Course Highlight: Media Literacy
Do you have a tendency to pick apart the news?
Would your friends describe you as someone who overanalyzes their favorite movies?
Do you ever find yourself scrolling on social media and question why something is trending?
If you answered affirmatively and are on the hunt for a class that’s not quite like your typical first-year course, then look no further. First years: this is a sign to tease out your digital communication skills in ART141, a class that zooms in on politics and culture through the multi-faceted lens of media.
No matter what major you’re thinking of pursuing, Media Literacy will help you start making connections between different fields like politics, philosophy, computer science and more, underscoring common issues and opportunities experienced in our hyper-connected society.
We asked instructor Michael Bagnato a couple questions about ART141, and what it really means to take a closer look at the mediums and platforms we engage with daily.
How would you define ‘media literacy’ in a nutshell?’
Instructor Michael Bagnato
At its most basic understanding, Media Literacy is the learned ability to read, recognize, comprehend, and critique media/mediums in their various forms. From older and contemporary forms of media/mediums such as newspaper, print, magazine, radio, word of mouth information, TV, film, to our constantly mutating new forms of media/mediums such as social media applications, AR/VR technology, video games, and more: Media Literacy is an educational tool that allows people to understand that media is not something simply to be consumed or to be participate in, but to reckon with, to critique, to analyze, and to connect with larger historical information and concepts.
Would you say this class is interactive?
Yes, I aim for this course to be an interactive dialogue between students and myself rather than a lecture-based course where I just ask for students to listen and regurgitate information. The goal of the course is for students to come away with a strong understanding that to involve oneself with media/mediums, information systems, technology, even history, their needs, needs, needs to be a critical lens that everything is viewed from. I want students to come in with their own personal reference point and to expand from there using lessons from the course; to expand their “worldview,” let’s say.
Technology-wise, this course utilizes the Adobe Creative Suite and various creative projects to give students a framework that allows insight into how media/mediums are constructed, function, maintained, and how they evolve over time. The course aims at giving students a basic understanding of how creative and photographic images are made and manipulated, how film and television are constructed into something larger, and how to critique and analyze media/mediums through the lens of Media Literacy.
How do Chatham’s values align with this class?
Chatham’s long history as a benchmark for women’s leadership, sustainability, gender equality, and diversity is something that I aim to honor and expand upon within the curriculum for Media Literacy each semester as the environment for media/mediums and information evolves. The course incorporates critical discussions on race, gender, identity, and bias in media, analyzing art, advertising, TV, and film from a reparative lens that deconstructs Patriarchal systems of value within media, and seeks to introduce students to theories and theorists that aren’t introduced in typical first year courses.
What is your favorite part of teaching this course?
I enjoy that the content in this course is so broad that each student that is a part of the class each semester is able to bring in their own experiences with media/mediums, as well as their own perceptions of life, and present new and thought-provoking perspectives. This is personally important for me as an instructor, specifically because I believe in building a critical dialogue between students and myself that doesn’t perpetuate the typical “Teacher-Student Hierarchy,” so having individuals that are both engaged and enthusiastic about the content, and bring in their own perspective and voice, creates a more dynamic learning environment for everyone, myself included.
Do you have a favorite (or least favorite) form of media?
I could tell you that I’m terrified of AR and VR technology and what it means for the shared concept of “reality”, or that I dislike TV and commercial advertising for its inherently capitalist motives, or that I dislike the infinite barrage of Tweets or Instagram images you have to involve yourself in anytime you use Twitter or Instagram, but often there are benefits and deficiencies to each and every form of media/medium. The same social media or internet access that you or I may take for granted today is the same technology that allows information revolutions to actively flourish in spaces like Egypt or Cuba.
What’s one way that you would advise students/faculty/anyone to practice media literacy in their free time?
I believe in asking myself and others questions pertaining to the functions and purposes of particular media/mediums, and using problem-posing educational tools, first and foremost; this means that anytime I involve myself with media I ask myself such things as what icons do I see being used in this app? What do these icons mean and what are their functions? What’s the tone of this article I have just read? What organization has published this article and can I recognize any bias? Who is the “audience” to this commercial that I just viewed? What ulterior motives do the purveyors of these applications and pieces of information have?
Most of us involve ourselves with media/mediums from the moment we wake to the moment we fall asleep, yet most don’t actually question why they feel the inherent need to rely so heavily on media consumption and information. If you believe media/mediums are there to simply help you be more informed, efficient, and entertained, then what occurs is ignorance to the larger issues related to modern media/mediums.
Students should take this course if...
Students should take this course if they are seeking an engaging, dynamic, and informative class that incorporates discussions, dialogues, and activities on a multitude of topics like how to read the news, the ulterior motives of commercial advertising, the construction of film and television from script to screen, deconstructing art, film, and TV with an intersectional lens, race, gender, and bias in media, even discussions on why does the future so often look like a digital dystopian nightmare? Students will gain a critical understanding of the media environment that each of us actively engage in daily.
In ART141, you’ll fulfill a general education requirement while thinking differently about the platforms you use every day and those that came before them. From asking, “What is media?” you’ll find the words to answer another question: can media help us imagine a better world?
Are you a prospective student looking to explore Communications as a major or minor? Attend our upcoming Communications Academic Visit Day on March 12!