Today I introduced the media blog assignment to our class. I discussed the guidelines for the assignment, the due dates for the five required postings and responses, and the in-class participation that will run alongside the out-of-class blogging. I told students about the delicate balance that must be struck between being accountable for the ideas in one’s writing and the importance of withholding personal information in the interests of maintaining privacy and safety. In many instances, the key to the success of blogging is cultivating an “ethos” to one’s online persona, that is, communicating through form, image, links, content, tone, and diction that one is informed and accurate, but also capable of being compassionate and forgiving, particularly when discussing controversial or sensitive issues. I gave students some strategies for ensuring their safety online by suggesting that they take some precautions regarding self-disclosure. I also emphasized the degree to which non-verbal elements of the blog – such as background, colours, and typeface – also contribute to the meaning of blog writing, and so it is important to choose them carefully as well. The point of this part of the class was to remind students that blogs are not just “words on a (digital) page”; every decision that they make in how they are going to present their writing will have meaning and consequences.
However, due to time constraints (and the fact that I desperately needed another caffeinated beverage by 11:30am), I had neglected to discuss with students *why* we were going to undertake this particular assignment, rather than, say, another traditional academic assignment, such as an annotated bibliography, book report, or persuasive essay. Certainly, it would be easier for *everyone* just to do some library research, type up a paper, proofread it a couple of times, print it, and then hand it in. "Essay dun.” Everyone recognizes the logistics of essays – no extra stylistic hassles or technical difficulties (aside from running out of printer ink at the last minute, which I ALWAYS manage to do). Why go to the work of creating a blog, finding one’s way around it, deciding what to post, deciding what not to post, and considering carefully how to post? Why do all this extra work reading each other’s writing and responding to it *outside* of class, when clearly there are more important things to be doing (like catching up on lost sleep)!
Off the top of my head, I can think of three main reasons why I chose to assign blog writing in this course.
1) Blogging is, to some extent, a “democratic” form of writing. Online, anyone can publish - as long as they have the knowledge of and access to the resources necessary to get a blog and have time to add to it. Thus, we can use blogging as a tool to hear the voices of others, particularly those whom we would not normally hear by traditional publishing channels, and hearing these individuals is an important aspect of coming to understand the effects of globalization on disempowered subjects. (Obviously, however, these technological resources are NOT equally available to everyone, and this must be taken into account when we celebrate the internet for being the great “leveller.” Clearly, it’s not.)
2) The academic field of study related to gender and global cultures is formed by a complex network of ideas, theories, perspectives, and disciplines. There is no “one voice” or “one authority” on the matter (least of all is that voice mine.) Thus, the form of this assignment follows the content of our course. In order to encourage understanding gender relations as a “dialogue” among people within and between cultures, I am encouraging students to create dialogues amongst themselves, enabling them to share their knowledge and expertise.
3) Globalization (to make an over-simplistic assertion) is about technology – its production, its commodification, and its development and use for various ends (be they militaristic, corporate, media, or some combination of the three). To promote an feminist ethics of global sensitivity, while critiquing the politics of globalization (to make an equally over-simplistic distinction), does not necessarily mean to shun that which has been used as the means and the matter of industrialization, colonization, and exploitation. Global feminism does not propose a return to a natural, essential, pre-technological state of the world. Rather, following “cyborg” feminist scholar Donna Haraway, I am interested in the ways in which communications technologies can be use to disrupt orderly power structures, dominant interests, and essential identities. High-tech can break down old dualisms, particularly through radical and resistant experimentation with it.
Are there other reasons why students and I will benefit from this exercise, even if it causes us more hassle and work? I’m sure there are. At least, I hope there is. To find out, I will need to address with students in our next class not only how we are going to build this assignment together but also *why* we are doing it, what is our criteria for doing a productive job of it, and what we, as a class, hope to get out of it.
