Hi there! I’m William. I am an instructor of Web Design and Interactive Media at the Art Institutes and a PhD student in Media Studies at the University of Texas at Austin, College of Communication, Department of Radio-Television-Film. On this page, you’ll find a bit about my teaching experience, how I arrived in Austin from Pittsburgh, and where to find me if you’d like to chat about media, life, or career.

Teaching

I teach Web Design and Interactive Media at the Art Institute of Austin and the Art Institute of Pittsburgh – Online Division. Prior to my move to Austin in 2009, I was a faculty member at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh campus in downtown Pittsburgh for nearly five years, teaching a number of classroom-based courses related to information and interactive media design, screen design, graphics design, Photoshop and digital imaging, and other related design courses. Additionally, I taught a media communications course, a handful of Internet marketing courses, and an occasional computer literacy course.

Being a “jack of all trades, master of multimedia” has paid off well for me, but in the past few years I have attempted to deepen my knowledge of the media industry while paying close attention to the evolution of the Web, particularly as Web access becomes increasingly mobile.

Why Austin? Why a PhD?

I absolutely love my hometown of Pittsburgh, but I decided to finally pursue an advanced degree in Media Studies. The University of Texas at Austin accepted me into their program in Fall, 2009. I became interested in the Internet as a media communications system, subject to increasing regulatory scrutiny and legal precedents that predate the evolution of networked technologies. Currently, I am researching the challenges faced by organizations and preservationists interested in archiving the World Wide Web for future study and for posterity’s sake.

Where can I learn more?

You can link to my del.icio.us feed, my Twitter feed, my Facebook profile, my LinkedIn profile, or my FriendFeed. Social media sites can be time-consuming, but it’s always good to be aware of your public persona on the Internet!

And if you would be so kind, please subscribe to the RSS feed for the site. If you have no idea what RSS means, get on the bandwagon! Sign up.

Peace. Always.
-wjm