From the Arab Spring of 2011 to the development of iPhone apps for the elderly, new communications technologies are radically transforming society, culture and politics. Join the School of Social Sciences for the second lecture in the school's three-part Expert Speaker Series as the following social sciences and industry experts reflect on the changing landscape of the Internet, social media and virtual worlds for education, culture and industrial design:

Digital Futures: What Comes After the Network Society?
Thursday, February 16, 2012
7:00-8:30 p.m.
Social & Behavioral Sciences Gateway, Room 1517
(bldg 214 on campus map)

Panelists include:

• Tom Boellstorff, UCI anthropologist, on social life in "virtual worlds," and the growing importance of the overlay of digital information in how we experience the world around us
• Mimi Ito, UCI anthropologist and MacArthur Foundation Chair of Digital Media and Learning, on children's use of digital media and its implications for the future of learning
• Maria Bezaitis, Intel Labs Interactions and Experience Research Lab researcher, on industrial application of digital technologies attuned, like never before, to respond to and create the contexts within which we all live our lives

Bobby Barzi, `96 social sciences and hiSoft Envisage, Inc. vice president, will serve as the moderator.

This lecture is free and open to the public. Parking is available for $2.00 per hour in the Social Science Parking Structure on the corner of Campus Drive and Stanford. To RSVP or for further information, please contact Rosemarie Swatez, rswatez@uci.edu or 949-824-2511.

Learn more about the 2011-2012 Social Sciences Speaker Series.