This class was different from all my other courses at hunter that I’ve taken not only in the material that we studied but in the recitation work we did. In all other recitation I’ve had it was very informal, not too much was covered in detail, and there was almost no work assigned. However, this recitation was more formal with group discussions and material that connected to the material we were learning in lecture, though it was not a summary of the lecture classes. It supplemented the lecture, it didn’t summarize it, and I thought that was really interesting. I really liked that because anyone can just summarize and go over a lecture, but there’s so much material to learn, not just what’s in the syllabus, and I thought this was a great way of getting multiple view points and a more in depth and personal education. The short blog assignments due every week were cool too, because the writing was relatively short and just kept the material in your mind while making you think and comparing it to real events. This class complemented my other classes in that it gave me the chance to have a lecture/recitation class this semester (unlike my other classes) and the homework given allowed me to think and compare instead of just mindlessly writing, like I found in my other classes.
Through this class I found out that I’m very interested in media! Which is awesome! I actually think I might be minoring in Media Studies now! I also realized that I’m not so bad at blogging and creating connections between different ideas and events. I thought this was really useful just in life, but can also help as a Environmental Studies major (and media minor!) because a lot of environmental issues also have roots in political and social issues. Being able to see the big picture, make connections, and understanding how the media portrayed these issues, is a big plus.
The class definitely encouraged me to collaborate with my peers more than other classes I’ve taken. I did make many new acquaintances and maybe a friend or two! The most challenging part of teamwork was scheduling and getting the whole team together to talk about certain projects. However, the final product, seeing what he had all done and accomplished together, that was our reward. A good grade doesn’t hurt either!
The course encouraged critical thinking by forcing the students to derive their own thoughts and analysis on readings, videos, and lectures. We had to make connections and support our ideas with evidence. I found that it also encourages all of us to take action, especially through the final take home assignment. This was great, really eye-opening, and super effective. Maybe if there was a way to connect students and create teams based on their interests for the campaign in a better, more efficient way that would make the whole group more effective and would make the goals a little more clear for everyone.
The moments I remember most about discussion was the first day and doing all of those activities to meet everyone, the day Martyna came in wearing a hoodie, and the day we were split into groups who had to create a commercial. The most eye-opening moments in lecture were when began connecting ideas from the beginning of the year during the end of the semester. Seeing how media is just one machine that continues to grow and evolve, and seeing how it came to be as it is now, that was really cool for me. The assignment that was most inspiring to me and that I loved completing the most was the one where we wrote our own two stories, the “commercial” one and the “hidden” one. That was my favorite because it was so creative and so revealing, I was forced to explore society, media forms and how ideas are presented, and myself. The most challenging ones were the ones pertaining to the midterm simply because they were kind of boring, though not horrible, and actually very useful!
One thing that wasn’t so great about this class was having the blog assignment due on a Saturday night which was irritating, especially for those with religious conflicts. If they were due on a Sunday or Monday that might have been less stressful and more effective.
Martyna often had our recitation come to our own conclusions by leading us to them, not necessarily just feeding is the “right” information, and I thought that was really cool and was a much better way to learn. However, I thought lecture would be more effective if the slides were posted online because Ewen often flew through slides without giving enough time to write them down and that was pretty irritating.
I found everything we learned to be pretty relevant, although advertising was the most interesting subject to me and the one that I was most familiar with. Almost every minute of my life I’m bombarded with advertising, especially in NYC, and so it was revealing and eye-opening and really study it in class. I thought it would have been cool to learn how media in NYC and in the U.S. differs from that around the world, or if it does at all, especially concerning advertising.
My contribution to the outcome of the class consisted of hard work, all of my blog assignments, but I think my most important contribution was my teamwork in group projects and the take-home assignments.
I found the learning environment to be pretty ideal, although learning outside is always great! Being in that dreary class in the C-level wasn’t so great, and at times was pretty depressing, but the lecture hall was fine with me. However, it would have been nice to listen to a lecture or discussion in central park! Or, studying media in a media corporation building or office would be pretty interesting
Class from the Underground 