Their interest stems from an awareness of the particular relevance of transnational research in culture and technology in today s knowledge-based global economy. The high international profile of McLuhan Program Director Professor Derrick de Kerckhove has served to focus this interest on a connected intelligence network attached to the McLuhan Program on Culture and Technology at the University of Toronto. The McLuhan Program International will encourage research, provide a forum for international dialogue, and offer an international platform to showcase innovative ideas in the area of culture and technology. Partners in the MPI will increase their understanding of the social impact of technology in other cultures, and will be able to apply this knowledge to full advantage in their own cultural contexts. The McLuhan Program on Culture and Technology is largely self-supporting.
Funds come from individual and corporate donors and from occasional program fees.
Through its parnership fees and new corporate sponsors, the MPI will provide a secure multi-year funding base that will contribute to the McLuhan Program overhead in Toronto. In addition, MPI revenues will provide contract salaries for staff involved in the development and coordination of the MPI, honoraria for guest scholars, and research funds for MPI-sponsored projects. The MPI will enhance the international profile of the University of Toronto Marshall McLuhan and the University of Toronto are inextricably linked in the eyes of the world. Marshall McLuhan was a towering international presence whose work at the Centre for Culture and Technology continues to challenge and intrigue thinkers around the world. The MPI, through its Website, videoconferences, sponsored research and fellowship exchanges, will continue the McLuhan tradition of innovative thinking and enhance the international profile of the University of Toronto as the host and sponsor of this unique international venture in connected intelligence.