ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the role of institutional setting, asking contributors to reflect on the ways that different contexts—such as urban research university, rural liberal arts college, elite private institution, or large, public institution—might shape the kinds of work possible, and the varying resources and constraints that these settings impose. Applied media studies imply a commitment to dynamism and creativity in academic work, and it allows for work in and out of academic contexts. Applied media studies works best when many different bodies are engaging a single object or a single media context. The one thing that distinguishes applied media studies projects from other research projects is the need for long-term commitments. Tenure and promotion committees in the humanities are flummoxed by non-traditional projects and are often ill prepared to evaluate digital scholarship, collaborative research, and grant-funded projects.
