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 Catholic university in Irving, Texas. Established in 1956, it is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The university comprises four academic units: the Braniff Graduate School ...

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 Dean Motter is an illustrator, designer and writer who has worked for many years in Canada (Toronto) and the United States (New York City and Atlanta). He is best known for his album cover designs, two of which won Juno Awards. He is also the crea ...

, Eric also collaborated with his father on some books as a

ghostwriter A ghostwriter is hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are officially credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often ...

. His teaching experiences were in th
McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology
at 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 research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and sta ...

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 ac ...

and

Ontario College of Art Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD, is a public art university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus is spread throughout several buildings and facilities within d ...

. Likewise, he was a founding partner at McLuhan and Davies Communications. He also performed the original

Fordham Experiment The Fordham Experiment was an experiment done as part of a course on The Effects of Television by Eric McLuhan and Harley Parker at Fordham University in 1967 or 1968. The purpose of the experiment was to demonstrate to the students that there was ...

. 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.

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

References

External links

University of Toronto: Marshall McLuhan Studies: ''About Eric McLuhan''

Eric McLuhan homepage

The New Nomads: Eight Characteristics of the Electric Mass Audience by Eric McLuhan

Eric 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

Biography

List of works

See also

References

External links