Learning Outcomes Assignment #1

Published by on October 22, 2020

In each module, specific Learning Objectives were provided in the Module Overviews. Using these as guideposts, please summarize the major themes covered in the Discussions. Begin with a short one-paragraph introduction, then write a single paragraph that explains the major issues covered in DBs 2/3, 4/5, and 6/7. High scores will require students to specifically reference their peers’ work and the assigned readings (e.g., “In DB-2, John S. argued that …”; According to Martin, …”; “In my main assignment, I stated that…”). In the context of “Lessons Learned,” you will also need to include an additional paragraph covering THREE (3) points which you feel added to your understanding of the impact of globalization on contemporary society. Choose those themes you felt to be noteworthy, enlightening, interesting, or controversial. Lastly, you should then provide a conclusion which discusses how the textbook, lectures, and any other assigned readings/documents/images supported your learning outcomes. Your submission should be between 1,000 and 1,500 words.

Details on grading criteria are given in rubrics below:

1) Synthesis of concepts and cogency of analysis: The response refers to the readings and shows a clear understanding of main ideas, people, places, and issues covered in the course. There are no irrelevant comments, inconsistencies, and the information is on point. Ideas are clearly and properly organized. Course terminology/concepts are correctly employed.

2) Application of personal experience and intellectual abilities: The response provides personal examples, critical thinking, online research, illuminating points, etc. that tie in with the course material being discussed. Insight is provided to some concept.

3) Quality of writing and use of the English language: The writing is grammatically correct, clear, and concise. The response is well formulated and easy to read and to understand.

4) Use of sources and proper citation style: The response satisfies the requirements regarding use of the course texts, as well as online sources not assigned by the professor. The citation style adheres to Chicago/Turabian norms and is verifiable.

Learning Modues – 2/3 – Alexandera Verdi
RE: Main Assignment: question 1

Popular culture plays a massive role in developing the general publics view of political culture. Today, more than ever, Americans are constantly connected to the world around them. Social media, television, cinema, news outlets, and propaganda continuously shape and reinforce how the public views the United States and other countries. Geopolitical theorist, Antonio Gramsci, recognizes the idea that popular culture creates a false consciousness and an artificial reality for the working class (Dittmer). In fact, its the news stations, movies, television shows, and social media sites that constantly shape what the American public should care about. CNN, a popular, center-left leaning American news network has focused on; COVID-19, BLM and other human rights movements, and has outwardly supported the Biden/Harris campaign. On the other hand, Fox News, another popular American news network, appeals to the conservative, right-wing platform. They have followed the words of Donald Trump; continuously downplaying COVID-19, ignoring minority activist movements, and driving the idea that the economy is doing better than ever. Whether right or wrong in their alignments, both are biased news networks and they drastically shape their viewers political landscapes. Social media also plays a major role in determining what Americans focus should be. Politics are even more present on these sites than ever and politicians are feeding false ads and lies to the American people. Facebooks CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, acknowledges this problem but refuses to control misinformation on the platform (OSullivan). This means, fake news will continuously be spread and the American public will become even more deluded before the upcoming election. Even the president himself, who is supposed to be the trusted leader of this country, has been accused of making false claims. According to the Washington Post, It took President Trump 827 days to top 10,000 false and misleading claims in The Fact Checkers database (Kessler). All of this biased, misleading information constantly plagues the public view of the world. Rather than displaying facts and allowing viewers to imagine their own political landscapes, these outlets force that idea of false consciousness. This ultimately constructs the voters election choices for them, simply out of how they receive public information.

The American ideal of nationalism is concretely instilled in childrens minds from a very young age. Pledging allegiance in school every day, wearing the American flag, and large celebrations of American history (Veterans day, 4thof July, Labor Day, MLK, etc.) all enforce the concept of pride in the United States. This type of nationalism is also prominent in television and cinema. Especially, in marvel comics depictions of the Avengers and Captain America. I recall watching the first movie in the series when I was younger. At the time, I was too young to recognize the relations to WWII and Nazi Germany, as well as the American foreign policy of containment. But, I was aware of the importance of the United States role in foreign involvement, in order to get rid of the bad guys. It also shaped how I viewed military service in our country as a prideful and respectable position.

References:

Dittmer, Jason, and Daniel Bos. Popular Culture, Geopolitics, and Identity. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2019.

Kessler, Glenn, and Salvador Rizzo. Analysis | President Trump Has Made More than 20,000 False or Misleading Claims. The Washington Post. WP Company, July 13, 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/07/13/president-trump-has-made-more-than-20000-false-or-misleading-claims/.

O’Sullivan, Donie, and Brian Fung. Facebook Will Limit Some Advertising in the Week before the US Election — but It Will Let Politicians Run Ads with Lies. CNN. Cable News Network, September 3, 2020. https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/03/tech/facebook-political-ads-election/index.html.

Learning Module 4/5 – Television and films play a huge role in our everyday lives, we are able to better understand candidates that are running for President. These advancements in technology impact our beliefs regarding the United States government. Holland believes that “film and television have helped to mediate and remediate history, tell coherent stories, and forge temporary stable identities” (Holland, 2019). Of course, the media can distort crucial information or even hide information, therefore it becomes difficult to analyze if the information being shared is accurate. With the research I have done, I have realized that there are not many films or television shows which have a woman as a president. The television show named “24: Redemption” the president has decided to resign and allow Allison Taylor to take an oath to become the president. In the article, it states that the president Noah Daniels gives Allison Taylor the power to become President when everything started to fall apart (Fuchs, 2018). Noah Daniels seems to not trust Allison Taylor when she states that she wanted to send out troops to help out. He doesn’t agree with her, and his behavior seems to just “push her off.” I personally believe that television and films tend to just portray women as if they’re not able to make “smart choices” or even have power. In politics, women have always been underrepresented across the globe (Baskaran & Hessami, 2018). In 2016, about 22.8% of national parliamentarians were women and only nine women served had government roles ( Baskaran & Hessami, 2018). These low numbers show the fact that women are indeed underrepresented in politics. An explanation for the underrepresentation is the fact that women “face systematic discrimination in the political arena (Baskaran & Hessami, 2018)”. Another factor could be that traditional voters may have “traditional views on the role of women in society and consequently regard women as unsuitable for leadership positions (Baskaran & Hessami, 2018).” In the 2016 election, Hilary Clinton was the first woman candidate, which raised concerns for some individuals. The article in the Washington Post states that ” 39 percent of them preferred Trump to 54 percent for Clinton.” Some do not think this is a sexist issue and believe that they would have voted for a woman, just not that individual (Sullivan, 2019). Movies with a strong female lead such as 24: Redemption, shows that the way women are represented is not entirely fair or accurate. Many still do believe in the stereotypes that have been created for women which could have been a factor as to why Hilary Clinton’s loss in the election. Television and films impact the way we see the world and individuals.

References:

Baskaran, Thushyanthan, and Zohal Hessami. 2018. “Does the Election of a Female Leader Clear the Way for More Women in Politics?” American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 10 (3): 95-121.

Fuchs, Cynthia. “24: Redemption.” PopMatters. PopMatters, 25 Feb. 2018. Web. 01 Oct. 2020.]

Holland, Jack. Fictional Television and American Politics: From 9/11 to Donald Trump. Manchester University Press.(2019).

Sullivan, Margaret. “Perspective | How Sexist Will the Media’s Treatment of Female Candidates Be? Rule out ‘not at All.'” The Washington Post. WP Company, 20 Feb. 2019. Web. 01 Oct. 2020.

Learning Module 6/7 – Two separate pop culture artifacts that critique the news media are twitter and celebrities. The news media today is so biased and untrustworthy, whether it be CNN Fox News or MSNBC every channel has an agenda of what they want you to know and think, it goes for the left and right. You can see it more now than ever since we are in one of the most crucial election years in the history of our country. Twitter is one of the most useful apps right now for news, you get up to the minute news updates like never before which is great, as long as they are from a trustworthy source. It’s very easy to scroll through twitter and see false reports of really anything whether it be politics, sports or just things people say. This is the bad side of twitter, it has fake news and also lots of negativity. Sometimes I need to take a break from social media just after scrolling through twitter not just because of all the BS there is just so much negativity and hate on there as well. Celebrities can also be tied into twitter, celebrities have taken it upon themselves to promote voting recently which is awesome, everyone should vote who is eligible, voting is the right that separates us from a lot of people who are not as fortunate to live in a democracy. Where I draw the line is when celebrities start telling people who to vote for, that I do not agree with, 99% of people are not and will never be in the situation financially that celebrities are in so one candidates policies might work for your favorite movie star but not you who is slaving away the days working 40 hours a week to pay rent and put food on the table. Just this week a bunch of celebrities including Mark Ruffalo and Sarah Silverman and a few other celebrities released a video of them all at home naked trying to promote voting. I just don’t get it, just put some clothes on, if anything it turns people away from what your promoting it’s just weird and makes people uncomfortable and it comes off as more of an attention move. I would consider twitter and celebrities as satire because they are trying to get a message across it is not a joke to them. I think to some degree anyone with twitter who sees all the tweets and headlines if affected in some way, but I think I do a pretty good job of ignoring it and doing my own research and coming up with opinions on my own contrary to what twitter and celebrities have to say.

Chichizola, Corey. Mark Ruffalo, Sarah Silverman And Other Celebs Get Naked To Convince People To Vote. CINEMABLEND, CINEMABLEND, 8 Oct. 2020, www.cinemablend.com/news/2556409/mark-ruffalo-sarah-silverman-and-other-celebs-get-naked-to-convince-people-to-vote.

Trump Covid Post Deleted by Facebook and Hidden by Twitter. BBC News, BBC, 6 Oct. 2020, www.bbc.com/news/technology-54440662.

PLEASE PLEASE 1) Synthesis of concepts and cogency of analysis: The response refers to the readings and shows a clear understanding of main ideas, people, places, and issues covered in the course. There are no irrelevant comments, inconsistencies, and the information is on point. Ideas are clearly and properly organized. Course terminology/concepts are correctly employed.

3) Quality of writing and use of the English language: The writing is grammatically correct, clear, and concise. The response is well formulated and easy to read and to understand.

ALL ASSIGNED READING FROM DISCUSSIONS POST THAT I HAVE COPIED