This document provides an overview of digital studies and the Institute for Multimedia Literacy (IML) at the University of Southern California. The IML focuses on how digital media is consumed and produced, ethics in pedagogy and knowledge, and using digital tools to manage information, contribute to public discourse, and foster systems thinking. Examples are given of IML projects involving digital archives about Iraqi doctors, global health simulations, digital activism, representation, and tools for multimedia thesis work.

1. WHAT IS DIGITAL STUDIES?
virginia kuhn
vkuhn@cinema.usc.edu
some basic premises
l. orality > literacy > digital
II. ‘fluency’ = consuming + producing
lll. ethics: pedagogy + epistemology

2. IML
organized research unit of SCA
founded 1998
cinema-based
image + word + network + interactivity

3. IML501: Seminar in
Contemporary Digital Media
I. managing + mobilizing the digital
II. contributing to the public sphere
III. fostering systems thinking

4. digital argument + archives
2008 - 2009
2010 - 2011
2009 - 2010
http://iml.usc.edu/iraqidoctors/

5. digital media + global health
1000 Days
IGH + IMD
http://vimeo.com/29490566
http://apps.facebook.com/thousanddays/

6. digital media + systems thinking
simulation
http://pc4media.com/iml/

7. digital activism
Text
http://scalar.usc.edu/anvc/kuhn/index
International Journal of Learning and Media

8. digital media + representation
http://vimeo.com/19151411
Frog | Prince

9. digital media + tools
MA thesis
http://scalar.usc.edu/anvc/crowley/index