Extra Credit: The Black-Jew Dialogue

               I had the chance to attend a production of “The Black-Jew Dialogue” on campus on March 4^th. I did not really know what to expect walking in other than the fact that they would be discussing minorities. It ended up being a lot livelier than I had thought. They were very full of energy, jokes and creativity; that in and of itself was impressive considering the content that they were dealing with. They used skits, dances and puppets to entertain the audience while they were bringing up different culture’s stereotypes and labels. They talked about how everybody is a part of a culture, and no one was better than the other – every group of people has had their share of proud and embarrassing moments. At some point, everyone has been disrespectful or cruel to another group, and when you think about it, there aren’t that many differences between all of us. One person’s opinion will not be the same opinion as everyone else’s. To be fully informed, you not only have to learn about your own history, but also listen to other people’s stories to hear where they’re coming from. It’s not cut and dry – no one is completely right or wrong, and all points of view and ways of life should be respected. To understand, you need to stretch yourself beyond what is comfortable to you, and ask questions. Everyone comes from a different place than you, and you need to understand that in your interactions with them.

                It is a good thing that we are all different, and we have this unique experience of being in the melting pot that is America. We get to interact with so many beautiful people from different walks of life. Minorities are not just limited to race, but also can be related to age, religion, and disabilities, etc. There is a huge list of people that can be discriminated against, but the key to getting past it is in understanding each other.  There will be mistakes in conversations with others, but it’s something that needs to be dealt with and not just ignored or else the problem will continue to build. It was quite thought-provoking. They challenged the audience to really take a stand and fight for and with the minority groups. There were good points about the young people of this generation not fighting for what we believe in any more. Social media isn’t always enough – sometimes you really need to sacrifice some things for people to take notice of what you are trying to say. People need to rise together to overcome, not just amount to a few feeble Facebook statuses ranting about a change that the people behind their laptops will never make happen. 

                Behind all the funny remarks there was a really important message that I got to hear. The quote from Martin Amis on the front of their flyer is one that best sums up the entire idea being presented: “The deal with multiculturalism is that the only culture you’re allowed to disapprove of is your own.” 

Week 10 Media Blog Post

Topic 1:
                Everything looks so effortless: high-speed and trouble-free. In a world of progressing convenience there would certainly come a reliance on the tools giving you that immediate satisfaction. True, it would be quite splendid to have a refrigerator that was able to convey to you what was available for dinner considering all the ingredients you had at the time, or a phone that located destinations you were soon to be headed for if you were one not keen to directions. Certainly, efficiency would result as everything could be scheduled, arranged and communicated over the phone in an exceptionally short amount of time. However, the matter of privacy comes to mind. For such an interconnected system to run smoothly, information of the personal sort must be shared almost recklessly. The ages, pictures, preferences, schedules, and location would need to be unguarded as each individual took advantage of Microsoft’s organization – information which would be easy enough to access, whether the intent be for good or evil.

                If the world is indeed headed in such a direction, there are many implications sure to come as a result. The population would feel the repercussions in the jobs available – as a whole new system would wipe out those who were previously completing tasks manually. The unproblematic access to personal information would indubitably lead to detriment for the users, whether it ended up being theft or injury. The world would be a lazy place, the people unable to do anything for themselves – helpless, indolent, and addicted.

Topic 2:

                I absolutely adored the TED Talks and the occasionally documentary we watched. I liked that the class wasn’t just about lecture – we got to hear multiple points of view from many different sources. The “WWGD?” book was amazing, and I liked that class time was interactive and incorporated many group discussions. I think that the blog is a great idea – as it is tangible proof of what a student has done through a term, but I think that there could be more that a student accomplishes. Since this class is a more general overview of media, perhaps there could be a survey at the beginning of the term to find what facet of media most interests each student, and in addition to the blog, they also create something relevant to their favorite component of media. Perhaps by the end of the term each student could create their own music video, an advertisement, a YouTube channel, etc.

                I don’t think anything should be cut back necessarily. Personally I enjoyed the readings, quizzes, and projects and felt it was a good balance of all of them. I learned an abundance of information regarding various aspects of media and was overall very happy with the class.

Week 9 Media Blog

Topic 1:

                There have been many instances when people have restricted questionable music from others in an attempt to shield them from the songs’ various messages. As for my own experience with this, my parents were not fond of non-Christian music when I was young, as they didn’t want me to dwell on profane or immoral subject matter. They shielded me from this type of thing until I was around sixteen. At times, I wanted to listen to what I believed everyone else was listening to but it wasn’t that big of a deal to me until I grew older. Surprisingly, there is a huge variety in Christian music if you search hard enough – and I was content with cleaner versions of hip-hop, pop, and rap.

                I would have to say that pop is my favorite music genre if I went by what I listen to the most. It’s very hard to narrow down favorites for me, because I’ve never been one to fall in love with bands, only specific songs from each band, which gives me more variety in the music I hear. In Christian music, my most played artists are Brit Nicole, Francesca Battistelli, Kari Jobe, Group 1 Crew, and Lecrae. As far as non-Christian music I listen to a lot of Maroon 5, Fifth Harmony, Colbie Caillat, John Mayer, and Ed Sheeran. I enjoy a decent variety of playlists, depending on activity. Music is a giant part of my life, so I have it playing nearly all the time. Focus music (piano) for doing homework, dubstep for running/working out, pop/hip-hop for getting ready in the morning, and whatever I feel like during the rest of the day or in the car.

Topic 2:

                The idea of launching a radio station based at LBCC seems feasible and exciting. I think that it would most likely be successful if it was interacting the way that students needed it to be. I think that prizes would be something that would motivate students to pay attention – things like discounted books or food. Another thing that would be hugely important is that the station would be actively listening for what the students were finding and wanted to hear. We watched the video in class of that one radio station that was always searching for new music, and being involved, and I think that is a key for the innovators of this generation. It would be refreshing to learn new songs, and experience new sounds instead of having Taylor Swift and Katy Perry on repeat all day.

                Most radio station use ads – that would be a possibility for funding. The advertisements would be based on relevancy to students such as food, books, and perhaps apartment complexes in the area. There could also be some profit from the site when students buy the albums which songs were played from or from donations.