Derrick de Kerckhove is Director of the McLuhan Program in Culture + Technology and Professor in the Department of French at the University of Toronto. He received his Ph.D. in French Language and Literature from the University of Toronto in 1975 and a Doctorat du 3e cycle in Sociology of Art from the University of Tours (France) in 1979. He was an associate of the Centre for Culture and Technology from 1972 to 1980 and worked with Marshall McLuhan for over ten years as translator, assistant and co-author. He edited Understanding 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 the book The Alphabet and the Brain (Springer Verlag, 1988) with Charles Lumsden, which scientifically assesses the impact of the Western alphabet on the physiology and the psychology of human cognition. Another publication , La civilisation vidéo-chrétienne appeared in France in December, 1990. Brainframes: Technology, Mind and Business (Bosch+Keuning, 1991) addresses the differences between the effects of television, computers and hypermedia on corporate culture, business practices and economic markets. The Skin of Culture (Somerville Press, 1995) is a collection of essays on the new electronic reality. Derrick’s latest book, Connected Intelligence (Somerville, 1997) was launched last spring. Derrick has offered connected intelligence workshops worldwide, and now offers this innovative approach to thinking together while using information technologies as part of the McLuhan Program.

Besides his scientific interests in communication, he is promoting a new field of artistic endeavor, which brings together art, engineering and emerging communication technologies. Another book on “Transinteractivity”, the world’s first videoconference for the arts which took place between Paris, France and Toronto, Canada, appeared in Paris entitled, Les Transinteractifs (editions SNVB - La Villette, 1990). He consulted on exhibits and wrote the catalogue for Techno Art, Ontario Science Centre, September 1994-January 1995 and co-curated Press Enter, the Power Plant Gallery in Toronto, April 1995.

A consultant in media, cultural interests, and related policies, Derrick de Kerckhove has participated in the preparation and brainstorming sessions for the plans for: the Ontario Pavilion at Expo ‘92 in Seville, the Canada in Space exhibit, and the Toronto Broadcast Centre for the CBC. He was a member of the six person government task force on designing a cultural policy for the francophone community in Ontario. He is part of the Canada-wide Media Watch research team and recently appeared before the CRTC Public Hearing Committee on the Information Highway.