Stories Drive the Culture Machine

Do the stories we read, write, click on, like, share, etc. create our culture? Do they shape our cultural beliefs? This module is all about living in the digital age which has only amplified our stories to a greater audience with some interesting and frightening results. The fake news machine is one such frightening result. The monetization of scandalous and false news has become a money-making machine that results not only in an uninformed audience but also has political and social implications if such falsities impact US election outcomes, drive our economy, etc. The biggest challenge I had this week was the reality of this and the strong realization that I must equip my children with the skills they need to become media savvy and critical thinkers with anything they encounter online or in life.

A fascinating article this week talks about narrative transportation theory and how we need to educate our students (or, in my case, my children) on how to be media savvy (or "media literate") so that they understand and can detect the difference between fact and fiction which is often blurred online. Since stories can be so persuasive it's important to be able to see what they do to us. Being persuasive can be good if activists want to get people involved in, say, taking care of the environment, but it can also be detrimental if youth getting sucked into fictional stories and take them too far (as in the Slender Man stabbing that was spurred by an online horror meme). Despite the possible negative outcomes and abuse of using stories to persuade or manipulate, I found myself reading this article and getting excited about fictional novels. I find novels to be a great place to reflect on the human condition: they are a safe place to consider the interiority of the human mind and thought processes; they are a safe place to identify with characters and to consider what I would do in that situation. I love reading well-written fiction and considering the what-ifs in the real world. Youth today find this same outlet and emotional safety net online; it's of vital importance to teach them to be critical readers and notice if what they are reading is trying to persuade them one way or another. Creating media literacy is extremely important in this digital age and something I need to start working on with my own children right away.

Daily Create

I chose to show a photograph that had extreme minimalism, but that's also complex. Here's my Roomba making art on my carpet.

Weekly Challenge

For my challenge this week, I chose to explore the Blast From the Past theme which had me reenact an old photograph from my childhood. I decided to use a photo that depicts my first memory from when I was 3 years old and my dad took a picture of me before getting into the bathtub. When I recently visited him in my childhood home, I had my daughter snap of a photo of me standing in the way I remember posing for the shot 38 years prior. I tried out Prezi for the delivery of this photograph project as I've never used it before and wanted a more dynamic way of showing the two photos.

In addition to needing to be media savvy, we also need to be culturally educated and sensitive. The stories that drive our culture also tend to be stories from the privileged and powerful (read: upper class Caucasians). This week of the Culture Machine module, we read these two articles that discussed using digital storytelling and photography as a way to bridge the gap between cultures (US students and South African students and CU Boulder undergrads and Latino youth) and to teach students how to be culturally aware and sensitive. This global citizenship is a vital component to having media literacy and, quite frankly, a good, well-rounded, empathetic human being.

Watching the video about the work of Barnaby Churchill Steel was fascinating. It reminded me of the article I read about avatars and how they can be used to imagine ourselves differently and to explore new races or genders. In the same vein, virtual reality can be used to imagine and experience the world differently and to see how connected we all actually are. I love using technology to further the human experience and VR can certainly be used to educate us about other cultures, about the environment, about animals, etc. to make us more aware and better global citizens. Now to find out where these resources are so that I can get my children involved.

The talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was very powerful. It clearly demonstrated the danger of a single story which results in stereotyping and generalizing a person which takes away their dignity. We are more than one story - we are many, many stories with multiple facets and sides and all of them should be told.

I also enjoyed the video on the digital campfire which used the metaphor of the computer as a digital campfire that can connect us with others as we share our stories. If students can connect with a person from another country who has stories to share, then they can learn to empathize and become culturally aware at a younger age than ever before. If a student's family happens to have enough money to travel then they can start to see the world and learn about others, but this is a small percent who can afford this. So using technology to further this cultural awareness is really important and I hope my children get this type of education so that they learn, first hand from a Rwandan student, just what happens in other countries these days.

Daily Create

This week I happened to be vacationing in California so I used the Spirals daily create challenge, inspired by the sea shells my daughters and I collected.

Finally, for my dialogue project I collaborated with my colleagues Amy Lund and Laura Terry to discuss StoryCorps, which I've enjoyed on NPR for years. It always touches me and makes me cry when I hear the powerful stories of others in their own voices. I particularly love the memory loss initiatives ones where sons and daughters interview their aging parents who are losing their memories. The telling and re-telling of their personal stories as a way to preserve memory and meaning that the family made through the years is so beautiful and so important. Re-telling and preserving stories and experiences particular to the African American culture is just as important and there are some powerful stories to hear that I highly recommend. I love StoryCorp's mission:

"StoryCorps’ mission is to preserve and share humanity’s stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world."

I already am a supporting member of Colorado Public Radio, but I might consider contributing either financially or, one day, share my own story with StoryCorps.