UC Santa Barbara

Culture is the integration of thought shared by entire collectives of people. In my research, I ask how entire groups of authors and audiences shape culture: What is it that evolves; what rules can be observed; and how are multiple observations related to each other? Answering these questions requires not only exact thinking and hypothesis testing but also the ability to visualize predictions, first in your mind’s eye, and second by collecting data, decoding, analyzing, synthesizing, and rendering on the computer screen. This present lecture summarizes some of my theoretical propositions as well as empirical testing, focusing in particular on one visual tools for geographical analysis of public media. I also give an outlook on how this geographical interface is intended to become a cultural radar that shows how culture grows and comes towards you and could attract the same breadth of audience as a regular rain radar.