Why Be Scared on Just Halloween?

Given our discussion of McLuhan and technology yesterday, I thought you might be interested in

http://io9.com/5390389/25-of-the-scariest-science-experiments-ever-conducted

which would seem to suggest that scientific advancement doesn’t always bear the advance of civilization.

However, the self-replicating 3-D printer is pretty cool.  It can print off and build its own parts.  But then again, a system that can rapidly reproduce itself might not be so cool if we don’t fully anticipate the consequences.  Or, if that system begins to replicate for its own survival and at the cost of ours…

Section Description

This section surveys various approaches to and debates over the role media play in the advance of globalization. Though there clearly is some kind of relationship between media and globalization, there is no clear consensus regarding whether the effects of this relationship are beneficial or harmful, how pronounced the media are as a part of the process of globalization, or even whether the media drive globalization or get driven by globalization. The purpose of this section is to explore two opposing views regarding this relationship. In the first view, media serve as a means of ideological control; in the second, media serve as a way to “map” culture, offering new possibilities for preserving and promoting diverse cultural identities across borders.

The first set of readings develops the popular view of mass media as a form of control, considering how media and globalization occur as a way to exert power and to wield cultural influence. McLuhan argues that as technology extends our capabilities, human understanding of how technology is changing and remaking the world remains woefully inadequate. In the subsequent “cultural imperialism” argument, critics such as Schiller argue that popular culture has provided a way for more powerful cultures to dominate weaker and more marginal ones.

The next set of readings explores alternative explanations of how, in an era of globalization, the media have served to promote, recombine, and even empower diverse cultural identities in ways that cross and transcend traditional geographic and political boundaries. In contrast to the concepts of the global village, the propaganda model, and media imperialism covered in the first section, the second section will address concepts of connectivity and flows, glocalization, and diasporic cultures.

Class Preparation

Before coming to class, the instructor expects all students to have completed the readings and to be able to identify at least one concept central to these readings.  In addition, for each class meeting, all students should be able to answer the following questions:

• What is the central concept introduced in the reading, and how does the author define it?
• How does the author characterize the media?  What underlying assumptions does the author hold with regard to the media?
• How does the author characterize globalization?  What underlying assumptions does the author hold with regard to globalization?
• How does the author characterize the relationship between media and globalization?  Does the author assume that this relationship is a direct one, an indirect one, or one in which both media and globalization operate completely independent of one another?
• When was the article written, and what does it tell us about media and globalization at that particular moment?
• How is the essay relevant – or not relevant – to your experience in Northeast Indiana in 2009?  How would you extend the essay to make it more relevant to this area and this moment?

Team Presentations

After the first class meeting, each class session will follow an interactive model of deliberative discussion. Working in teams of 5-7, students briefly will meet at the beginning of class to discuss the day’s reading. Before coming to class, each student will be expected to have chosen a passage from the assigned reading for that day to discuss.

At least once during this section, your team will make an informal in-class presentation. Making a presentation is required before you submit the paper for this class; it also is a commitment to submit a paper by the next class meeting.  If you miss all opportunities to give a presentation, a grade of zero (0) will be entered for your section of the course, even if you submit a response paper.

Once class has begun, the instructor will solicit teams to present. This is done on a first-come, first-served basis, and teams can only volunteer to present on the day of the presentation. Teams cannot reserve presentation days in advance.

The presentation will identify a key passage from the assigned reading for the day, explain why this passage is important to the reading, identify an important concept raised in the passage that is relevant to media and globalization, and develop a working definition of that concept. One person from the team will be responsible during the presentation for writing down any significant concepts or terms on the board to discuss.

Presentations will take place in a “fishbowl” -style discussion. During the presentation, each team member briefly (in no more than 2-3 minutes) will address one of the components of the presentation: a key passage; its importance to the text; an important concept; and a working definition of that concept. If there is agreement among the group, then each team member is expected to expand upon and develop previously made points. However, teams are encouraged to note any conflicts or differences of opinion that arise, and include these as part of the presentation.

During this phase of the presentation, only team members will speak. When all team members have spoken, other class members will be required to participate in the discussion. The presenting team should designate a member to take questions and comments from the rest of the class. The instructor will bring a list of five (5) students, randomly selected, to each class meeting. If necessary, the instructor direct each of these students to respond to the presentation if no one raises his or her hand.

Response Papers

Only after having participated in a class presentation, a student may submit a brief 250-500 word response paper to a specific reading. This is the only paper assignment for this section. The final draft is due and must be posted before the next class meeting time. If you miss this deadline, you will need to give another presentation and submit your response paper for that presentation only. Only students who have given a presentation may submit a response paper based on ideas originally introduced as part of the last presentation.

Avoid forfeiture of your grade for this section:

• If you miss all of the opportunities to give a presentation, a grade of zero (0) will be entered for this assignment, even if you submit a response paper.
• You must attend three (3) or more class meetings for this section in order to earn a grade for the response paper.  If you miss more than two (2) meetings, a grade of zero (0) will be entered for this assignment, even if you submit a response paper.

The paper must develop the original ideas presented in class discussion. Upon submitting your paper, you will be expected to do the following:

• Clearly identify with a page number or numbers what you believe to be the most important passage from the text, using direct quotation and/or paraphrase
• Explain why you believe this to be the most important passage from the reading
• Explain the relevance of at least one concept from this passage to an understanding of media and globalization
• Offer a working definition of the concept or concepts identified

Required Readings

Bennett, Andy. “Hip-Hop am Main, Rappin’ on the Tyne: Hip-Hop Culture as a Local Construct in Two European Cities.” That’s the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader. Murray Forman and Mark Anthony Neal, eds. New York NY: Routledge, 2004. 177-200.

Durham, Gigi Meenakshi. “Constructing the ‘New Ethnicities’: Media, Sexuality, and Diaspora Identity in the Lives of South Asian Immigrant Girls.” Critical Studies in Mass Communication 21.2 (2004): 140-61.

McLuhan, Marshall. The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man. Toronto, Canada: U of Toronto P, 1962. 1968. 18-32.

Schiller, Herbert I. Information Inequality: The Deepening Social Crisis in America. New York: Routledge, 1996. 111-128.

Discussion Questions for Control Room

• What are some of the American attitudes toward Al-Jazeera news broadcasts presented in the documentary?
• What are some of the attitudes of Iraqi journalists toward the role of journalism and the media?
• What are some points of significant disagreement between various attitudes toward the media presented in the documentary?
• What are some underlying assumptions expressed in the documentary with regard to media technology as a force of globalization?
• What is the most important idea concerning media and globalization introduced in this segment?
• How does this segment help (or not help) lead to a better understanding of media and globalization?

Panel Discussion F 6 Nov 12 PM noon – 1:15 PM

So Are The Poor Always Going To Be With Us?
Empowering Ourselves to Overcome Poverty

A panel discussion that will explore how anti-poverty programs both help and hurt low-income Americans as they struggle to make it into the shrinking middle class.

Friday, Nov. 6 – Noon to 1:15 p.m.
Walb Student Union, Room 114-116
Panelists:
• Jane Avery, Executive Director, Community Harvest Food Bank
• Dr. Patrick Ashton, Associate Professor of Sociology, IPFW
• Joan Uebelhoer, Activist and former director, Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, Northeast District

Free and open to the IPFW community and the public.
Refreshments will be served.

Organized and sponsored by the Center for Women and Returning Adults, a division of the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, and the Indiana-Purdue Student Government Association.
This program is the second in a series of seminars and discussions called “Empowering Ourselves: Surviving and thriving in a Rapidly Changing World.” Watch for upcoming seminars and conferences on mass media and class issues in America.

Presentation Team Assignments for Fall 09

Team 1: Chad Beaver , Anthony Burgette , Molly Casey , Darby Halferty , Oxana Mullins

Team 2: Kyle Garrison , Daniel Jennings , Sherina Miller , Annette Schnelker , Evan Tyrrell

Team 3: Amy Biddle , Jordan Keil , Elizabeth Krueckeberg , Eric Pepperman , Jeremy Stroup

Team 4: Audrina Brandenburg , Valerie Deutsch , Oliver Kook , Rachael Vandell , Austin Wenger

Team 5: Cole Buffenbarger , Mychal Cordes , Melissa Crosby , Ashley Evans , Leanderson Favero , Erika York

Team 6: Brandi Gardner , Tara Hood , Caramee Krafft , Jordan Montgomery , Kevin Smith , Diane Zimmanck

Team 7: Lucas Gardner , Sohee Kim , John Nash , Jacob Perkins , Patrick Pinto , Thomas Thompson

Four Films Featured in International Film Series at IPFW

The 2009 International Film Series at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) will offer four films with topics ranging from first love to the 1976 Argentinean revolution. All films in the series will be shown Thursday evenings at 7:30 p.m. in Classroom-Medical Building, Room 159. The series is hosted by the IPFW International Studies Program and is free and open to the public.
 
 Sept. 10: Rashevski’s Tango (in French and Hebrew) explores what it means to be Jewish.  Three generations of the Rashevski family grapple with the question, after the death their  secular matriarch who believed that the tango made all troubles disappear.  Charming and  endearing, the characters confront issues of relationships, family, religion,  love, romance,  and interfaith marriage.
 
 Oct. 1: Abjad (in Farsi) is an autobiographical tale by Iranian veteran filmmaker Abolfazl  Jalili about first love, religious difference, and resistance in the wake of the 1980 revolution.
 
 Oct. 22:  Machuca (in Spanish), set in Chile, 1973, is a coming-of-age story about a pair  of  12-year-old boys from opposite extremes of society who form an unlikely friendship during  the last days of President Allende and the first days of Pinochet.
 
 Nov. 12: Kamchatka (in Spanish) is Marcelo Piñeyro’s emotional drama set in Argentina  just after the 1976 revolution. A lawyer takes his wife and children to the country after the  coup, and they adopt new identities. The story, told through the eyes of a young boy  obsessed with the escape artist Harry Houdini, shows that the bonds of love and family can  withstand the terrors of politics.
 
 For more information about the film series, contact Professor Suin Roberts at 260-481-6860 or shins@ipfw.edu.

AmeriCorps Student Position for Eligible IPFW student

Main Duties: Under direction of staff at Allen County Public Library’s Main Library, assist patrons of all backgrounds and computer literacy levels with using the computers in the Readers’ Services Department.  Common questions are:  Can you help me fill out a job application online?  How do I download/upload a file?   How do I set up an email account? 

 

Work Environment: The Readers’ Services Department is sometimes extremely busy, but the noise level is expected to remain low so that patrons can concentrate on their research.  Generally friendly atmosphere, though patrons wanting computers are sometimes stressed and can therefore be frustrated when trying to figure out things such as how to reserve a computer, print a document, or use a Microsoft Office suite product.

 

Who should apply?

 

IPFW students (sophomores preferred) who are first generation college students or have financial need (Pell grant or work study eligible) and have a deep commitment to volunteer service.  Students may apply as long as they have not previously completed two years in any AmeriCorps program.

 

-         Earn $1,000 dollars in educational award for community service

-         Explore career passions with individualized placement

-         Receive training in leadership and service learning

-         Real world job experience

-         Networking

 

For more information, contact OACS Director  Deb Barrick  260-481-5471/Neff 337

barrickd@ipfw.edu

FlowTV Special Issue CFP: Social Media (05/18/09)

Social media have created new ways for individuals to communicate and share information. Technologies such as blogs, Twitter, social networking sites (e.g. Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Orkut, etc.), wikis, Second Life, digg, Last.fm, FlickR, etc. have become increasingly pervasive. Social media are being used by celebrities, athletes, journalists, politicians, TV personalities, musicians, scholars, news organizations, businesses, marketers, and more. How does the use of social media change the ways we think about  identity, community, and interpersonal communication? In what ways are social media being used for political purposes, for collective action, and news aggregates? How does receiving a Twitter message on your cell phone from Shaquille O’Neal or NPR’s Scott Simon erode boundaries between public and private or change conceptualizations of intimacy? Are blogs and other social media challenging journalism’s traditional gatekeeping and agenda-setting functions? Should we be concerned about issues of privacy and free speech? How are certain social media technologies being gendered, classed, racialized, and policed? And as is the case with all forms of media, we must be careful to ask who is denied access and to what effect?

We are interested to hear what the Flow community thinks about social media technologies: uses and users, popular discourses and rhetoric, and the ways in which social media challenge concepts of identity, community, friendship, public/private, creativity, surveillance, and more.

Please send submissions of between 1000-1500 words to Jacqueline Vickery (jvickery183@gmail.com) and Anne Petersen (annehelenpetersen@gmail.com) no later than May 18th, 2009.  Flow has a longstanding policy of encouraging non-jargony, highly readable pieces and ample incorporation of images and video.  For examples, please visit FlowTV.org.
_______________________________________________
CULTSTUD-L mailing list: CULTSTUD-L@lists.comm.umn.edu
http://lists.comm.umn.edu/mailman/listinfo/cultstud-l

White Before We Got Here CFP

TITLE: _White before We Got Here: Youth and the Hidden Curriculum of Whiteness_

EDITORS: Lisa Arrastia and Bill Ayers

DEADLINE: MONDAY 29 JUNE 2009

DESCRIPTION & SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: Go to

SUBMIT WORK BY EMAIL ATTACHMENT TO: Lisa Arrastia <arras004@umn.edu>

We’re searching for essays, poetry, lyrics, and visual/performance/installation art by young women and men no older than 25 at the time of writing.

Submissions to our edited book may be creative non-fiction, personal essays; poetry; and all types of artwork. The only rule is that the work has to be yours and has to be original. By “original” we mean that the work you submit to us must be unpublished and not under consideration by another publication or media source.

Work submitted should demonstrate an attempt to examine how you see and experience whiteness in your life, and/or culture, community, city, town, nation. Some ideas you might consider in generating your piece:

• Discuss or show a time when whiteness kept you silent or made you holla back at the world!?
• Show or tell us how whiteness has marked you in some way.
• Identify a time when you remember being taught (in spoken or unspoken ways) cultural values and social norms that you would consider a part of whiteness. Allow us to see what happened and why you think you were being taught these norms and values? Who and what continue to teach you the practices of whiteness?
• Describe a time when you witnessed someone close to you benefiting from whiteness and what those benefits looked like and felt like in your life? What did they mean in the larger context of your life?
• What is the cost of whiteness to you? What are its limitations?
• What do you love about the cultural values and social norms of whiteness and what is difficult about those values and norms for you?
• Describe a time when you complied with the norms and values of whiteness, how you felt about doing so, and why you conformed?
• What does whiteness sound like to you; what does it feel like, look like, or smell like?
• If you could change whiteness, how would you alter it and why?
• If whiteness could talk, what would it say?
• In 100 years, what will whiteness be if anything?

*SUBMIT WORK TO LISA ARRASTIA at <arras004@umn.edu>.*

If you need help thinking about what to write, create, and/or you want to discuss and get help refining your ideas before you make a formal submission, *email Lisa* at <arras004@umn.edu>.

We’ll notify you of our decision as soon as we can. Note that all submissions not accepted for the book will be included on a web site, which will accompany the publication of the book.

We look forward to seeing your work!

Bill Ayers, University of Illinois at Chicago

Lisa Arrastía, University of Minnesota (arras004@umn.edu)
_______________________________________________
CULTSTUD-L mailing list: CULTSTUD-L@lists.comm.umn.edu
http://lists.comm.umn.edu/mailman/listinfo/cultstud-l

Child Care Center Benefit Auction

THE CENTER FOR WOMEN AND RETURNING ADULTS HAS TEAMED WITH THE IPFW CHILD CARE CENTER TO BRING YOU THE LAST (AND BEST) STUDENTS WITH FAMILIES EVENT
OF THE 2008-09 SCHOOL YEAR

A SILENT AUCTION TO BENEFIT CHILD CARE CENTER PROGRAMS AND THE MINI MASTODON ROMP –A CARNIVAL OF FUN FOR CHILDREN OF ALL AGES

FRIDAY, APRIL 24
6 TO 8 P.M.
WALB STUDENT UNION BALLROOM
(PIZZA HUT WILL SERVE DINNER BEGINNING AT 6 P.M.  – THE MEAL AND ALL ACTIVITIES ARE FREE FOR ALL IPFW STUDENTS AND THEIR IMMEDIATE FAMILIES – BRING A STUDENT I.D.)

FOR RESERVATIONS, PLEASE CALL 481-6029 OR 481-6921.

Sponsored by the Center for Women and Returning Adults, Indiana Purdue Student Government Association and the IPFW Child Care Center