McLuhan (or Postman) Goes Into A Time Machine

McLuhan, the “patron saint” of media studies, predicted that the future of the media world would be a
“global village”—a place of sensorial extensions and communal responsibilities. Postman, the “not so
amused” media critic, foresaw our future becoming a “peek-a-boo world”, full of fragmented images,
experiences, and social relationships. To what extent did their prophecies become true? To what extent
were they proven wrong? What would McLuhan or Postman think of the media world today? Would
their theories be confirmed, modified, or abandoned? What would they suggest that we do to improve
today’s media culture as consumers, producers, users, critics, and regulators?
In this final paper, you will Put McLuhan or Postman into a time machine and make him travel to four
different time/space of the contemporary media world. Write an essay of approximately 2400-3000
words (8-10 pages, double-spaced, size 12 font, excluding the Work Cited page) to describe his thoughts
and deliberations on the four scenarios. Thread them together to build towards a coherent final
argument, which embodies your value judgment and suggestions for action for today’s media culture. For
example, you can write about:
1. McLuhan/Postman goes to a Comcast and TimeWarner Cable merger meeting
2. McLuhan/Postman visits Edward Snowden in his undisclosed residence in Russia
3. McLuhan/Postman interviews a NBC executive who produced America’s Got Talent
4. McLuhan/Postman reads about the Kardashians in the People magazine at a supermarket
checkout counter

This final paper allows you to show what you have learned throughout an entire semester. Make
connections to as many course concepts as possible. Interweave the concepts and topics in interesting
ways. Link them, compare them, differentiate them, and evaluate them. For example, you could put
McLuhan in conversation with Snowden. How would McLuhan’s famous quote “media are the extensions
of Man” seem in light of Snowden’s critique of digital surveillance? Have media extended us or entrapped
us? Is an “extension” essentially a “trap”? What has changed between McLuhan and Snowden’s historical
periods that brought out the different technological, political, economical, and cultural potentials of
media? Have things changed for the better or worse? What could we possibly do about this?
Writing Style
This essay should be a cross between creative nonfiction and academic paper. Try to be original as well as
convincing in your argument. Argue rather than simply assert. An argument gives reasons and evidence;
an assertion just states something without any backing. Make references to specific portions of books or
articles to substantiate your points, whether quoted, paraphrased, or simply mentioned.