For release: March 11, 2013
For press information, contact Dr. Aram Goudsouzian, 901-678-2520

Dr. Marshall Poe

Dr. Marshall Poe, associate professor of history at the University of Iowa, will deliver a new understanding of how the Internet is shaping our world, and he does it by starting at the dawn of human history. Poe will discuss “From Grunts to Tweets: Communication and History” on Thursday, March 21, in the University Center Theatre at the University of Memphis. A reception will begin at 6 p.m., followed by the lecture at 6:30.

Presented by the Marcus W. Orr Center for the Humanities, the event is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the Zach Curlin garage adjacent to the University Center.

In his recent book A History of Communications, Poe explains the origins and impact of different forms of communication: speech, writing, print, electronic devices and the Internet. He argues that new types of media are pulled into widespread use by broad historical trends, and then these media push social institutions and beliefs in predictable directions. This view allows us to see for the first time what is truly new about the Internet, what is not, and where it is taking us.

Poe is a former writer and editor for The Atlantic Monthly and a scholar of Russian history. His many books include The Russian Moment in World History. He has been a Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study, the Harriman Institute, and the Kennan Institute.  He is best known, however, as the founder and editor of the website “New Books in History,” which brings interviews with historians to popular audiences.

Poe’s address is the Sesquicentennial Lecture in History and is further made possible by Public Service Funds.

More information about this event or the Marcus W. Orr Center for the Humanities is available online at www.memphis.edu/moch, by email to moch@memphis.edu, or by phone from Dr. Aram Goudsouzian at 901-678-2520.