This is a blog about my teaching, research and service with some occasional personal comments thrown in. These are my notes on a variety of topics. If you want to follow my blog posts on a specific topic, then see the Table of Contents in the right-hand column. While I try to work in the realm of facts, logic and moral absolutes, if there are any opinions expressed here, they are my own. -WilliamHartPhD
Click to Listen >: Eating and Tweeting:
"Does the future of food lie in its past – or inside a tank of liquid nitrogen? Also: how anti-social can you be on a social network?"
Description: "Tony teaches you how to do some cool stuff with your camera in this video lesson. This was awesomefarm's entry in the mindbites.com "spread the craft" video contest, where we won the viewer's choice award. Apologies for bad audio; light painting montage starts at around 3:00 ^^ http://awesomefarm.com"
Description: "This Kickstarter project set out to create a better way to control your Canons and Nikons without carrying extra equipment and applying the tech you already own: your smartphone. Mashable owned content."
Originally uploaded to YouTube by DigitalRevCom. See Video:How To Do Self Portrait's That Aren't Cheesy
Description: "In this video, Kai gets challenged to show how to do self portraits in the most tasteful way possible."
In the clip below Judy Smith describes her new book and her experience as a crisis manager.
What is the difference between what a "crisis manager" does and what a public relations manager does?
Somebody who edits photos is a photo doctor. A photo doctor diagnoses a photo and then prescribes a treatment for a photo disease.
For example, diagnose the photo to the right. What's the problem with it? What photo disease does it have?
It is underexposed. Is that your diagnosis? In your favorite photo editing software, how would you treat that disease? A medical doctor uses a variety of tools to treat medical problems (e.g., a scalpel). As a photo doctor, what tools would you use?
As you begin your internship as a new photo doctor, I'd suggest you start with a small set of "diseases" that you can diagnose (recognize) and treat (fix) and a small set of tools to learn how to use. As you progress as a photo doctor, become an expert in treating more diseases and learn how to use additional tools.
I'd suggest you start with a set of photo diseases like below and learn the 2-5 general steps that are usually needed to treat the disease.
For steps on how to treat the photo disease listed above and many more, see Digital Photo Doctor. The book takes a similar metaphorical approach. Check out the book. You should be able to get it for $5 or less.
Of course, you could also do a YouTube search for helpful photo editing tutorials that deal with the disease you want to treat.
As a beginning photo doctor, you should also start learning how to use a small set of of photo editing tools and techniques. Here are some basic photo doctor tools and techniques that you'd need to treat the previously listed photo diseases.
When learning how to treat the diseases and how to use the tools, I'd recommend that you learn how to use the tools at a general level so that you can move from one photo editing software to another. Don't get to caught up in the key-strokes used in specific software (e.g., press Shft+Ctrl+U to desaturate in Photoshop).
Speaking of photo editing software, I'd recommend GIMP, a free photo editing software package that you download to your computer (see info video). I'd also recommend Pixlr.com, a free, powerful, photo-editing site that allows you to edit photos right within your browser. Go to Pixlr.com right now and try some the things discussed above.
Cosmetic Photo Surgery
The above discussion may leave the impression that the only thing you can do with photo editing tools is fix or treat photo diseases or problems (e.g., underexposure). However, photo editing tools are not just used to treat a disease, but can also be used to “beautify” or modify the photo You could think of this a cosmetic photo surgery. You are not really fixing a problem with the photo, you are adding to it.
You could turn a color photo to black and white and then colorize only one item in the photo.
You could add unusual content to the photo (ghosts, UFOs, etc.).
Why is it that during times of war people see the enemy of as animals, as monsters, as barbarians, as devil or death? Put differently, why do people dehumanize the enemy? What purpose does it serve?
Social psychologist Sam Keen offers some answers.
How do we dehumanize? Why do we dehumanize? Why do we make the enemy less than human?
According to Keen, there are a dozen or so common ways that the enemy is seen.
Enemy-as-Animal,
Enemy-as-Barbarian,
Enemy-as-Death,
Enemy-as-Enemy-of-God,
Enemy-as-Criminal,
Enemy-as-All-the-Same
etc.
Keen argues that the enemy is dehumanized because it justifies the killing of the enemy. If the enemy is not a civilized human like us, then, according to Keen, the guilt associated with killing then enemy is greatly lessened and killing is easier.
During World War II the Nazis dehumanized Jewish people. Notice the dehumanization of Jewish people in the Nazi propaganda film called the "Eternal Jews". Watch at least the first five minutes of the film. What was the purpose of this dehumanization of Jewish people?
Note: See in relationship between dehumanizing an enemy in war time andracism?
Spot any dehumanization in the following U.S. training film from World War II?
The following is a 1945 World War II propaganda film released by the U.S. War Department entitled "Know Your Enemy: Japan"
Even Dr. Seuss took part in the propaganda effort. See the presentation "Dr. Seuss Goes to War:The World War II Editorial Cartons of Theodor Seuss Geisel" (see specifically 35:00-44:00).
So, dehumanization of the enemy was done in the past all over the world. Does it still happen in the 21st century? That's the question that my co-author and I asked in our study of editorial cartoons of bin Laden and the Taliban after the events of 9/11.
The study began with the observation of the way that President Bush talked about the enemy and how editorial cartoonist subsequently depicted the Taliban and bin Laden.
In short, our study found that people (U.S. leaders and editorial cartoonist, in this case) continued to use the dehumanizing visual metaphors identified by Keen -- enemy-as-animal, enemy-as-barbarian, enemy-as-criminal, etc.
We closed our book chapter in the same way I'll close this blog post.
Other than helping individuals to communicate, what grander social role does the Internet play?
For example, the Internet can be used to speak to power and cause social change. In the quote below McPhail notes the role blogs played in challenging power in 2002.
Quote originally taken from 2nd edition of Global Communication.
So, in the United States the Internet can be used to speak to power, but what about in other countries. For the Internet to play a strong role, there would need to be a substantial amount of Internet users in a country. What sort of growth is there for Internet use around the world? According to McPhail (2nd edition),
Quote originally taken from 2nd edition of Global Communication.
The 3rd edition of McPhail has some interesting, updated numbers. What changes do you note?
So, Internet use is certainly on the rise around the world, more so in some countries than in others.
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On the world stage, the Internet, specifically social media, has been credited with building revolutions in countries and bringing down dictators.
Take for example, protests in the former-Soviet republic of Moldova in 2009. It was called "Moldova’s Twitter Revolution."
More recently though, when one thinks of social media and revolution, one thinks of the Arab Spring. The Arab Spring is "a revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests occurring in the Arab world that began on Saturday, 18 December 2010."
A Map of Arab Spring Countries
(Image used under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0, image created by Kwamikagami)
Countries highlighted in black are countries in which the government was overthrown. From left to right the countries are Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Yemen. Countries highlighted in other colors are countries in which some protesting occurred.
For a sense of the role social media played in Tunisia, see the following news clip.
What exactly did social media do Tunisia? What was the role of social media?
Let's move from a specific example to a broader discussion about the role of social media has played in the Arab Spring. Some say that social media is insignificant and others say social media play a few important roles in revolution. What are both sides of the argument and what are the arguments on both sides. Why, for example, would some say "no, social media doesn't play a role"? To help answer these questions see the Zuckerman video below.
See specifically the presentation from 4:45 to 8:45 and the remainder if interested.
Note: Zuckerman is co-founded international blogging community Global Voices. Check it out of you are interested.
Think of the Internet as the hardware and the World Wide Web as the software that runs on the Internet. The Web is not the hardware. It is collection of interconnected web pages that exist on the Internet.
Now, how did the Internet evolve as a medium of communication from email in the late '60 and early '70s to the web-based communication tools that we have today?
Update to Zuckerman video:
If we can think of the 1990s as the decade of the World Wide Web (web pages, blogs, etc.), we can think of 2000-2010 as the decade of social media. The decade got off to a slow start, but by...
2004: Facebook founded.
2005: YouTube founded. Note the strong social/sharing aspect of YT.
2006: Twitter founded.
etc.
Now, with an explanation of how the Internet works and how it evolved as a communication tool (e.g. social media), let's look how the Internet plays an important role in global communication (see next post).
See Video:Interactive Fiction: The Art of Video Game Storytelling
Description: "Today's top video game designers explore the past, present and future of interactive fiction and adventure gaming. Watch as storytelling's biggest names chart virtual narrative and scriptwriting's evolution from the days of point-and-click adventures to today's sprawling online, downloadable and massively multiplayer online (MMO) games. A must-see for adventure game fans, courtesy of Game Theory with Scott Steinberg."
I've been working on some interactive fiction myself. If anybody is interested let me know.
A case study is a method of teaching in which students are presented with a problematic scenario or case. A case is an example or illustration of a problem or challenge.
Case studies are some times used in law classes and some times in public relations classes, for example.
After a case is presented there is a common method used in PR courses.
Define/describe the PR problem.
Give ways for addressing or solving this problem.
List resources needed for implementing solution(s).
Give a timetable for implementation.
State expected impact of solution.
How did you use intercultural skills?
Intercultural skills to keep in mind when working through the international P.R. case
Be mindful
Be thoughtful, aware of differences
Be patience
It may be difficult at first
Be open-minded
Consider other ways of doing things, other views
Be tolerance of ambiguity
Things may not make sense. Be comfortable with uncertainty
Now, let's do a case.
Check out the following news videos about three recent incidents between the U.S. military and the people of Afghanistan. As you are watching these, starting thinking about the above info. What would you do to rebuild a better relationship between the U.S. military and the people of Afghanistan?
What would you do to rebuild a better relationship between the U.S. military and the people of Afghanistan?
Also, now go through the method given above (i.e., 1. Define/describe the P.R. problem, etc.). Also don't forget to think about how you'd use your intercultural skills in doing this P.R. work.
Let's pretend that we are doing some public relations/advertising work for the U.S. State Department. They want us to (1) promote a good image of the U.S. abroad and (2) promote tourism to the U.S.
What could we do? How would we do that?
Where would we do that? Let's say we focus on places where people have first have contact with the U.S., in airports and in U.S embassies abroad.
As for the what, how about we put together a short video to be shown in the airports and embassies.
Think very carefully about what you would be in that video and why.
No, no. Don't read on. Seriously, think about what you'd put in the video and why.
O.K., now read on.
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This above scenario actually played out few years back. It actually happened. Let's see how your ideas match up with those actually carried out. Let's look at a series of videos.
A CNN News Report
The Actual Video Shown in Airports and Embassies
(See at least the first minute and the last minute to get a good feel for the video.)
The Making of the Portraits of America Video
Do you think this "Portraits of America" video was effective, based upon what you've see above?
Would you have done anything differently?
A campaign is “an operation or series of operations energetically pursued to accomplish a purpose: an advertising campaign for a new product; a candidate's political campaign” (American Heritage Dictionary)
An advertising campaign for a certain new product could contain a "series of operations" like
putting out press releases to the news media,
putting ads in newspapers and
posting a viral video on YouTube about the new product.
The purpose of all these "operations" is to encourage purchase of the product.
Now, what about going global?
According to McPhail,
"There are three strategic models for planning global campaigns: standardized, adaptive, and country-specific. In the standardized model, strategy is formed at the global headquarters and implemented in all operating areas [same or very similar in all countries]. In the adaptive model, a basic strategy is adapted appropriately for each country where it will be implemented. In a country-specific model, the strategic planning is shaped to fit one country" (Global Communication: Theories, Stakeholders, and Trends)
Let's say we are doing advertising for the multinational corporation, McDonald's. As part of the campaign that we are managing, they want 30 second TV ads for their new salads. They want to sell salads (or localized versions of salads) around the world in many different countries. Using each of the above models, how would this be done? See any benefits or drawbacks to each approach? What about in terms of costs and effectiveness?
Advertising and public relations are playing an increasing role in international communication. They've certainly gone global.
Let's start with some basic dictionary definitions.
Advertising: “The activity of attracting public attention to a product or business, as by paid announcements in the print, broadcast, or electronic media” (The American Heritage Dictionary).
Public Relations (P.R.): “The methods and activities employed to establish and promote a favorable relationship with the public” (The American Heritage Dictionary).
The basic dictionary definitions need a little modifying.
Add to the advertising definition the key purpose of advertising: to persuade people to purchase. "Attraction public attention" is a good first step, but not the ultimate goal.
Add to the P.R. definition the idea of establishing, promoting and maintaining a relationship. Secondly, add an "s" to the end of public. What are the key publics that a company needs to have a good relationship with? Externally: the government/law makers, other companies, customers, the media, etc. Internally: investors, employees, etc.
With some basics out of the way, let's go global with advertising and P.R.
In his book, Global Communication: Theories, Stakeholders, and Trends, Thomas McPhail offers three key reasons why there has been a growth in international advertising and P.R. Why has advertising and public relations gone global?
"1. Corporations themselves are going increasingly global and taking their advertising agencies with them. This includes communication corporations as well as other sectors such as transportation, food, beverages, natural resources, credit cards, etc.
2. As multimedia outlets -- from privatized radio and television networks in Europe to new media and print outlets in Latin America -- expand, they require successful advertising campaigns in order to generate the revenues and attract new customers necessary to succeed as viable commercial enterprises.
3. The growth of satellite-delivered broadcasting channels, along with a rapid expansion of cable systems and networks, have in turn generated demand for increased use of advertising agencies in order to develop a sufficient customer base for either the new services themselves, or the problems they advertise."
Note that the first reason focuses on general companies, the second reason focuses on media companies that provide content and the third reason focuses on the media hardware companies.
Check out some long excerpts from the book. Use the arrow buttons to flip through pages or use the side scroll bar. For a definition of critical race theory (CRT) (see pgs. 2-3).
* These are not official readings for any of my current courses.
There are two very useful online camera simulators that I'd recommend to help you get a better understanding of depth of field and other aspects of photography.
1. Start with Photonhead's "SimCam - Shutter and Aperture" page. It'll allow you to control a few features of the camera. What settings would get you those blurry background photos? Why?
2. Also, try CameraSim.com. Once you've gotten comfortable for Photonheads camera simulator, then move on to this more complicated simulator. You can go directly to the site or try the embed below.
In addition to adjusting the shutter, aperture and mode, try adjusting the distance you are to the child and also zoom in or zoom out with the focal length setting.
When you are working with both of these simulators, it is important that after you change some settings and before you press the click button, that you make a guess as to what you think the simulated photograph will look like. Only stop messing with these simulators, once you get all your guesses right.
If so, you'll need to control the depth of field in your photograph and in order to control depth of field, you'll need to better understand aperture.
For a partial introduction to depth of field and some other topcis, check out the following video excerpt from Brian Ratty's video series (Digital Photography - The Camera (Tutorial DVD)). The videos are now a little dated, but still cover the basics well.
The "rules" of composition that you learn for still photography can also be used in your video work. After you learned about about composition in still photography (rule of thirds, framing, etc.), did you start to spot those same rules being used in your favorite TV show or movie? If not, look for it the next time you are watching TV or a movie.
Now, you try it. Go to YouTube (or another video source) and look for clips of a favorite movie. See how many rules of composition you see being used. Besides the rule of thirds, what else do you see? Framing?
"During the spring semester, we host a media conference in conjunction with MCJR Week. Many times alumni serve on our conference panels and/or conduct workshops for our students. Our alumni use this opportunity to re-establish old friendships or to network professionally. Students use it as a chance to learn more about their specific interest(s) and to secure internship and/or employment opportunities" (NSUMCJR web site).
For steps on how to treat the photo disease listed above and many more, see Digital Photo Doctor. The book takes a similar metaphorical approach. Check out the book. You should be able to get it for $5 or less.
by Sam Keen
Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel
So, dehumanization of the enemy was done in the past all over the world. Does it still happen in the 21st century? That's the question that my co-author and I asked in our study of editorial cartoons of bin Laden and the Taliban after the events of 9/11.
(pp. 137-155). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
Other than helping individuals to communicate, what grander social role does the Internet play?
In their book, Global Journalism: Topical Issues and Media Systems (4th Edition), de Beer and Merrill 
offer their own explanation for the expansion of international advertising and public relations.
Critical Race Theory: An Introduction
If so, you'll need to control the depth of field in your photograph and in order to control depth of field, you'll need to better understand aperture.
). The videos are now a little dated, but still cover the basics well.
