Phantasmagoria of Urban Spectacle: Walter Benjamin and Media Theory Today Jaeho Kang Wed, Oct 29, 14:00 University of Westminster Harrow Campus Room A7.01 Registration is possible per email to [email protected] until Oct 27 http://www.westminster.ac.uk/camri/research-seminars/phantasmagoria-of-urban... Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) is one of the most original and perceptive German literary and cultural critics, but his unique insight into the profound impact of the media on modernity has received a good deal less attention. Based on his book 'Walter Benjamin and the Media: The Spectacle of Modernity' (2014), Jaeho Kang will talk about Benjamin’s critical and provocative writings on the intersection between media and modern experience with particular reference to phantasmagoria, aesthetic public space, and urban spectacle. In so doing, he will clarify Benjamin’s distinctive and enduring contribution to contemporary media studies. Before joining SOAS in 2012, Jaeho Kang taught as Assistant Professor in the Department of Media Studies and Film at the New School in New York (2005-2012) and was the Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow in the Institut für Sozialforschung at the University of Frankfurt (2004-2005). He received his PhD in sociology from the University of Cambridge (2003). He has tried to bring theoretical contributions of critical theory to the development of East Asian media and cultural studies and published a number of articles on critical theory of media and political communication in English, Korean, German, and Portuguese. His research has recently focused more attention on the East Asian context of media culture with particular reference to media spectacle, urban space and screen culture. The book 'Walter Benjamin and the Media: The Spectacle of Modernity' (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2014) came out in summer 2014.