Remember our overview of the human triune brain from last class - the most complex living thing in the known universe.
How does your triune brain interact with this short video called "Social Media Revolution"?
Now, watch this short Michael Wesch video called "The Machine Is Us/ing Us."
Write down on our index card your answers to these two questions:
2. What is Michael Wesch's thesis, in a single sentence, IYOW? (Write this down on a card).
3. Describe ONE way in which Web 2.0 personal and participatory digital media transform public communications? (Consider your own professional field or area of interest).
The BIG question: What interdisciplinary approaches can we use (and how?) to teach and learn about other cultures?
Begin with fun, provocative and powerful "anchoring" texts, like Jeff Dunham's "Achmed the Dead Terrorist," with close to 150 million views on YouTube.
1. History - through traditional textbooks and primary documents.
2. Language
3. Journalism and News
4. Religious Studies
4. Comparative Literature
5. "Big Ideas" and Politics
6. Special guests who are "experts" in their field
Women in the West cannot evade a sense of heartbreaking sympathy (accompanied by equal intrigue) at the sight of a woman in hijab. It’s the kind of observation that ignites a sudden discourse on the inhumanity of Islam and the women bound by the unyielding restrictions of the faith.
Look past the veil, however, and the case against the oppression of women that seems so distinct in ignorance expands into a much broader debate, and one utterly misunderstood by the West. As my American orientation would so doggedly suggest, the Islamic faith is suffocating women – denying them their value and their basic human rights. From genital mutilation to honor killings, female infanticide, polygamy, and the archaic practice of arranged marriages, it appears that Islam has turned the clocks back several centuries for the sake of propagating a misogynist social order that prospers on the systematic abuse of half of its population. And all this, all the stringency associated with this male-dominated religion, most often comes to the fore at the mere glimpse of a woman donning the veil.
But is this really a factual illustration of modern Muslim practices, or has the West projected an inaccurate view of a faith for which we know very little, falsely accusing Islam of subjugating its women?
Meet our VCWA students from Slovenia, Slovakia, Serbia, Hungary, and Vermont!
WELCOME!
"The essence of good leadership is undefine'able." - Anonymous
What is "leadership"?
1. Working in small groups, come up with the single most important ingredient of LEADERSHIP, and, one sentence that explains WHY that ingredient is so important. (15 minutes)
(For example: "Courage, because leadership requires pushing outside of one's personal comfort zone and taking risks.")
2. Together, illustrate that single most important ingredient on a piece of posterboard. (15 minutes)
Here is an evolving list of "pop culture/media" articles I use with college students in my media classes. Not exhaustive, but perhaps useful for exploring the directions in which our 21st century media culture is going.
