SPS Stories
Faculty Spotlight
Making Waves in Social Sciences Using Humanities
Fast Facts
- Schmidt Feist's recent lectures, Engaged Media, at both NYU and universities in Asia, have explored themes of motion and time in digital spaces
- Seeks to connect her interest in the environmental and ethical use of media in her art practice as well as her teaching
- Schmidt Feist has been involved with virtual worlds since 2006, when she conducted her first class in Second Life
<p><span class="p-body">Mechthild Schmidt Feist is a clinical professor at the NYU SPS Division of Applied Undergraduate Studies (DAUS). Before NYU, she worked as an artist and award-winning designer for major studios and artists, including Editel, HBO, ARRI-Munich, Alexander Kluge, Ornette Coleman, and Nam June Paik. </span></p>
A Warning for Concerned Consumers of Digital Media
<p><span class="p-body">Misuse of digital media follows us in the news, but Schmidt Feist believes that many nonprofits use these platforms successfully to build ecological awareness and support a circular economy and the rights of indigenous populations. She believes this is a critical trend we should all be aware of.</span></p>
<p><span class="p-body">"In the last 10 years, media literacy has grown to avoid some early excesses of online bullying, scams, and other abuses," she explained. "But there is much more work (regulation) left to do. On the technology side, we see an increase in VR and AR (virtual and augmented reality) in simple consumer applications (such as trying on glasses online) to highly complex games.</span></p>
<p><span class="p-body">"Beyond this hype, according to Schmidt Feist, are questions about how this unsustainable practice can be developed without the huge energy burden. "I may not agree with all practices but find it important to participate as a critical creator," she mused.</span></p>
SPS: an Ideal Place to Bridge the Divide
<p><span class="p-body">Fortunately, NYU SPS offers a number of "digital humanities" classes bridging the divide between liberal arts and "applied" professional classes. "Our students require both, and aside from professional competencies, critical and ethical thinking is paramount for anyone receiving or designing media campaigns," said Schmidt Feist. "For me, the separation into two sectors is an anachronism in today's reality."</span></p>
<p><span class="p-body">Learning by doing embraces both aspects in a holistic sense, according to Schmidt Feist. "All BS in Digital Communications and Media classes include learning concepts and ethics as much as design principles and hardware/software practice––along with regularly invited professionals or client projects adding valuable voices," she explained.</span></p>
<p><span class="p-body">"I can name many colleagues who work at the same intersection, such as Chyng-Feng Sun, clinical professor of media studies, and Antonios Saravanos, clinical associate professor, who coordinates the Information Systems Management degree," listed Schmidt Feist. "Outside of my division, David Hollander's 'Real World' series of interdisciplinary classes bridge the classroom and real client campaigns."</span></p>
Exploring Creativity—Beyond This Universe
<p><span class="p-body">Schmidt Feist has been involved with virtual worlds since 2006, when she conducted the first NYU class in Second Life, and today still explores this realm by conducting research on the metaverse. "I especially value the creative freedom of an empty stage we can fill with our designs, however simple they are at the start," she mused. </span></p>
<p><span class="p-body">"My hope is to maintain that creative freedom and teach students how to navigate and create in a metaverse. My focus is on understanding the underlying principles of a metaverse, not (yet) perfection. I want to support students in building critical awareness of options and pitfalls."<br>
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<p><span class="p-body">Of course her long-term artistic and academic focus is on her <a href="https://mechthildschmidtfeist.com/" target="_blank" title="Engaged Media">Engaged Media</a> series, where she teaches a class of the same name that also is focused on local sustainability efforts, as an awareness and empowerment-building base from which to increase sustainability efforts. Her artwork ranges from ecological to social topics such as refugees.</span></p>
Combining Environmentalism with Interactive Media
<p><span class="p-body">Environmental media art advocacy has long been a passion for Schmidt Feist. A Fulbright Fellowship in Bangalore, India, resulted in <a href="https://mechthildschmidtfeist.com/art-work/engaged-media_lalbagh-treestory/" target="_blank" title="Lalbagh TreeStory">Lalbagh TreeStory</a> (2020), an interactive journey responding to the environmental conflict between public transportation and over 1,000 felled trees.</span></p>
<p><span class="p-body">"This imaginary replanting and a talk between trees is directed at humans, to appreciate how living trees support us—from CO2 absorption to medicinal and cultural uses," she shared. </span></p>
Much of my work combines online elements with physical installations or prints, such as in Involuntary Journeys, which chronicles the paths of a Rohingya and a Syrian refugee Schmidt Feist met in a Lesbos refugee community center. Increasing climate migration is one of the links connecting ecology and refugees, as is my concern about compassion and empathy, given that our consumer behavior has global consequences."
<p><span class="p-body">See where you can start the next chapter of your career with a degree from the <a href="/content/sps-nyu/about/academic-divisions-and-departments/division-of-applied-undergraduate-studies.html" title="Division of Applied Undergraduate Studies (DAUS)">Division of Applied Undergraduate Studies (DAUS)</a>.</span></p>
