The Public

Smart Media and Political Life in the Era of Mobility

About the Lecture

  1. Ice breaking politics! What comes to your mind?
  2. What is politics in the contemporary?
  3. Discussions about politics and how they can impact lives.
  4. Why does democracy matter? An overview of world history about everyone’s right to vote.
  5. Watch a video about suffrage movement in France, England, and Switzerland, followed by a discussion.
  6. The importance of digital media literacy.

Mobility and Film

How will our future society change, bringing benefits and threats to us?

  • Technology of future prediction in Minority Report (2002)
  • Biometric technologies such as iris, fingerprint, facial recognition in Minority Report
  • Data openness and storage by motion recognition in Minority Report
  • Internet of Thing in everyday life in The Island (2006)

Exploring through news clips and seven films, this lecture contemplates the convenience and lifestyle changes brought by autonomous vehicles and discusses how mobility depicted in films affects our lives when applied.

Information and Commumication Technologies & Mobility Society

The various forms of mobility in modern society, through advancements in mobile technology and transportation such as migration, immigration, the movement of people and goods, computers and the flow of information and capital, are widespread phenomena. A mobility society is characterised by expanding spatial boundaries based on mobility.

If a migration to cities since the Industrial Revolution is simply a shift in residential locations, mobility in the information age encompasses broader social, political, economic, and cultural changes. Beyond philosophical thinking about how human life will change shortly, we will confront practical challenges. With the emergence of the 4.0 industry, led by the internet, robots, artificial intelligence, big data, blockchain, Internet of Things, 3D painting, nanotechnology, and other technologies, society is undergoing rapid changes. The convergence of scientific and technological advancements with existing industries and services transforms human life in new ways.

What is Community? Is It Necessary? The End of Community as Being and the Necessity of Community Building

We often use terms like family community, village community, and local community. The word “community” is used in various ways worldwide and generally brings a positive meaning. However, it’s essential to question whether we truly experience a sense of “community” in the many contexts where the term is used. With the disappearing of traditional family and village conception and the rapid advancement of mobility technology leading to a more anonymous and fluid society, it could be argued that the tangible, fixed being of the community has faded away. Nevertheless, this lecture emphasises the necessity of forming a community as a utopian ideal in modern society. This lecture aims to highlight the significance of community movements that promote “cooperation” and “inclusivity,” which are difficult to achieve in today’s fluid and anonymous society, alongside illustrating cases of such movements.