As a media theorist, Lev Manovich founded Software Studies Initiative (UCSD and Calit2) in 2007 in order to facilitate the work in the new emerging field of software studies.  The lab is also developing a new paradigm of Cultural Analytics: data mining and visualization of patterns in large cultural data sets.  He received an MA in Experimental Psychology at NYU and Ph.D in Visual and Cultural Studies from University of Rochester.  He is teaching courses in digital art as well as history and theory of digital cultures at the Visual Arts Department, University of California – San Diego (UCSD). His works include Software Takes Command (2008), Soft Cinema: Navigating the Database (2005), Language of New Media (2001).