The first class of Youth, Media and Popular Culture has
come and gone. This is a relatively new course and the syllabus is being
fleshed out by being put into practice.
The class started rolling after some technical difficulties,
with a group activity where we had to read an article and do a mini
presentation on it. My group (of 2) was to read an article on a new publication
– a peer-reviewed journal called Punk and Post-Punk.
“The journal intends
to serve the international academic, journalistic and industry communities
engaged with punk and post-punk music, media and culture. It will explore
notions of the ‘alternative’ and the ‘independent’ during the heady days of the
punk explosion and the ensuing post-punk era.”(p.7)
I felt out of my comfort zone here
because I do not listen to punk music. Or so I thought. When I looked up bands
of this genre, I realized I have liked some of these songs for their edginess,
their politicizing and their rebellion. And it’s a very intriguing concept to
marry this with academic research and scholarship.
I’m wondering if the Punk movement is
that prevalent in today’s youth? I think I will have to poke around amongst my
students and see what they have to say.
When I came home from the course, I got
involved in a conversation with my 23 year old son about the course, the
presentation and the essay. He is very excited about tutoring and mentoring me
and he gave me some excellent ideas and food for thought. We talked a lot about
YouTube and its influence on today’s youth. I hadn’t even considered YouTube as
a possible topic but I think I’d like to explore the possibilities.
No comments:
Post a Comment