Playful Visions: Children’s Media
Culture before Screen Time
March 12, 2021. 2:00 PM CT.
Dr. Meredith A. Bak is an Assistant
Professor in the Department of Childhood Studies at Rutgers University-Camden.
She researches historical and contemporary children’s media, toys, and popular
conceptions about technology and play. Bak led a workshop about
nineteenth-century optical toys and illusions—kids’ media before screen time.
She also conversed with SoHE Associate Professor Heather Kirkorian, Laura M. Secord Chair in
Early Childhood Development, Faculty Director of the Child Development Lab, and Director of
the Cognitive Development and Media Lab. The
two discussed how early optical toys set the stage for the aspirations and
anxieties we associate with children’s media today.
Read more about Professor Bak’s latest
book and creating optical toys in this recent blog post by CDMC Visiting Executive
Director Sarah Anne Carter.
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2021 by the Center for Design and Material Culture and speakers.
The CDMC Conversation Series is made
possible with the support of The Anonymous Fund.