Bloggin'

My final paper for CMNS 112 served to analyse the social space created by spoken word poetry venues through a Lefebvrian-Marxist lens. In researching for this assignment, I came across this article on tone-policing. Though I was unable to use it in my paper due to the fact that it is not an academic article, I still believe it to be valuable and worthy of a read - so here, check it out !

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Imagine, then, the informative power of a photo essay (as in, text and images combined ). In CMNS 150 we were asked to create a photo essay that possessed both narrative flow and visual appeal - without any redundant information. I chose to explore the Sidney Pier through the lens of crabbing, and the finished product available for view here .

In Camosun's CMNS 150 class, we were asked to plan and produce a video on how students in 2019 experience post secondary education. This assignment acts as a response to Michael Wesch's A Vision of Students Today , and as such, is similarly formatted. My group chose to focus on how students experience Camosun through the lens of DIPR & DIGCOM. Our chosen commentary, though specific to the Lansdowne campus, reflects how we believe students experience education in 2019. To view our project for yourself, click here .

In her TED Talk Connected, but Alone? , cultural analyst Sherry Turkle explores (among other things) how digital technology and social media are changing our “capacity for solitude.” She argues that digital  technology encourages us to substitute genuine conversation and human interacting for small “sips” of  online connection. Despite my general extroversion, I’m thankful to have the ability to feel comfortable  alone, and I consistently look forward to spending quality time with myself free from both conversation   and online connection. As someone who works with children, I wholeheartedly agree with Turkle’s call to  action on teaching kids how to be alone with themselves. It’s important to recognize that loneliness is a feeling , not a state of being, which is to say that loneliness, like all feelings, is caused by thought .  By changing the way kids think about being alone, we can help them feel less lonely, perhaps resulting  in a lower dependency on digital technol