Eric McLuhan (19 January 1942 – 18 May 2018) was a communications theorist and media ecologist, son of
Marshall McLuhan
Herbert Marshall McLuhan (July 21, 1911 – December 31, 1980) was a Canadian philosopher whose work is among the cornerstones of the study of media theory. He studied at the University of Manitoba and the University of Cambridge. He began his ...
.
Biography
Eric McLuhan was the eldest of Marshall McLuhan's six children. He received his BSc in Communications from
Wisconsin State University in 1972 and his M.A. and PhD in English Literature from the
University of Dallas
The University of Dallas is a Private university, private Catholic church, Catholic university in Irving, Texas. Established in 1956, it is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
The university comprises four academi ...
in 1980 and 1982. In 2007, he received the Neil Postman Award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity from the Media Ecology Association. In 2011, the University of St. Michael's College in Toronto, Canada awarded him an L.L.D. of Sacred Letters.
Eric McLuhan coined the term 'media ecology' while teaching at Fordham University in 1967-68 with his father Marshall McLuhan. According to Eric: "Media Ecology is a term I invented when we were at Fordham. I discussed it with Postman and he ran with it." 'Interview with Eric McLuhan'
aureano Ralon, 2010
Marshall and Eric McLuhan co-authored the books ''Laws of Media: The New Science'' (1990), ''Media and Formal Cause'' (2011), and ''Theories of Communication'' (2011). According to McLuhan associate
Dean Motter, Eric also collaborated with his father on some books as a
ghostwriter.
His teaching experiences were in th
McLuhan Program in Culture and Technologyat the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
and with the McLuhan Program International. He was Director of Media Studies at the Harris Institute for the Arts in Toronto for 17 years. Prior to that he taught and tutored at
York University
York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...
,
Dawson College
Dawson College (French: ''Collège Dawson)'' is an English-language public general and vocational college in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
The college is situated near the heart of Downtown Montreal in a former nunnery on approximately 12 acre ...
and
Ontario College of Art. Likewise, he was a founding partner at McLuhan and Davies Communications. He also performed the original
Fordham Experiment.
McLuhan was the author of ''Electric Language'' (1998), ''The Role of Thunder in Finnegans Wake'' (1997) and ''The Sensus Communis, Synesthesia, and the Soul: An Odyssey'' (2015). He was also editor of the journal ''McLuhan Studies'' and has overseen several collections of his father's work: ''The Book of Probes'' (2011), ''Marshall McLuhan Unbound'' (2005, with Terrence Gordon), ''The Medium and the Light'' (2010); and the co-editor of ''Essential McLuhan'' (1997, with Frank Zingrone).
Recent work included a collaboration with mime Wayne D. Constantineau, produced in a series called ''The Human Equation'' (BPS Books), which curiously included a board game. Also forthcoming is: ''The Dance of the Ages: Egyptian Art of the Old Kingdom and Its Relevance to the Twenty-First Century'', Cambridge Scholars Press.
He lived in Ontario, Canada, continuing in retirement to work on new books, projects & collections, his father's works, his own and with collaborators.
He died in
Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...
, a day after delivering the inaugural speech for the Doctorate in Communication at
University of La Sabana
The Universidad de La Sabana is a private university in Colombia, supervised by the Colombian Ministry of Education. It was founded on September 21, 1979 by the Asociación para la Enseñanza Aspaen, its predecessor was the INSE "Instituto Su ...
.
List of works
*''City as Classroom'' (with Marshall McLuhan, Kathryn Hutchon), 1977
*''Laws of Media: The New Science'' (with Marshall McLuhan), U of Toronto Press, 1988
*''The Role of Thunder in'' ''Finnegans Wake'', U of Toronto Press, 1997
*''Electric Language: Understanding the Present,'' Stoddart, 1998
*''The Human Equation, Book I: The Constant in Human Development and Culture from Pre-Literacy to Post-Literacy'' (with W. D. Constantineau), BPS Books, 2010
*''Media and Formal Cause'' (with Marshall McLuhan), NeoPoeisis Press, 2011
*''Theories of Communication'' (with Marshall McLuhan), Peter Lang, 2011
*''The Human Equation, Book II: The Science of Investigation'' (with W. D. Constantineau), BPS Books, 2011
*''The Human Equation, Book III: Know Thyself: Action and Perception'' (with W. D. Constantineau), BPS Books, 2012
*''The Human Equation, Book IV: Mime and Media I'' (with W. D. Constantineau), BPS Books, 2016
orthcoming*''The Human Equation, Book V: Mime and Media II'' (with W. D. Constantineau), BPS Books, 2016
orthcoming*''Cynic Satire'', Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015
*''The Sensus Communis: Synesthesia, and the Soul'', BPS Books, 2015
Editor
*''Essential McLuhan'' (with F. Zingrone), Stoddart, 1995
*''Who Was Marshall McLuhan?'' (with F. Zingrone, W. Constantineau), Stoddart, 1996
*''The Medium and the Light: Writings on Religion by Marshall McLuhan'', (With Jacek Schlarek) Stoddart, 1998
*''The Book of Probes'' (with W. Kuhns), Gingko Press, 2004
*''McLuhan Unbound'', Gingko Press, 2005
See also
*
Tetrad of media effects
References
External links
University of Toronto: Marshall McLuhan Studies: ''About Eric McLuhan''Eric McLuhan homepageThe New Nomads: Eight Characteristics of the Electric Mass Audience by Eric McLuhanEric McLuhan in conversation with Laureano Ralón. Figure/Ground. August 1st, 2010
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcluhan, Eric
1941 births
2018 deaths
Marshall McLuhan
Mass media theorists
Communication scholars
Canadian Roman Catholics
Mass media scholars
Rhetoric theorists
American educational theorists
20th-century Canadian male writers
20th-century Canadian non-fiction writers
21st-century Canadian male writers
21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers