Media convergence is the wave of the future, and it’s coming to Kent State sooner than students may think.

Gracie Lawson-Borders, an assistant professor in the School of Communication Studies, is speaking on media, technology and convergence at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow in the Fashion Museum Auditorium in Rockwell Hall. The speech is a part of the Distinguished Scholar series through the College of Communication and Information.

Lawson-Borders visited converged newsrooms located in Chicago, Tampa and Dallas to help gain a better understanding of the subject matter.

“I believe that technology is a tool, and I believe that we should make good choices on how we use the tools,” Lawson-Borders said.

James Gaudino, dean of the College of Communication and Information, said tomorrow’s lecture will accomplish multiple things.

“It will make the scholarship of the college (CCI) more widely known across the university and within the relevant professional groups external to the campus,” Gaudino said.

He also said the talk will be relevant to Franklin Hall, which is designed around the concept of convergence. The new converged newsroom is set to be complete in the fall of 2007, according to Jeff Fruit, director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Gaudino said the new newsroom will give students “a laboratory to mess with.”

He also said those who plan to participate in student media activities in Franklin Hall would benefit from attending this speech.

Contact College of Communication and Information reporter Ben Breier at [email protected].