Dylan Wittkower, who teaches philosophy at Coastal Carolina University, will give a talk titled "Podcasting and the Future of Political Agency" on Wednesday, Nov. 12 at 4:30 p.m. in the Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts, room 257. The event is free and open to the public.

Wittkower, who studies the ways technology impacts creative communities, will address the way that certain innovations in digital technologies--podcasts being one prominent example--open new possibilities for political agency. According to Wittkower, "the nation-state has, from a world-historical perspective, hitherto been the dominant structure of political power and political representation. Effective communication, organization, and action have required this centralized power. As digital media continue to become more pervasive and effective, new, decentralized modes of political agency begin to emerge, and podcasts--inconsequential as they may seem--give us a glimpse of this possible future."

Wittkower studied philosophy, sociology and history at the University of Redlands and earned both a Ph.D. and a master's degree in philosophy from Vanderbilt University. Prior to his appointment at Coastal Carolina University, Wittkower was a visiting assistant professor at Sweet Briar College and Virginia Tech. He is the author of "iPod and Philosophy, iCon of an epoch" (2008).

The lecture is sponsored by the University's Interdisciplinary Studies program. For more information, contact Maria K. Bachman, director of Interdisciplinary Studies at 349-2747 or mbachman@coastal.edu.