MassMedia: Info & Interactive Media Tech: What is Communication? What is Technology? (U9-P1) [VID] Fa14

What is Communication?
“Human communication is the process through which individuals – in relationships, groups, organizations, and societies – respond to and create messages to adapt to the environment and one another” (Ruben & Steward).

What is Technology?
“a design for instrumental action that reduces the uncertainty in the cause-effect relationships involved in achieving a desired outcome”(Rogers).

What exactly does that mean?  Break it down.  Piece by piece.

"Tech" in the Dictionary: (Dictionary.com and Merriam-Webster...)

How's the term "technology" used on Twitter right now.


So, given the above definitions, what is communication technology? Media technology?  

OpenClipArt.org

Is a pencil a technology? Is it a communication technology?


There is some interesting communication technologies out there, especially some of the communication technology being developed in other countries. Have you heard of these new communication technologies?



: )

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MediaTech: Internet/New Media: The Internet Explained (U9-P1) [VID] Fa14

So, how does the Internet work?  What are the steps in the process?  The parts?




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InterculturalCom: Effective Intercultural Communication (U9-P1) Fa14

I use to call this lecture unit "Dealing with Difference." 
However, now I've switched to calling it "Effective Intercultural Communication."

See any reason why I changed it?  Does "Dealing with Difference" imply anything?  A negative connotation?

Whatever you call it, in intercultural situations, how do we deal with or become more effective?

One place to start is to have a clear sense of exactly what is causing an intercultural misunderstanding.  Is it a language thing?  Is it prejudice?  What exactly is causing the intercultural ineffectiveness?  If we understand where exactly the problem is, then we can move on to hopefully fixing the problem.  

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However, before we look specifically at intercultural communication, let's address some basic skills that should be in all types of interpersonal communication.

Even before developing effective intercultural communication skills, we need to learn and practice the basic interpersonal skills below.  These are fundamental.

Some Basic Interpersonal Skills Helpful in ICC

Core Skills

• Positiveness: Expression of positive attitudes toward self and others.
• Other-Orientation: Attentiveness, interest, and concern for others.
• Empathy: Feeling as the other feels.

Meta Skills

• Mindfulness: Being consciously aware of the above skills and carefully monitoring them.
• Metacommunication: Being aware of what is happening in the communication. Being able to think and talk about the talk.

Now, with some basic interpersonal skills out of the way, let's return to intercultural communication.  To get a better understanding of intercultural communication effectiveness, it would be helpful to have a model that helps us spot where the potential problems that may arise in intercultural encounters.



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GlobalMedia: International Journalism: Being a Journalist in a Foreign Place (U9-P1) Sp14

Imagine being a journalist in a far off land.

Wouldn't be easy, would it?

First, you may, depending on where you are and what you are covering, be physically harmed or killed.  See Anderson Cooper clip below, for just one example.  

And, if you are curious, check out some recent news about about foreign journalists being hurt or killed in the past year month.

It is also not easy being a foreign journalist because you may misread/misunderstand what you are covering in that foreign land.  It is a challenge.

P. Eric Louw, in his chapter "Journalist Reporting from Foreign Places" in Global Journalism: Topical Issues and Media Systems (4th Edition), writes about the challenges of being a foreign journalist.

Thesis of chapter:

• “Journalist coverage of foreign places increasingly influences the governance of those places.” (e.g., CNN effect.)
• “The emergence of international governance based on foreign news-driven mediated realities has inherent dangers."

“Double Misreadings”?

• “Relying on the news media to understand distant places inherently produces a double misreading because…”
• Journalist can misread the news event and
• We (the audience) can misread what the journalist is saying.
• “journalists generally are not equipped to read distant contexts, and neither are their audiences."

Journalist misread for several reasons.

1. “First, journalists arriving in a new context are foreigners [who don’t know the history, the religions, etc.]
2. “Misreadings also occur because journalists carry their cultural biases with them when reporting in a foreign context.”
1. e.g. American values/ways of doing things being seen as normal. Seeing foreign ways as “incomprehensible” or “despicable”.
3. “…the journalistic practice of deploying simplistic labels.” 
1. Taking a complex, sometimes chaotic situation/place and putting into 20 words or less and putting it in a way that U.S. audience will relate to.  “ethnic cleansing” label “white supremacy” label used in coverage of S.A.
4. “…journalists routinely use binary oppositions when describing foreign contexts”   Related to #3  
1. Common characters in a news story: “good guys” vs. “bad guys” Other characters?  Common plot?  Again, oversimplification.
5. “…when sent to report on foreign contexts, journalists tend to (subconsciously) select contacts with whom they feel comfortable working…”
6. “…foreign issues are read in terms of ‘home’ understandings and agendas.” 
1. e.g., S.A. anti-apartheid struggle = U.S. civil rights struggle.  Similar to # 3

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MediaTech: TV Tech: How Early TV Worked (U9-P1) [VID] fa13

How does/did TV work/worked?  What is the process?  What are the steps?



For next video start at about 40 seconds in.


If you are interested: "The Origins of Television" Discovery Channel clip

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InterculturalCom: Dealing with Difference (U9-P1) Fa13

I use to call this lecture unit "Dealing with Difference." 
However, now I've switched to calling it "Effective Intercultural Communication."

See any reason why I changed it?  Does "Dealing with Difference" imply anything?  A negative connotation?

Whatever you call it, in intercultural situations, how do we deal with or become more effective?

One place to start is to have a clear sense of exactly what is causing an intercultural misunderstanding.  Is it a language thing?  Is it prejudice?  What exactly is causing the intercultural ineffectiveness?  If we understand where exactly the problem is, then we can move on to hopefully fixing the problem.  

The following model helps us spot where the potential problems that may arise in intercultural encounters.


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GlobalMedia: Sam Keen, 9/11, War and Metaphor - Part 1/2 (U9-P1) [VID] Sp13

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 in his book and a doc based on the book.  Here's the beginning of the doc.  I'd encourage you to see the rest.


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.


Faces of the Enemy: Reflections of the Hostile Imagination : The Psychology of Enmity by Sam Keen









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?

Just in a 5 minute clip from about 13:45 to 18:37, what dehumanizing metaphors are used?




If you are interested, for more a detailed study of the dehumanizing metaphors used in The Eternal Jew, see:

Hassencahl F. & Hart, W. B. (March, 2013). A fantasy-theme analysis of Der Ewige Jude (The Eternal Jew): From WWII Nazi propaganda to YouTube today. A paper presented at the national Popular Culture Association convention, Washington, DC.

Note: See in relationship between dehumanizing an enemy in war time and racism?


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"   Who watched this film?  What was the purpose of the film?





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).


Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel









Other examples from WWII, Cold War, etc.:

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MediaTech: The Evolution of MediaTech and You: Genes, Memes and Temes (U9-P1) fa12

Previous posts have offered theories for how technologies come to be and develop over time.  We've discussed, for example, Winston's model and we've discussed the Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations.  We now turn to our last theory -- technological evolution.


This theory is based on the biological theory of evolution.  One of the best explanations of biological evolution and the mechanism that drives evolution is found in Carl Sagan's Cosmos video series which was based on the book Cosmos.

As you are watching this clip from Cosmos, be sure to identify and be able to explain the mechanism that drives evolution.  Does this mechanism explain technological evolution?



Now take those basic ideas of biological evolution and see how they apply to technological evolution.  What do Kelly and Blackmore add to this theoretical perspective?

First, "Kevin Kelly on how technology evolves"
(You may want to start the Kelly video at about 8:20.)



 Second, "Susan Blackmore on memes and 'temes'"

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InterculturalCom: Intercultural Sensitivity and Competence (U9-P1) fa12 [VID]

This is a clip that I edited and posted on YouTube. I use this clip in my Intercultural Communication course to introduce students to the concept of intercultural sensitivity.

Is Cartman interculturally insensitive?  How?
What's it mean to be interculturally sensitive?
Is there a certain perspective/attitude?
Is there a particular set of skills?
How interculturally sensitive are you?
Can a person be too interculturally sensitive?
Relationship to politically correct (PC)?

OCT. '12 UPDATE:
I had to remove my YouTube clip.
However, I did find another clip with video that shows part of what I had posted.



I also found a clip that has the audio for the clip that I previously posted.




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MediaTech: The Evolution of MediaTech and You: Genes, Memes and Temes (U9-P1)

Previous posts have offered theories for how technologies come to be and develop over time.  We've discussed, for example, Winston's model and we've discussed the Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations.  We now turn to our last theory -- technological evolution.


This theory is based on the biological theory of evolution.  One of the best explanations of biological evolution and the mechanism that drives evolution is found in Carl Sagan's Cosmos video series which was based on the book Cosmos.

As you are watching this clip from Cosmos, be sure to identify and be able to explain the mechanism that drives evolution.  Does this mechanism explain technological evolution?



Now take those basic ideas of biological evolution and see how they apply to technological evolution.  What do Kelly and Blackmore add to this theoretical perspective?

First, "Kevin Kelly on how technology evolves"



Second, "Susan Blackmore on memes and 'temes'"



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InterculturalCom: Intercultural Sensitivity and Competence (U9-P1)

This is a clip that I edited and posted on YouTube. I use this clip in my Intercultural Communication course to introduce students to the concept of intercultural sensitivity.

Is Cartman interculturally insensitive?  How?
What's it mean to be interculturally sensitive?
Is there a certain perspective/attitude?
Is there a particular set of skills?
How interculturally sensitive are you?
Can a person be too interculturally sensitive?
Relationship to politically correct (PC)?

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Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.