infobong.com the absurd courts the vulgar

Hi, I’m Chris McConnell, a doctoral student in the Department of Radio-Television-Film at the University of Texas at Austin. My research focuses on what Clemencia Rodriguez calls “citizen’s media,” media created by non-professionals for a peer audience. My core area of focus in this participatory media on the Web, but I’ve also written about low-power radio and follow ‘zines, alt-comics, and indie-label music.

This blog began as a project media and technology analysis. It grew out of my experience writing and editing computer trade publications. As my time in grad school has stretched on, this blog has become less journalistic and more reflective. Now it is mostly a space for me to work out ideas and share interesting links.

I was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. A fat National Merit Scholarship lured me to the University of Oklahoma. After majoring in mathematics for most of my undergrad, I wound up graduating with BAs in both Film and Video Studies and English. Afterwards, I moved to the lovely Spruce Hill neighborhood of West Philadelphia, where I enjoyed its Ethiopian food and anarchist community. Today, I live on the rapidly gentrifying east side of Austin.

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