During the Fall of 2007, A Place in Space and associated student blogs were used in conjunction with an undergraduate course at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for junior and seniors majoring in Communication on writing within the discipline.
“Communication as a discipline is concerned with
studying the contexts, contents, functions, and media of human expression.”
A culmination of students’ work is posted in a series of UMassWiki pages designed by students, and the design and implementation of curriculum can also be tracked.
Thursday September 6, 2007 at 11:57 pm
LikeBoldColors Babel essay is at http://likeboldcolors.wordpress.com/2007/09/07/babel-storytelling-as-cultural-understanding/
Monday September 10, 2007 at 3:13 pm
http://shininginthewind.wordpress.com/
Monday September 10, 2007 at 6:10 pm
Keithjagger’s Babel essay is at http://keithjagger.wordpress.com/2007/09/10/babel-ph/
Monday September 10, 2007 at 6:19 pm
i am so confused right now, but am struggling to find myself
Monday September 10, 2007 at 6:53 pm
Archive for the ‘Babel for COM375’ Category
Babel: guess how long this took me..
Monday, September 10th, 2007
What does watching Babel have to do with the subject matter of this course?
On our first day of class I found myself wondering why we were about to watch a movie to help introduce some of the main concepts of Comm 375. I figured we would go around the room and tell a little something about ourselves and look over the syllabus. This was a unique way to tie in these concepts and take a closer look at how alike we are even though we think we’re different. ”Babel” was all about the ways in which we are connected in the world and how it is sometimes overlooked. A clash of cultures was one idea that came to mind, and how it was sometimes hard to communicate between them. For example, a girl in Japan having alot on her mind (dealing with rejection, the death of her mother, the lack of relationship with her father, and the most visible, the issue of being deaf. “As a conceptual framework, semiotics teaches students to formulate cogent, well-supported interpretations. It emphasizes the examination of assumptions and the way language shapes our apprehension of the world.” In this case, there was a barrier of communication. A young boy approaches her and she doesnt respond because she couldn’t hear or see him. When he realizes she is deaf, he immediately backs away to his friends who are laughing. Communication can have many forms: it can be verbal or non-verbal, such as eye-contact, touching, or waving. This is what the Japanese girl used to grab the attention of the boy. She used signs and symbols both individually and grouped into sign systems or seminotics. It includes the study of how meaning is constructed and understood. There is not always a barrier of communication, you just have to realize how to break through it and be open to new experiences!