92.7 broadcast Orson Welles 1938 thriller, War of the Worlds, in which Martians attack New York City. Triggering panic for listeners who missed the disclaimers, "the broadcast revealed the way politicians could use the power of mass communications to create theatrical illusions, to manipulate the public".
I don't know if my intuition is right, but I think I had my students attention today. It was nerve-wracking, i admit, but we brainstormed most of the elements of the classroom discourse to date, and I tried to package it. I got help on the thesis statement from Luke and "Jane". Someone hollered out that it's not just speech we've been discussing, but "the power of" public speech. I know I missed some things, and the conclusion came more on the fly than is advisable (!), but time was running out and it had to be done.
"If we respond to a proverb (by denying its wisdom or preferring the insight of a contrary proverb), we imagine someone who might have said it, and may imply that the experience that led to it was partial: we treat is as a German or Russian proverb, say, and imagine the sort of 'typical' German or Russian from whom it might have emanated" (MB: Creation of a Prosaics, p. 133).
Felice was one of my professors during my Master's in social justice education. She rocks. I only met Chuck once, but he's cool too. I think it's great their book, Economic Apartheid in America has been published in a 2nd edition.
Sure. :-) (responding to Radhika's request for more info)
Keep in mind, I'm teaching mass comm for the first time - so the students' questions are all new to me. We read a piece by Stanley Aronowitz last week ("Working Class Culture in the Electronic Age"), which generated many questions about the relationship between particular 'identities' and depth of critical perception. For instance:
Is there a correlation between immersion and awareness? Take middle-class people and their representation in the media, does this lead them not to think deeply about the representations, whereas members of those groups not so well-represented might wonder why?
Are blacks in general more likely to notice their subordination because of secondary education and inferior resources made available to them – do these factors led them to notice the inequity more quickly than white children do. Is that regional?
After we saw Hall's video, the questions intensified.
Students in my Intro to Mass Media class have been asking similar questions (especially after viewing Stuart Hall's Race: The Floating Signifier) as these two esteemed academics on the Association of Internet Researchers' listserv:
Charles: My applied ethics class, we're reading an essay by Robinson A. Grover, "the New State of Nature and the New Terrorism," which argues that new media and globalization have brought about a new version of Hobbes' war of each against all, etc.
Radhika: hmmm
Charles: I attempted to buttress some of Grover's claims with the work of Cass Sunstein, his notion of "The Daily Me," etc.
This inspired one of my students to ask: are there studies, etc., that suggest that the new media, by giving us greater communication with "the Other" works to make us _less_ fearful of the Other, and thus, under some circumstances at least, _more_ likely to engage in aggressive behaviors, including warfare?
Most of my students in Public Speaking opted for the written analysis assignment first, rather than last. I advocated for it, and am pleased with the results. One decision I had to make quick was whether fictonal speeches were acceptable. I decided, why not? Obviously students take their cues about what makes a good speech and when to give one from the movies at least as much (if not moreso?) than real life. What an interesting collection we ended up with! The basic criteria was that the speech had to be available on video/dvd so we could screen it as a class (took a lot of time, but was well worth it).
Sent by Taryn to the social justice listserv:
"This guide by the New York Collective of Radical Educators has an excellent analysis and link to resources/examples on the social justice issues related to Hurricane Katrina. Margery is one of the trainers with the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond."
This undergraduate final paper received Best Paper honors for the Small Group Communication class I taught last spring at UMass-Amherst. The class as a whole was extraordinary, we complemented and competed with each other well. Based on all the papers, I know everyone learned a lot. I know I did. :-)
The text is available as well as some commentaries, such as
Gore on the Threat to American Democracy (scroll down to read over 100 comments t that weblog posting),
Andy Carvin's Waste of Bandwidth (which includes links to an audiopodcast and video highlights,
and right wing responses, such as Right-wing pundits play doctor; diagnose Gore as "insane",
New Gore speech, same right-wing diagnosis
Media Reality Check: Gore's Speech Satisfied Network Analysts.
I'm reading the assigned "pro" and "con" chapters in Jarice's book, Taking Sides. I'm puzzled by the link made by Edison & Jacobs from Janet Jackson's bodily exposure during prime time television to increasing restrictions on radio broadcasting.
The crackdown on radio by the FCC is for real, as experienced recently in Brattleboro, VT. I tracked some of the drama:
"The human dilemma of communication is that we cannot communicate ordinarily without words and signs, but even ordinary experience tends to be falsfied by our habits of verbalization and rationalization." Thomas Merton, Zen and the birds of appetite
Trying to guide students from the notion of subjectivity, through co-construction, to intersubjectivity. I've posed the question to a few of them to define "co-construction." I jumped ahead, to intersubjectivity. The stuff I'm coming across is pretty dense. :-(
Intersubjectivity in an organic pub
The (above) Blog for Collective Intelligence looks like a Tom Atlee site, except it's a bit more witty! (Tom writes more like me, or, I write more like him. Basically, not so funny. Don't tell me you guessed?!) Actually, I'm pretty sure I recognize George's name from among folk Tom has recommended in the past.
Intersubjectivity: Exploring Consciousness from the Second-Person Perspective
Identity, Intersubjectivity and Communicative Action
I thought I'd blogged this before, but can't locate ZPD, specifically. Vygotsky made his case for social develpment theory, in Mind in Society.
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in Society. (Trans. M. Cole). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Well, Burda, I used to have my email address up on the site but it seems to have vanished in the latest template update. I'll have to pester my tech guy (heavens no, I don't know how to do this myself!)
Here it is - you know how to put it in proper form, as I try to avoid the email collection bots:
kentcon at sover dot net
all public speaking students - drafts welcome but give me lead time! Best is by Sunday night, but during the day Monday will probably also work. I have no time on Tuesday!
Hey museumfreak! Wonderful to 'see' you here. :-) Here's the list, all nice and compiled. Lemme know what happens with it, k?
Introduction to Small Group Communication, Spring 2005
Introduction to Interpersonal Communication, Winter 2005
Introduction to Interpersonal Communication, Fall 2004
Introduction to Interpersonal Communication, Spring 2004
Introduction to Interpersonal Communication, Winter 2004
I asked my colleagues about good references on media ownership, here's what I got back:
Todd (the namedropper, a.k.a. dad twice over) says, "Check out this dude's books: http://www.jeffcohen.org/.
Donna, Lori, and Denise all recommend Robert McChesney -- Donna specifies, "older books like Rich Media, Poor Democracy are wonderful, as are newer ones like Our Media Not Theirs."
Denise adds, "Global Media: A Guide really sums things up."
A new course designed by Ted Coopman.
