While I was rereading my introductory post, I reflected upon the progress I have made since the beginning of this term. My first goal was to improve my writing skills so that I could communicate concisely and insightfully; I believe that writing blog posts helped me narrow down the most important messages while allowing flexibility in how I could present them. Although I acknowledge that my posts were long, I believe that I achieved this first goal, as I made extensive connections between the prompts, personal experiences, and sources. Through my blog, I developed my writing skills further.
My second goal was to better integrate and reflect on course material in my posts. I believe that I achieved this to some degree, as I discussed topics and sources from the course. Though I also used several sources besides the assigned ones, I believe this to be appropriate since I referenced and analyzed specific examples to help develop my ideas. The blog enabled me to meet this learning goal by encouraging me to use lecture material and base my posts on concepts taught in class.
My third goal was to refine my approach to studying media through different historical, cultural, and social contexts, and I believe that I reached it. The course’s heavy emphasis on intersectionality promoted a better understanding of how media operates to establish and perpetuate relationships of power and oppression, and I was more able to scrutinize the media I encounter in my everyday life. Furthermore, I believe that the course and the blog rewired my approach to understanding political theories and structures as a political studies major, and this encouraged me to unveil the biases that underline politics. Posting on a blog helped me document my thoughts and compare analyses for each prompt, and I believe this was a great asset for me to have.
Throughout the course, I set two more goals for myself: to focus on the implications of the subconscious messages in media and to assess the areas of improvement. In terms of the first additional goal, the blog prompts helped me decipher the narratives that underscore media and society, as well as understand how these narratives can be both harmful and positive. Posting on the blog also enabled me to reach my second additional goal since the prompts encouraged critical thinking and critical media literacy. More specifically, being able to apply concepts learned in class to examples and cases I am more familiar with helped me engage with course material better, as well as analyze where there needs to be further work and improvement.
I would have liked to contribute to the learning community by reading and commenting on my peers’ posts, but there were a few difficulties in blog syndication and syncing to the main WGST 210 website. Nevertheless, I believe that I contributed with my insights and perspectives as a person of colour and my analyses of representations of race, gender, and activism in media. This blog has definitely encouraged me to enrich my learning and understanding of how our media-driven society works and its problems and benefits!