The Mall Reincarnate: Putting Faith in a Failed Mall

I propose that there is a symbiotic way of addressing the aforementioned issues. Using the architecture of a discontinued shopping mall to agglomerate religious houses of worship will establish the opportunity or an environment that promotes religious pluralism, while repurposing infrastructural scar tissue. While seemingly disparate, the mall and the house of worship afford similar opportunities. First, they bring together like-minded people, fostering a sense of community. Second, they are both quasi-public facilities (privately-owned but publicly accessible). They are targeted to a specific demographic and require behavioral conduct. Both are designed to promote an atmosphere conducive to their activity, and both involve repetitive ritual. When viewed through this lens, the shopping mall and the house of worship perform similarly as community hubs for gathering and exchange

Critical Media, Information, and Digital Literacy: Increasing Understanding of Machine Learning Through an Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Course

Widespread use of Artificial Intelligence in all areas of today’s society creates a unique problem: algorithms used in decision-making are generally not understandable to those without a background in data science. Thus, those who use out-of-the-box Machine Learning (ML) approaches in their work and those affected by these approaches are often not in a position to analyse their outcomes and applicability. Our paper describes and evaluates our undergraduate course at the University of Minnesota Morris, which fosters understanding of the main ideas behind ML. With Communication, Media & Rhetoric and Computer Science faculty expertise, students from a variety of majors, most with no prior background in data science or computing, reviewed the scope of applicability of algorithms and became aware of possible biases, ‘politics’ and pitfalls. After discussing articles on societal attitudes towards technology, explaining key concepts behind ML algorithms (training and dependence on data), and constructing a decision tree as an example of an algorithm, we attempted to develop guidelines for ‘best practices’ for use of algorithms. Students presented a ‘case analysis’ capstone paper on an application of machine learning in society. Paper topics included: use of algorithms by child protection services, ‘deepfake’ videos, genetic testing. The level of papers was indicative of students’ strong interest in the subject and their ability to understand key terms and ideas behind algorithms, societal perception and misconceptions of use of algorithms, and their ability to identify good and problematic practices in use of algorithms

THE CONTRIBUTION OF TECHNOLOGY TO AN UNDERGRADUATE INTERNATIONAL LEARNING PARTNERSHIP: THE RITUAL PERSPECTIVE

This study is part of a research project on a learning partnership between undergraduates of ViA, Latvia and UMM, USA. During the joint media course in Spring 2016, students participated in Skype discussions, completed shared assignments and reflected upon their learning experience. The transcripts of these activities form the body of qualitative data. We employ the perspective of Ethnography of Communication (Hymes 1962, Philipsen 1997) and Cultural Discourse Analysis (Carbaugh, 2007) in order to answer the following research questions: (1) what is the nature of the studied technology-mediated learning discourse, and (2) how do the constructed meanings around the use of technology contribute to the variety of cultural norms in play? We propose to understand the studied discussion sessions as a ritual practice (Turner 1980, Philipsen 1992, 1997)--the correct performance of which the participants instantly co-construct and negotiate when employing locally-adopted norms associated with democratic education practice--and assess the use and function of technology in the experienced learning interactions

Using NEW Google Sites to Create Student Projects and Portfolios

Recently, Google released a brand new version of Google Sites. In this session you will learn how easy it is to use New Google Sites for student projects or portfolios. Discover how this is used in a course at UMM, and see some examples. We will cover how to include artifacts -- such as attachments, links, and videos, manage access, and get you started in creating your own portfolio using your own device. Multiple Audiences

Social Media Choices and Uses: Comparing Turkish and American Young-Adults\u27 Social Media Activism

Advocates of new media—especially social networks, blogs, and photo/content sharing sites—argue that these tools create transformative impacts on society. Recently, around the world younger activists in popular democracy movements, uprisings, and protests, feeling disengaged by traditional forms of political discourse, have debated their positions on new media, and have used digital media to communicate, organize, and coordinate protest activities. While some media scholars suggest this is an indication that young people are active in creating a public sphere constructed by social media, there is still little real-world evidence that the technological potentials are widely realized. To address this gap, this comparative case study aims to reveal how some “ordinary” young people are using social media in response to political issues, investigating: if social media create a new kind of dynamic arena for their public activism; which factors may stimulate the young to activism; and whether their motivation is powerful enough to resist the status quo. Describing and analyzing qualitative interview data from a study of Turkish students and a parallel collection of data from US students, we construct an explanation of their communicated understandings of their differences and similarities in opportunities for political actions. Our findings indicate: there are many similar technical capacities; some similar topics are seen as political; and there are different understandings of what is and is not for public discussion among their personal collections of contacts and friends, with varying levels of real-world connections. This analysis is important in terms of understanding the ways uses of media technologies may be affected by different cultures, political and social conceptualizations and online communication patterns

‘It is like school sometimes’: friendship and sociality on university campuses and patterns of social inequality

Whilst most social and educational research on friendship focuses on children at school, it remains a crucially important factor for students in higher education – and can play a key role in the maintenance, exacerbation or subversion of dominant forms of social inequalities. This paper explores the complexities of such dynamics in relation to friendship and social life at university, utilising data from an in-depth qualitative study of HE students at a UK campus university. Students stressed the importance of friendship for comfort and a sense of ‘belonging’. Nevertheless, students describe the continuation of cliques, hierarchies, and exclusions that are more commonly linked to sociality at school. Despite the conception that friendship is an individual experience, it is very much influenced by social positionings such as gender, class, age, and ethnicity – having significant repercussions for students in relation to happiness and wellbeing at university

Establishing Understandings: Teaching About Culture In Introductory Television Courses

In teaching introductory courses using television equipment, we find that cultural studies interests can be meshed with basic skills-oriented production classes in useful ways. Utilizing an on-going discussion strategy emphasizing that students are evaluating, criticizing, and interpreting, as well as producing cultural products, the activities we describe articulate the reflexive nature of media and culture. Furthermore, in asking students to investigate and explore ways media both construct and reflect their understanding of culture, students are guided to begin a life-long process of critical thinking