Is MIT’s Henry Jenkins the Marshall McLuhan of the Web 2.0 Era?

Henry Jenkins, co-director of the Comparative Media Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was one of the first scholars to study Trekkies and other fans of popular media. For decades, he argues, those fans have been on the cutting edge of the trend of participatory culture that is now so popular on the Web. The Chronicle’s new Academic Life section profiles this media maven. And since Mr. Jenkins is at the forefront of research on digital culture, the piece also offers some multimedia features, including a podcast interview.