With each passing day, we are pelted by a torrential rain of new media technologies, all of which promise to change our lives for the better. But where do they come from, and why do they work the way they do? What visions of the good life are built into machines meant for casual, everyday use? Jonathan Sterne studies media technologies as cultural artefacts - as bearers of meaning, value, and power. His current projects bring these questions to bear on contemporary phenomena while maintaining an historical perspective. Recent projects pay special attention to the role of sound and sound technologies in Western culture. He is also increasingly interested in the relationships between disability and technology. Jonathan Sterne is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies in the Department of Art History and Communication Studies at McGill University. Professor Sterne earned a B.A. summa cum laude in Humanities (1993) from the University of Minnesota, an A.M. in Speech Communication (1995) and a PhD in Communications (1999) from the University of Illinois.  In 2010-11 he was the Anneberg Foundation Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University.