Innovative COM Course Offered to UNCW Undergraduates

Hello all! The IMCHawks blog is back for a quick update.

Are you a UNCW undergraduate student looking for an exciting new class to add to your schedule?

Does “Representations of Female Surfers in Film” sound like a topic that might interest you?

Dr. Roberts’ COM495: Media, Identity, and Difference class is an innovative new course in the Communication Studies Department here at UNCW. If you have ever wanted to take an in depth look into the issues of media representation, identity, and power in our world today, COM495 with Dr. Roberts is the perfect opportunity.

After teaching classes on a variety of topics including Media, Culture, and Society, Sexuality and Gender, and Engaging Contemporary Media, Dr. Roberts’ new course has an exciting new approach, and is actively utilizing a Tumblr page to host course content.

Dr. Roberts, and the entire COM Department at UNCW, invite you to take a look at the course’s Tumblr page.  Here you can find a combination of Prezi presentations on topics such as “Representations of Female Surfers in Film” and “Teen Pregnancy in Film and Television”, to intriguing infographics on topics ranging from “Women in Sports Radio” and “The Statistics of Video Games”.

As stated in the course description, “this course examines representations of difference and identity formation in a variety of media. Our focus will be on how people come to understand themselves as gendered, racialized, sexed, and sexual human beings; how the meanings of these categories are created and communicated through various media, and how they can be challenged and resisted.”

Dr. Roberts and the class will also be “considering issues of authorship, spectatorship, media audiences and the ways in which various media content (film, television, advertising, journalism, new media) enables, facilitates and challenges these social constructions in society.”

Specifically, “students will analyze gendered and racialized language and embodiment as it is produced online in blogs and vlogs, gaming, social media, and the construction of cyber identities.  Students will engage key course concepts and critique various media artifacts through creative practice, presentations, writing, and primary research.”

If you have any questions regarding the availability of the course, or require more information, please contact Dr. Roberts or view his Tumblr page.

Fall 2014 is quickly approaching….Make it your best semester yet!

– IMCHawks