Academic Autobiography
My university experience has been a bit unorthodox. I began taking college classes when I was just sixteen years old through a special high school program while still in Florida. This presented itself with many challenges and benefits. For one, I was completely lost on what to pick as a major. Through the persuasion of my father, I decided to take the chemistry track. One semester later and utterly miserable, I talked to my guidance counselor and we chose the communications major based on my interests and talents, despite the disapproval of my father. I succeeded with these type of courses and graduated from high school at seventeen years of age with my Associate of Arts degree.
Two weeks after turning 18, I was on a plane to Rome to study communications and entrepreneurship at John Cabot University. Throughout my two years at John Cabot University, I truly enjoyed my studies and have always been enthusiastic to learn more and succeed with my studies. During my first semester at John Cabot, I took Intro to Visual Communications, in which I viewed communication and art visuals in a completely new way than ever before. I learned ways in which different types of fonts create different moods in the reader. I learned how the human eye comes to identify certain symbols and colors with certain brands, and I learned ways to interpret photographs. In this class, I also research Instagram by creating an infographic and displaying certain facts I had found. I learned ways to read art and how artists create work to display specific meanings. For example, Mother Mary is shown wearing blue.
Also during this semester, I took Foundations of Digital Video Production. For me, this class wasn’t ideal and I learned that this really isn’t what I am interested in pursuing. In this class, I learned script writing. We then filmed a short movie based on the script. Finally, we learned how to edit videos using Final Cut Pro and Photoshop. I had to learn how to cut videos, combine scenes, add text over the video, edit the white balance, and line up the graphics with the sound recordings. In addition, I took Media, Culture, and Society, which I found incredibly interesting because this was really the first class in my major in which I was introduced to theory. This is when I confirmed that I was in the right major for myself.
During my second semester, I took Digital Media Culture, Introduction to Cinema, and Global Media. In Digital Media Culture, I conducted research on Snapchat users. This involved creating a script, then recording and interviewing a John Cabot Student for 20 minutes about his personal Snapchat habits. My group of five also interviewed people and together we concluded that most people see Snapchat as a “closer knit” type of social media network than Instagram or Facebook. We also learned that most people use the story feature to brag, and that people send Snapchats as a more informal and quick way of communicating in comparison to texting or in-person.
Of all my classes, Global Media was the most intriguing to me. It expanded my thoughts and shifted my opinions dramatically. I learned about the history of communication, how technological advances, regional differences, and governments influenced communications. I learned about the effects of media on groups of people. I learned about how news industries fit into the global media field. I found it so interesting that Arab people were able to take a stand against strong governmental ideas through the Pop Idol television series. I did research on the Chinese version of Facebook, such as limitations, facts, and user statistics. This class actually interested me so much that I have decided to study Global Communications in graduate school in the fall.
Another class I took this was Introduction to Cinema. The film and movie field is not exactly my main interest. Before this class, I had never been exposed to cinematography. I learned many film terms, expanded my knowledge in the production of films, and applied this new found knowledge by watching the required movies for this class. For example, we discussed the “male gaze,” which is where all films (unless specifically feminist films) are made for males - that is, they are presented from the male perspective. We also talked about Classical Hollywood Cinema and the history of how it came to be: originally films were shown in a dark backroom for a nickel during the Great Depression, which led to them being considered an immoral activity.
In my third semester at JCU, I studied Race and Gender in Cinema and TV, Advanced Communication Theory, Myth and Media: Disney and Others. In Race and Gender in Cinema and TV, I was also pushed past my previous beliefs and learned to see marginalized groups in new ways. Some things came naturally to me and seemed like common sense. Other things were new knowledge to me, such as the elevated need for masculinity in the black community. I also learned about how hip hop culture was created as a result of wanting to be different. I studied the representation of characters in Modern Family and wrote a research paper about the perpetuation of stereotypes in the show.
In Myth and Media: Disney and Others, we focused on the ways in which Disney movies can shape society. We, in depth, studied how Pinocchio and Cinderella relate to the American Dream. We then studied what Wall-E suggests for the future of humanity. We studied Zootopia and what this movie seems to say is the solution to globalization and diversity. In addition, we learned a little bit about the history of these movies. For example, the growing unpopularity of princess movies forced Disney to change or else they would go bankrupt. The Incredibles was produced during the time in history when terrorism was threatening civilization and the people needed a superhero.
Advanced Communication Theory was quite challenging but also quite rewarding. In this class, I needed to master all the main communication theories and study the theorists who created them. For example, I learned the difference between feminism and post-feminism, modernism and postmodernism, structuralism and post-structuralism. I also mastered the ideas by theorists Marx, Adorno, Horkheimer, Debord, Foucault. For example, I learned the way Adorno and Horkheimer see capitalism as a negative thing in the “Culture Industry” theory. I learned how these two theorists are part of the Frankfurt School, which is influenced by the Marxist belief that materialism is society’s way of reproducing human existence. I also learned how Habermas relates to this with his belief of The Public Sphere, which is an area in social life where all individuals are allowed to come together and freely discuss topics without limitations.
Finally, I wanted to address my approach to the media studies field and propose my topic for the research paper. Being a feminist and having knowledge of the media studies field, I want to do my research on gender in the media. I want to look specifically at imagery (in magazines and television, perhaps) and what these images are “telling” women, especially young women. For example, do magazine images shape a teenage girl’s self-esteem? How much are girls affected by this and to what extent is it negative? What are the consequences? This is sort of a personal subject to me, so I feel like I will really enjoy reading about it and writing my own findings.
With this being my primary focus for my research paper, I would like to analyze theories like John Berger’s “Ways of Seeing,” as he talks about the invention of the camera. How reproducing art, and therefore reproducing photographs of women, can have a greater reach on our population, and thus its effects. In relation to this, I would also like to briefly study the culture industry because it says that audience is passive. I want to study how society (again, specifically young women) can resist this type of manipulation, if at all. For example, is it possible to “culture jam” the industry? To show completely average images of women? Will these sell in magazines? I will also talk about the Society of the Spectacle, essentially how young women make sense of themselves in this world through images. I also want to provide examples of structuralism through images and symbols. For example, in old times, a big forehead (symbol) was equated with intelligence (connotation) and thus beauty (denotation). I want to study visual examples represented in today’s society. Finally, I want to talk about feminism and post-feminism. Since my topic studies females, I want to research these terms and if they are present or not in the media and in society. Of course, I will narrow down my topic to something much more specific shortly.
Two weeks after turning 18, I was on a plane to Rome to study communications and entrepreneurship at John Cabot University. Throughout my two years at John Cabot University, I truly enjoyed my studies and have always been enthusiastic to learn more and succeed with my studies. During my first semester at John Cabot, I took Intro to Visual Communications, in which I viewed communication and art visuals in a completely new way than ever before. I learned ways in which different types of fonts create different moods in the reader. I learned how the human eye comes to identify certain symbols and colors with certain brands, and I learned ways to interpret photographs. In this class, I also research Instagram by creating an infographic and displaying certain facts I had found. I learned ways to read art and how artists create work to display specific meanings. For example, Mother Mary is shown wearing blue.
Also during this semester, I took Foundations of Digital Video Production. For me, this class wasn’t ideal and I learned that this really isn’t what I am interested in pursuing. In this class, I learned script writing. We then filmed a short movie based on the script. Finally, we learned how to edit videos using Final Cut Pro and Photoshop. I had to learn how to cut videos, combine scenes, add text over the video, edit the white balance, and line up the graphics with the sound recordings. In addition, I took Media, Culture, and Society, which I found incredibly interesting because this was really the first class in my major in which I was introduced to theory. This is when I confirmed that I was in the right major for myself.
During my second semester, I took Digital Media Culture, Introduction to Cinema, and Global Media. In Digital Media Culture, I conducted research on Snapchat users. This involved creating a script, then recording and interviewing a John Cabot Student for 20 minutes about his personal Snapchat habits. My group of five also interviewed people and together we concluded that most people see Snapchat as a “closer knit” type of social media network than Instagram or Facebook. We also learned that most people use the story feature to brag, and that people send Snapchats as a more informal and quick way of communicating in comparison to texting or in-person.
Of all my classes, Global Media was the most intriguing to me. It expanded my thoughts and shifted my opinions dramatically. I learned about the history of communication, how technological advances, regional differences, and governments influenced communications. I learned about the effects of media on groups of people. I learned about how news industries fit into the global media field. I found it so interesting that Arab people were able to take a stand against strong governmental ideas through the Pop Idol television series. I did research on the Chinese version of Facebook, such as limitations, facts, and user statistics. This class actually interested me so much that I have decided to study Global Communications in graduate school in the fall.
Another class I took this was Introduction to Cinema. The film and movie field is not exactly my main interest. Before this class, I had never been exposed to cinematography. I learned many film terms, expanded my knowledge in the production of films, and applied this new found knowledge by watching the required movies for this class. For example, we discussed the “male gaze,” which is where all films (unless specifically feminist films) are made for males - that is, they are presented from the male perspective. We also talked about Classical Hollywood Cinema and the history of how it came to be: originally films were shown in a dark backroom for a nickel during the Great Depression, which led to them being considered an immoral activity.
In my third semester at JCU, I studied Race and Gender in Cinema and TV, Advanced Communication Theory, Myth and Media: Disney and Others. In Race and Gender in Cinema and TV, I was also pushed past my previous beliefs and learned to see marginalized groups in new ways. Some things came naturally to me and seemed like common sense. Other things were new knowledge to me, such as the elevated need for masculinity in the black community. I also learned about how hip hop culture was created as a result of wanting to be different. I studied the representation of characters in Modern Family and wrote a research paper about the perpetuation of stereotypes in the show.
In Myth and Media: Disney and Others, we focused on the ways in which Disney movies can shape society. We, in depth, studied how Pinocchio and Cinderella relate to the American Dream. We then studied what Wall-E suggests for the future of humanity. We studied Zootopia and what this movie seems to say is the solution to globalization and diversity. In addition, we learned a little bit about the history of these movies. For example, the growing unpopularity of princess movies forced Disney to change or else they would go bankrupt. The Incredibles was produced during the time in history when terrorism was threatening civilization and the people needed a superhero.
Advanced Communication Theory was quite challenging but also quite rewarding. In this class, I needed to master all the main communication theories and study the theorists who created them. For example, I learned the difference between feminism and post-feminism, modernism and postmodernism, structuralism and post-structuralism. I also mastered the ideas by theorists Marx, Adorno, Horkheimer, Debord, Foucault. For example, I learned the way Adorno and Horkheimer see capitalism as a negative thing in the “Culture Industry” theory. I learned how these two theorists are part of the Frankfurt School, which is influenced by the Marxist belief that materialism is society’s way of reproducing human existence. I also learned how Habermas relates to this with his belief of The Public Sphere, which is an area in social life where all individuals are allowed to come together and freely discuss topics without limitations.
Finally, I wanted to address my approach to the media studies field and propose my topic for the research paper. Being a feminist and having knowledge of the media studies field, I want to do my research on gender in the media. I want to look specifically at imagery (in magazines and television, perhaps) and what these images are “telling” women, especially young women. For example, do magazine images shape a teenage girl’s self-esteem? How much are girls affected by this and to what extent is it negative? What are the consequences? This is sort of a personal subject to me, so I feel like I will really enjoy reading about it and writing my own findings.
With this being my primary focus for my research paper, I would like to analyze theories like John Berger’s “Ways of Seeing,” as he talks about the invention of the camera. How reproducing art, and therefore reproducing photographs of women, can have a greater reach on our population, and thus its effects. In relation to this, I would also like to briefly study the culture industry because it says that audience is passive. I want to study how society (again, specifically young women) can resist this type of manipulation, if at all. For example, is it possible to “culture jam” the industry? To show completely average images of women? Will these sell in magazines? I will also talk about the Society of the Spectacle, essentially how young women make sense of themselves in this world through images. I also want to provide examples of structuralism through images and symbols. For example, in old times, a big forehead (symbol) was equated with intelligence (connotation) and thus beauty (denotation). I want to study visual examples represented in today’s society. Finally, I want to talk about feminism and post-feminism. Since my topic studies females, I want to research these terms and if they are present or not in the media and in society. Of course, I will narrow down my topic to something much more specific shortly.