Lecture: "If You Could Believe Your Eyes: Images and Fake News"

The U.S. Embassy in Moscow and American Center invite you to a special lecture "If You Could Believe Your Eyes: Images and Fake News" by U.S. Fulbright Scholar and a renowned Fulbright expert Dr. Mark Bannatyne.

With the information age expending at such an unprecedented rate over the last decade, the distribution of news and images across numerous media sources has also increased to meet the public’s insatiable demand for more and more news. Indeed, the amount of words and images flooding across the globe has generated an anxiety which has caused many to wonder if what they are reading or viewing is real, or contrived. The fact is, most of the world cannot define for themselves what appears in the news and popular culture media to be factual or not. Due to the power and easy accessibility of software programs designed for the creation and correction of images, anyone with a modicum of training can generate an image that can be hurled around the world in only moments of time, and viewed by anyone with access to the internet, television, or a newspaper. The dilemma of having too much available for us to read or see has been seized upon by numerous news sources and exploited to their full advantage for their profits or political agendas. This presentation will offer a brief review of the historical foundations of fake news, and reveal numerous examples of fraudulent images and stories which be pushed onto audiences in an effort to make them appear genuine.

Speaker’s bio:

Dr. Bannatyne is an Associate Professor of Computer Graphics Technology at IUPUI. His career in higher education has allowed him to work in numerous universities in the USA, Poland, and Russia. He began his own academic studies at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (PVI campus) where he received a certificate in Machine Tool Technology. He then moved on to Utah State University (USU) where he received his Baccalaureate degree in Industrial Teacher Education, and a Master of Science degree in Industrial Technology. Dr. Bannatyne received his Ph.D. from Purdue University in the field of Curriculum and Instruction focusing on Technology Education and the development of programs specifically concerned with computer graphics applications. 

Dr. Bannatyne has published numerous journal articles and conference presentations on a wide variety of issues within both technical education and popular culture. Dr. Bannatyne’s research agenda includes the challenges faced by emerging nations in both the adoption and rejection of technological solutions within education and industry. He has also served as a Reviewer for the Fulbright Office in Moscow, Russia since 2001 where he has been responsible for reviewing grant applications from Russian scholars who desire to conduct research at universities in the USA.

#lecture #media #fakenews #fulbright