLuhan's vision. The conference, expected to draw about 350 participants, offers a convivial mix of philosophers and scholars who will re-investigate, re-evaluate and re-think this complex Canadian -- a literary intellectual who has become the patron saint of the wired world.

"This is the first time York University has honoured McLuhan in this formal way, and we hope to offer stimulating perceptions, opinions and ideas about a Canadian whose significance gets more pronounced as time goes on," said York English professor Bruce Powe, organizer of the conference. "We have brought together an exemplary group of scholars, poets, writers, and thinkers in a pivotal forum organized with the help of different colleges, departments and faculties around York. The result is sure to enrich everyone who attends."

One of the conference highlights will be the first-ever debate between star speakers Neil Postman and Arthur Kroker, two of North America's most prominent theorists of communication and culture.

Neil Postman is the author of Amusing Ourselves to Death and Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology. A highly respected cultural critic and communications theorist, he has been described as a "vital public intellectual" whose work engages both "popular" and academic domains. He currently chairs the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences at New York University.

Arthur Kroker is the author of Technology and the Canadian Mind: Innis, McLuhan, Grant, a brilliant analysis of how technology, culture and Canada informed the thinking of three North American thinkers. Kroker's latest book is Data Trash, which examines the hi-tech age and what he calls "excremental culture." He has been instrumental in revealing the work of the French social theorist Jean Baudrillard to a North American audience. He is the founding editor of The Canadian Journal of Social Political Theory. He also teaches political science and humanities at Montreal's Concordia University.

"These brilliant scholars [Postman and Kroker] have never shared a stage before. It will be fascinating to hear them debate McLuhan's ideas as they express their individual views," said Powe.

Other speakers include: York English professor and poet Christopher Dewdney; York University Fine Arts Dean Seth Feldman, a critic of television; Liss Jeffrey, director of the McLuhan Centre for Culture and Technology at the University of Toronto; Eric McLuhan, a critic and the son of Marshall McLuhan; York mass communications professor Ted Magder; Toronto Star book critic and McLuhan biographer Philip Marchand; Evan Solomon, publisher of Shift Magazine and host of the CBC Newsworld program Future World; and humanities professor Frank Zingrone, who has taught about McLuhan for 25 years and is co-author of the book, The Essential McLuhan. These speakers will contribute lively new interpretations on McLuhan, the ambiguous sage of the mass media, a man who remains at the centre of public debate about our place in mass media and cyberspace.

*A detailed conference agenda accompanies this press release.

This event has been sponsored by: Calumet College; Calumet College Council; Winters College; Winters College Council; Faculty of Arts; Faculty of Fine Arts; Department of English; Mass Communications Program; Office of the Vice-President (Academic Affairs); The Wendy Michener Symposium; and Compugen Systems Ltd.

York University is located at 4700 Keele Street (at Steeles Avenue) in North York.

For more information, call:

Cecily Bahar
Winters College
York University
(416) 736-5493
email: mcluncon@yorku.ca

Bruce Powe
Conference Co-ordinator
Winters College
(416) 736-5142, ext. 77446
email: bpowe@yorku.ca

Mary Ann Horgan
Media Relations
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22086
YU/030/97

All conference events will take place at Winters College Dining Hall (lower level) unless therwise stated. PLEASE NOTE: In the event of a faculty strike at York University, this vent will be held at Black Creek Pioneer Village, Jane Street at Steeles Ave. For information, call (416) 736-5493.

Friday, March 21

9:00 a.m. - Introduction: "McLuhan's Life," by Philip Marchand, biographer, and Eric McLuhan, critic.

11:00 a.m. - Lecture: "The Literary McLuhan," by Neil Postman, author, philosopher, and critic.

12:30 p.m. - Lunch.

2:00 p.m. - Lecture: "Post-McLuhanism," by Arthur Kroker, post-modernist philosopher.

3:30 p.m. - Panel Discussion: "McLuhan and Cyber-Technology," by Christopher Dewdney, poet, Ted Magder, professor, and Frank Zingrone, professor and author. This event is sponsored by the Wendy Michener Symposium, an annual forum at York University which provides a forum for a discussion of issues and developments on the Canadian cultural scene.

Saturday, March 22

9:00 a.m. - Presentation and Panels: "The Future of TV," by Liss Jeffrey, McLuhan Centre; Evan Solomon, Shift Magazine and Newsworld; and Seth Feldman, Dean, York University Faculty of Fine Arts.

11:00 a.m. - Debate: "Contrary McLuhans," with Arthur Kroker and Neil Postman.

1:00 p.m. - Lunch.

2:00 - 4:00 p.m. - The McLuhan Video Archives: Simultaneous and continuous showing of The McLuhan Video Archives on multiple screens. *NOTE: This event takes place in Calumet College Lounge (Rm. 214) and Common Room (Rm. 100.)