SUMCOM101

  A   society   is a very large group of people organized into institutions held together over time through formalized relationships. Nations, for example, are made up of formal institutions organized by law. Governments of different sizes, economic institutions, educational institutions, and others all come together to form a society. By comparison,  culture  — the knowledge, beliefs, and practices of groups large and small  —  is not necessarily formalized. Culture is necessary for enjoying and making sense of the human experience, but there are few formalized rules governing culture. This can be difficult for people to acknowledge. Shortly after the widespread dissemination of the  telegraph , the  radio , broadcast  television  and  public internet  access, some form of communication utopia was imagined or even expected.  The telegraph collapsed space.  Radio enabled instantaneous mass communic...

 The role of "The Media" in our lives varies - as we learned in our media fast. Understanding how the media influences:   What we see How we see it When we see it Who gets to see it Helps to understand how our lives are shaped by media factors. As we discussed during the Media Fast assignment, everything you ingest has an economic facet. If you look at who makes the money it can help you to think about the content from all perspectives. (There is that word again.) Think about what shows up on your newsfeed. Only 10 years ago there was no such thing as a "newsfeed" that most people checked each day.  What you expose yourself to is what you expect to see.  Below is the trailer for What the Bleep - Down the Rabbit Hole . Here is a link that should work for the whole movie. You will have to contend with French subtitles but I think that is interesting.  So we get back to the idea of who gets to decide. We will be spending some time this week looking at how tast...

  Changing your perspective Changing  your  perspective  is a very valuable tool for understanding a situation better and avoiding false views. The simplest example of this is the literal one. If you look at a room from a different position, you will see different things. Let's PUKE What is something that you know for sure is true? What is something that you love and you can't imagine yourself never doing, seeing, eating, saying, feeling, again?  Watch these two videos Look at these photographs Read this article  “Instead of complaining that the rose bush is full of thorns, be happy the thorn bush has roses.” ~Proverb We have a choice in how we view things. Consider these thinking techniques: Think like someone else One way to look at your challenge differently is by imagining how someone else might try to solve your problem. For maximum effect, pick someone (in)famous. What would Dr. Crowley do in your situation? What about Oprah, Tom Brady, or Drake? Your...

  “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”  Alvin Toffler Be self-reflective as you think about what are the media you miss engaging with --  Why do you miss it? What are you getting out of engaging with it?  What did you do as a substitute?  How satisfying was it?  How much of your life do you compare to what you see in Media?   Why be introspective? Self-aware = human-aware Human aware = Relation aware Relation(s) aware = resonance aware  = Connection = Communication   1. Who created this message?  2. What creative techniques are used to attract my attention?  3. How might different people understand this message differently?  4. What values, lifestyles, and points of view are represented in, or omitted from, this message?  5. Why is this message being sent? 6. What conventions of storytelling or symbolism are used in this message?...