Julian Kilker, Ph.D.
Associate Professor,
Emerging Technologies


 
  My research focuses on society and information technologies, particularly in relation to media systems. My recent work has explored visual media and the public understanding of technology, hence the images below.

Shelves store undergraduate theses, Reed College's Hauser Library
Near China Ranch in the Mojave Desert.


 

Contact info

 

Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
4505 Maryland Pkwy.
Las Vegas, NV 89154-5007, USA
Office + 1 (702) 895 3729
Fax + 1 (702) 895 5189
kilker at unlv.nevada.edu


 

Office hours

Tuesdays: noon-1 pm, 3:45-4:45 pm; Thursdays: noon-1 pm, 3:45-4:45 pm.
For
appointments contact me by e-mail. I am in room 2137 in the new Greenspun Hall building, across Maryland Parkway from Rebel Books.


 

Research

See my publications and presentations.

Most of my work explores two main areas:

Lifecycle stages of Digital Media Technologies. I'm interested in identifying and analysing key stages of media technologies, specifically development, marketing, modification, and obsolescence. Sample work in this area over the past ten years: Networking identity: A case study examining social identity in communication technology development (1999); Shaping convergence media (2003, top paper in ComTech Debut category); the collaborative “Swarm” research of the Consumer Electronics Show (2006); Breaking free: The shaping and resisting of mobility (2007); Digital dirt and the entropic artifact (2009); and Deadly and Barren, or Beautiful and Fragile? Exploring the Nighttime Mojave Desert (2012).

Privacy, Surveillance, and Technology Literacy. This research examines social and ethical aspects of mundane and advanced technologies, as well as assessing technological risks in general. Sample work in this area: Dimensions of communication privacy and international computer network design (1995), the co-authored article Examining counter-institutional websites as locations for organizational member voice, dissent, and resistance (2006, winner of the journal's "article of the year" award); Risk education: Teaching (and learning) about technology and uncertainty in society (2007); and A visual typology of surveillance news (2009, 3rd prize in AEJMC's VisCom category).


 
Photography
Bodie
Neon
Images of Decay
Historical Pinball
Slot canyon
Mojave at Night

 
Other work
"are you a visitor?"... (mini-homage to Robert Lax)
  2001.09.11: Breaking news on the net

 

Courses

JOUR 313 Digital photography
JOUR 333 Interactive media design
HON 400 The secret lives of technology
HON 400 Media, privacy, and surveillance
JOUR 435 Research methods
JOUR 450 Media technologies and society
JMS 712 Grad quantitative research methods
JMS 789 Media, ICTs, and Society

Honors students examine classic game technology design, Pinball Hall of Fame
Honors students examine game technology design during fieldtrip, Pinball Hall of Fame

Student projects

Local Las Vegas was created by forty students several years ago. Its goal: document underappreciated aspects of Las Vegas, a city in which tourism dominates local and visitor impressions. The projects are organized using Google Maps. Most students had only a semester's experience with web design and Dreamweaver.

The Zkeyn project was created in my Advanced Interactive Media Design course several years ago. Students negotiated challenges in both social collaboration and software development to create a maze-like game based on the classic Myst and using an infamous campus building for visuals.


 
Divertisse-ments

In no particular order: Pinball Hall of Fame | Ironic Sans | Google Labs | kottke.org | MAKE magazine | BLDG BLOG | The Big Picture | PRI's The World Tech podcast

Battered sign on road frequently used for SUV commercial shoots, Valley of Fire
Worn desert sign, Valley of Fire