From discussing Marshall McLuhan, Post-Structuralist theory, remediation, video games and everything in between, this semester has been quite an enjoyable one thus far and precisely what I was hoping for when choosing the specialization for my Masters program, which is how I ended up in this course. Tackling new media in its various shapes and forms has been intriguing and further stimulated my interest in the area, which had been stoked many years ago in my BA days through classes in Semiotics and the history and theory of media.
I've enjoyed speaking about these various topics with my classmates and the instructor, and therefore found the discussion aspects of the course to be the most fulfilling. That could also be from the fact that I also find that those people who do not participate normally may participate more during these aspects of the class, although that is not always the case. Having read some of the other blogs, some of my fellow classmates have commented on the presentations or symposiums, and I would tend to agree that some of them did not provide a great deal of insight and were more of a rehashing of the article that had been assigned, or were rehashing the film or television series being covered, and providing no clear link to the theories or article. It has improved as the semester has progressed, and the additional time for Stefan to engage the class was a positive step.
In a way, I wish that this class required certain prerequisites or a particular semester/level of student, so that Stefan could delve even deeper into certain topics, and presume certain skills/knowledge in terms of writing, presentation skills etc. I feel that would allow much more interactivity and thought provoking, deep, intellectual discussions amongst the class, allowing all students to get even more out of each session, but understand that classes here don't seem to be offered with those restrictions. I've learned a great deal, and look forward to tying it all together in the upcoming weeks.
No comments:
Post a Comment