Yale Bulletin and Calendar

December 6, 2002|Volume 31, Number 13

Open house for faculty will showcase
technologies for teaching

Yale faculty members can learn about the wide range of services available at the University to support the use of technology in academic enterprises at an open house being held on Wednesday, Dec. 11.

Sponsored by Academic Media & Technology (AM&T), the Open House for Faculty in the Arts and Sciences will be held 9 a.m.-3 p.m. in Rosenfeld Hall, 109 Grove St. The event will showcase the groups and services that comprise AM&T, as well as other campus organizations devoted to promoting the use of technology in academic initiatives. Faculty will also have the opportunity to consult one-on-one with experts on topics ranging from video conferencing to laptop support, streaming media and more.

During the open house the Yale Center for Media Initiatives (CMI) will preview Yale's first high definition television (HDTV) project, "History and Memory," a series of vignettes by history professor Jay Winter that explores how individuals, families and nations mourn and remember loved ones lost in tragedy and war.

An increasingly more popular format for television and film, HDTV offers resolution that is almost four times finer than that of standard television, surround-sound capabilities and a 16-by-9 film-like aspect ratio.

In "History and Memory," Winter visits Ground Zero, the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, where he reflects on commemoration through the construction of memorials and the creation of narratives in language and art.

According to CMI director Paul Lawrence, the center opted to use the HDTV format for this project because of the technology's ability to capture the intricate details of Winter's pilgrimage.

"When I sit down and watch the results of our work, I see how the HD format captured the fine dust particles at Ground Zero and the incredibly detailed engravings on the wall of the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in Washington -- details that would otherwise be lost with conventional video technology," says Lawrence. "These details immerse the viewer in Professor Winter's story of memorial, memory and experience."

He adds: "More than the 1080I HD technology, I believe this project is about high-definition content. Part of the CMI's core mission is to investigate new tools in media production that could benefit teaching at Yale. It was paramount that this technology enhance Professor Winter's narrative and not compete with it."

ResearchChannel, the Seattle-based education cable network and CMI partner, will be on hand at the open house to exhibit "History and Memory" and other productions. ResearchChannel is a consortium of research universities and corporate research divisions dedicated to broadening the access to ideas and opportunities in basic and applied research. Yale and ResearchChannel will broadcast "History and Memory" in HDTV and standard definition using a variety of methods from Internet streaming to a national satellite and cable broadcast in 2003.

For more information about the AM&T Open House, contact Judith Schwartz at (203) 432-5967 or judith.schwartz@yale.edu.

For information on "History and Memory" or the CMI's HDTV initiative, contact Tammy McCausland at (203) 432-3419 or tammy.mccausland@yale.edu.

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Open house for faculty will showcase technologies for teaching

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Campus Notes