Article Inspired by CommArts Faculty Workshop Selected for International Communication Association in Paris
Tuesday, April 26, 2022
This achievement happened through the efforts of Assistant Professor of Communication at Seton Hall University, Ruth Tsuria, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Communication & Media at the University of Michigan, Apryl Williams, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics and Communication at Hadassah Academic College in Jerusalem, Aya Yadlin Segal, Ph.D., and Assistant Professor of Art & Design at Seton Hall University, Christine Lhowe, M.F.A.
Tsuria, Williams, Yadlin Segal, and Lhowe originally collaborated through a workshop hosted for faculty at Seton Hall University in 2019 in order to enhance the classroom setting with the use of social media. Then, due to COVID-19, the research was unable to be formally presented until August 2021, at the University of Waterloo's Digital Pedagogy Institute in Canada.
Using three actual classroom assignments to showcase how using social media is a natural part of students' worlds, Dr. Tsuria shared details of each: "The first assignment was on understanding and communicating culture. It was a communication course with a focus in international relationships. Dr. Yadlin Segal first asked students to understand, investigate, and breakdown meme culture. Then, the instructor had the students create a series of memes that related to their own culture and identity. After, it was shared in class and they deconstructed them together." By engaging the students in meme culture, the students are participating and understanding the cultural processes that are ongoing in technology at the moment.
Dr. Tsuria continues, "The second assignment was taught here at Seton Hall by Christine Lhowe, who teaches design. She used Pinterest to shared boards of inspiration. Every week students were asked to find a specific topic on Pinterest and create their board. Then, they would share the boards with each other. It wasn’t just electing and adding pins to each Pinterest board. There was a lot of critical analysis that goes into the process, it is a curation process where they had to decide what selections they actually wanted." Certain things would enhance the students' creative processes, while others simply didn't. Also, having it as a shared collective experience aided in collaboration and creativity.
Dr. Tsuria explains that "The third and last project was a semester long in depth assignment. Dr. Williams asked students to create social media profiles that were in some way different than who they are. This could be a different race, gender, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, anything. However, she asked students to continue to be themselves; they were not instructed to ‘play' a role or the identity that they had chosen." Students then engaged on social media platforms. Soon, they were having interactions with others on social activist or political groups. Through these interactions, the students were exposed to differing reactions that otherwise might have not been obvious before.
Dr. Tsuria, Professor Lhowe, Dr. Yadlin Segal, and Dr. Williams all hope to further this study with more plans of social media engagement with students.
About the College of Communication and the Arts
Seton Hall University's College of Communication and the Arts offers diverse, flexible undergraduate programs anchored in the humanities, featuring cutting-edge technology and innovative curricula,
and provides opportunities for meaningful collaboration across disciplines. Students
can explore emerging technologies as well as learn from industry professionals about
the latest trends in the ongoing digital revolution that is affecting communication
and arts' industries. For more information about the College's undergraduate programs,
please contact Amanda Carcione.
The College also offers graduate-level programs in Museum Professions and Communication, including the opportunity to pursue a unique area of study, including options in Public Relations, Digital Communication/Communication Technologies, and Communication in Organizations. In addition, four dual-degree options, including three accelerated master's/B.A. programs and a dual M.A. degree with the School of Diplomacy and International Relations are offered. For more information about Graduate Studies within the College of Communication and the Arts, please contact Ryan Hudes, Ph.D.
Categories: Arts and Culture
