CRITICAL MEDIA COLLECTIVE: workshop DESCRIPTION

Version 1.0 piloted at North Star: Self Directed Learning for Teens, 2012-2013

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Version 2.0 piloted Digital Media program at The Park School of Buffalo, 2013-2014

Version 2.5 taught through Squeaky Wheel Media Arts Center, 2015

Critical Media Collective is an investigative media seminar-style workshop where participants take a closer look at their media usage and popular culture, while practicing a critical perspective while discussing media technologies, content, themes, trends and patterns. All classes function by using the internet as a primary tool, in order to exercise an all-addition-inclusive conversation style, meaning that if a class topic inspires or reminds students of a related piece of media, it can be incorporated into the shared classroom conversation, building a shared knowledge base where course content is introduced by both students and facilitator by weaving new pieces of media into discussion. The validation of personal media knowledge gives students an instant connection and a sense of ownership over the topics and discussions.  This workshop can be tailored to any time, including single meeting workshops, and can be utilized to focus on a specific media issue rather than an media culture overview.

Critical media collective THEMES AND QUESTIONS : A 2012 OVERVIEW 

MEDIA SURVEY- How do you use media on a daily basis? How does it effect your life? Can you quantify your personal media intake? 

YOUTUBE STARDOM- How do people (particularly teens) become YouTube famous? What are the steps and outcomes (costs, persuasions, drawbacks, ramifications) of this type of fame and the fame machine?

FAN CULTURE- What does the history of fan culture look like and how has it changed with the instant communication and access to celebrity afforded by the internet? 

TRENDS AND TRENDING- What is a trend by definition and how are trends actually calculated?  How do fad and trend differ? What does it take for something to start trending, and how is that different from the historical concept of "trendy"?

CONSUMER CULTURE AND COLLECTION- Why do we consume what we consume? Do we make conscious choices about our own consumption? Why do people collect? Is a collection a form of "conscious consumption" or is it just an excuse for obsessive/excessive intake? 

ADVERTISEMENT AND THE HISTORY OF THE SLOGAN- Who made the first popularized ad campaign slogan? How have slogan forms developed and changed over time? 

SCHOOLS AS A MARKETPLACE- Does advertisement have a place in schools? Should schools refuse corporate sponsorship? 

ELECTION COVERAGE COVERAGE- How does the media want us to understand the election? How are political campaigns and advertisement campaigns related? What do ad campaigns and political campaigns share? Who runs a political campaign? Who creates a campaign logo, slogan, etc? How do campaigns use social media?

POPULAR CAMPAIGNS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE- Why do celebrities affiliate themselves with certain social justice campaigns, and how does their starpowered endorsement effect the campaign's success? How do celebrities use the campaigns for personal gain?  

INTERNET TROLLING- What is trolling? Why do people troll? What are the different ways people troll? How does trolling impact social media use? 

MEMES AND PARODY- What is a meme? How do the masses participate in meme popularity? Why are some memes fad and some lasting trend?