“…Do
we teach life or college?” Elbow, p. 113
This
quote helped ground the importance of teaching and understanding the
intricacies of new media. In a nutshell, it is not going away, it is something that
students are going to have to use, assess and/or create as they move into their
careers. I cannot recall a time where I have asked students to do an assignment
in any of the formats that have been shown throughout this text and I know many
of you as English 110/120 instructors have. I have, however, given students the
freedom to create and turn in assignments that I would consider new media; even
though, I feel I have not had the knowledge or tools to assign such an
assignment prior to this course. Sirc invites us to push our students to the
demands of our current culture and therefore to push ourselves as teachers to
grasp and teach to life rather than to many rigid standards of what is
considered scholarly work. He wants us to embrace and use a method that is “…suited
to the long strange trip,” (p. 113). We no longer need to assess students
solely within a standard essay format, but we are able to give students a
chance to learn , teach, and present in a new way. A way that will most likely
not only be enlightening, but in all probability marketable as they search for
jobs within their chosen career paths.
Cody
did an excellent job describing and defining logic boxes. Although I have not
explicitly assigned a paper or presentation in new media format, I have had
students hand in material that fits the criteria we have discussed in this
course. Although this is not a crude example to me, perhaps some of you may
feel it is. A student in my perspectives in women studies course turned in a
three dimensional paper mache vagina made out of fake dollar bills and posted
against advertisements and taglines from popular campaigns. She called it “Sexism
Sells”. And without many words, her meaning
was clear, women’s bodies are used to make money, they are commodities and they
are objects-not whole beings. She was able to take something she passionate
about to create awareness by using a visual representation that seemed to
impact the other course members in a way that a PowerPoint presentation couldn’t.
Although I did not think of it at the
time, this I feel is a representation of new media and it conincides with Sirc’s
Activity 1: A basic box on p. 129. I feel that this activity could easily be
incorporated into women and gender studies courses both at a 100-level and
beyond. Sirc writes, “The box theorists provide a way to think about
composition as an interactive amalgam, mixing video, graphic, and audio with
the verbal; a medium in which students can both archive their desires as well
as publish passionate writing on their social reality vis-à-vis the larger
culture…” (p.146). Boxes give students a chance to interact and move with the
material and it provides a choice on how to use their voice and I love that. Choices
in WGS are always a good thing.
Boxes
have impacted me personally and I did not even know it. In 1994, my siblings
(all 10-years or more older than me) introduced me to the band Pearl Jam and
forever my life was changed (don’t laugh people!). In my mind, Pearl Jam is a
perfect example of Sirc’s description of boxes. If you have never owned a PJ
album on Vinyl, I would highly recommend it. Each album is packed with material
that invokes the senses and makes you think (and feel). The creative process
and choices used to write and perform are shown in various art, personal
photographs and band members hand-written lyrics. Unfortunately their latest
record’s webpage is no longer available, but it was an interactive smorgasbord
of art, writing, and music. Here is an
example of how their album Vitology was packaged: http://www.pjcollectors.com/detail.asp?id=1324
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