media literacy

Each year in the Media Literacy class, students engage in art making to explore and critically respond to different forms of digital and mass media. In the Spoof Ad project, students apply their knowledge of photoshop skills to express conceptual strategies and critical theories in media literacy. Students use photography, digital collage and text to respond to the manipulation of print media. Using Olivia Gude’s Postmodern Principles as inspiration, students use juxtaposition, appropriation, layering, and interaction of text and image to communicate a desired visual message in response to and resistance of the identified ad campaign / issue.  

Image of fake advertisement for Converse sneakers

Image of fake advertisement showing Kanye West selling water Image of fake Ancestry.com advertisement with Elizabeth Warren Image of fake movie poster for Fast and Furious that shows Social Media figures Fake image of Dolly Parton on a New York Public Library Card application Image of fake advertisement for International Women's Day with Emma Watson

Images created by: Laina Weiss, Zoe Stern, Jocelyn Lewis, Andrew Beers, Molly Rutledge, Sarah Sanders

In the Media Literacy and Visual Culture: Teaching Art in a Digital Age course, students are asked to engage in deep thinking around what it means to be media literate and to strategize ways in which they might involve their students in developing critical thinking skills in our media saturated environments. To build strategies and reflective practices for media literacy, students create a blog to record their research, thinking and good ideas from the semester. These blogs serve as public interfaces and platform for sharing learning and being actively engaged in contemporary, participatory, and visual culture.

Some examples of student blogs:

Ariana Mygatt Image from student blog.