Derrick de Kerckhove

Derrick de Kerckhove was one of the speakers at Doors 3. He also was a Speaker at Doors of Perception 1, in 1993

Derrick de Kerckhove Derrick de Kerckhove, director of the McLuhan Programme in Culture and Technology, University of Toronto, Canada, is promoting a new field of artistic endeavours, which brings together art, engineering and emerging communication technologies.
Mr de Kerckhove received his PhD in French Language and Literature from the University of Toronto in 1975 and a Doctorate in the Sociology of Art from the University of Tours (France) in 1979. He was an associate of the Centre for Culture & Technology from 1972 to 1980 and worked with Marshall McLuhan for over ten years as translator, assistant and co-author.

He edited Understanding in 1984 (UNESCO, 1984) and co-edited with Amilcare Iannucci, McLuhan e la Metamorfosi dell'Uomo (Bulzoni, 1984) two collections of essays on McLuhan, culture, technology and biology. He also co-edited with Charles Lumsden The Alphabet and the Brain (Springer Verlag, 1988) a book of collected essays which scientifically assess the impact of Western alphabet on the physiology and the psychology of human cognition. Another publication, La Civilisation Video-Chrétienne (Paris, Retz) appeared in 1990. His most recent book, Brainframes: Technology, Mind and Business analyses the impact of new technology on business practice. Derrick de Kerckhove is also a contributing author of Mediamatic magazine.

Besides his scientific interests in communication, he is promoting a new field of artistic endeavour, which brings together art, engineering, and emerging communication technologies. Another book Les Transinteractifs (Paris: éditions SNVB-La Villette) reports and comments on a major videoconferencing event for the arts which took place between Paris and Toronto in 1990.

A consultant in media, cultural interests, and related policies, Derrick de Kerckhove has participated in preparation and brainstorming sessions for the Ontario Pavillion at Expo'92 in Seville, the Canada in Space exhibit, and the Toronto Broadcast Centre for CBC. He was recently a member of the six person government task force charged with designing a cultural policy for the francophone community in Ontario. He has also taken part in the Ontario Government's consultative Committee on Telecoms Strategy for Ontario.

His most recent publication The Skin of Culture-Investigating the New Electronic Reality, 1995, Somerville Press, Toronto, addresses the differences between the effects of television, computers and hypermedia on corporate culture, business practices and the market.

His publications include:

• 1991: Brainframes, Technology, Mind and Business
• 1988: The Alphabet and the Brain
• 1984: Understanding 1984
• 1984: McLuhan e la metamorfosi dell'uomo

Derrick de Kerckhove can be reached at: University of Toronto, The McLuhan Program
39a Queens Park Crescent East, M5S 1A1, Toronto, Canada