Here I am doing one of my favorite pastimes, windsurfing.
And here's as brief a bio as I could manage about me:Suzie DeBrosse teaches Media Literacy courses at Saint Michael's College and the University of Vermont. As an independent media literacy consultant, she has published articles in the field and developed teacher training programs, student workshops and parent presentations. Previously, she taught foreign languages and math for eight years at the middle and high school levels. DeBrosse is a graduate of the Felton Media Literacy Scholars Program, an intensive media education and leadership development and training program at Babson College. She is President of the Action Coalition for Media Education Vermont non-profit. She holds a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in Media Literacy from Saint Michael’s College, a Masters in Teaching from Sacred Heart University, and a BA in International Business from the University of Connecticut. She enjoys life with her kitesailing husband John [scroll down to 1/7/10 post] and their adorable son Geoffrey, chocolate lab Kona, crazy kitty Maui Girl, and hermit crab Hermie. They all live in Colchester where they love practically any outdoor activity.
Please take a few minutes to tell us about yourself. Here are FOUR questions to answer:
1. Where are you from? State or province, and town?
2. Describe a fun media experience you had during your holiday vacation. BE SPECIFIC.
3. Describe one thing you LIKE about our 21st century media culture, and one thing you DON'T LIKE about our 21st century media culture. BE SPECIFIC!
4. What vision do you have for your future, professionally?
Welcome aboard! I look forward to working with you. :)
Hello! I'm Nate Joseph, and I was born in Boston, moved to Cincinnati, OH when I was eleven, and, after a year in Israel, call Burlington my home now!
ReplyDeleteMedia experience, eh? I'm somewhat of a primitivist, so most of my media interactions over break involved reading actual books (shocking, no?). I read "Hayduke Lives!" by Edward Abbey, and was enraptured by his excellent descriptions of the American southwest, as well as the epic battle between good (eco-warriors) and evil (development contractors).
One thing I like about our 21st century culture is information accessibility. It is becoming increasingly easier to find the information that you are looking for, whether it is peer-reviewed articles, a good recipe, or movie reviews, and this wealth of information being so accessible makes our day-to-day lives easier in ways we don't even realize.
TWO things that i dislike about our 21st century culture are information inaccessibility and the severance of interpersonal connections. While information is becoming easier to find for those fortunate enough to live in the developed world, it is also another barrier between the developed world and the developing world. The opportunities given to us by the internet and similar research tools are not available to the vast majority of the global population, leaving those in the developing world far behind and giving them even more of a gap to bridge in order to catch up with those in the developed world. At the same time, with the advent of instant messaging, TXTing, and "social networking" sites such as facebook and myspace, we are losing sight of the day-to-day interactions that we have face-to-face with our peers. One-on-one conversations are losing out to abbreviated blurbs sent via cell phone. Physical contact in this world is all but lost, as we don't even have to be in the same room as somebody to have a "conversation".
For the last question, i would like to see myself leading an activism-oriented, ecologically- and socially-responsible lifestyle. With a garden, of course. As for "professionally", I'd like to see myself leading trainings and educational workshops in a non-formal setting, providing resistance education to the greater masses.
Hello, I'm Torie Sanders. I was born in Norway, Maine and then moved to Vermont. Since moving to Vermont I've lived on Sugarbush Mountain and then Stratton Mtn. I'm now an undergraduate student and live in South Burlington.
ReplyDeleteDuring the holiday I was able to have many media experiences, though I have never really taken the time to think about them previously. I was able to attend a techno rave over the break, which is something I had never done before. I'm assuming that music/light shows is a form of media and therefore it is a fun media experience. One thing I enjoy about 21st century media is the ability to learn how to cook with the click of my remote. I really enjoy the food network and I think it is wonderful how easily accessible recipes from all over the world can be. I dislike how easily the media can be manipulated. For example, the other week I saw an article saying that women who have suffered from breast cancer should have more soy. Being a nursing student, I know many of the bad effects of soy and how harmful it can be to women's bodies. The article was funded by the soy industry. In today's society, companies can manipulate the media to print and represent what they want.
So far my vision for the future includes getting my nursing degree and finding a good hospital to work at. I would love to work in maternity, but we'll see. The summer after I graduate I'm also planning on biking across the country with my friend who is also in this class, we're going to stop at Red Cross destinations along the way to volunteer and gain experience.
My name is Amber Imm and I was born in Anchorage, Alaska. I moved to Burlington when i was ten and have lived here ever since aside from the two years i moved out to Hawaii after high school. I have a cat, Marley and am actually adopting my first dog this Saturday and his name is Ringo. I am really excited and cant wait! I am not sure what really entitles a media experience, especially an exciting one since I pretty much the entire vacation, however, I did see the movie The Goonies for the first time and LOVED it. haha. I don't know why someone didn't sit me down and make me watch it sooner. One very positive aspect of media technology in the 21st century is the ability to be able to find any kind of information via the internet, especially now that you can access a lot of that information from a cell phone. I don't actually have one of those phones but I find it quite interesting. I can't imagine what college would even be like without the internet...i guess i would be spending a lot more time in the library! However, I think the this very technology is starting to cause a depletion in access to books. There are so many other ways to access information and now there are hand held devices where you can order a book to your computer or ipod at the touch of a button. This saddens me a little because there is something very unique about a book and the information it holds.
ReplyDeleteAs for the future...well I am still kind of deciding where I want to go. I really want to get into the tourism industry, but I am still not exactly sure where I want to go with it. I know I want to get into ecotourism because that is what I am writing my thesis on, however, it's very broad. I am hoping something pops out and me and can help lead the way!
I’m Ben Carlson from Stamford, Vermont. During the holidays, I did quite a bit of reading. The best book I read was Andre Agassi’s autobiography, “Open”. It did a wonderful job of showing him as a person struggling with many issues, not just a figure in sports entertainment. What I like about the current media is the information available at our fingertips. Anything you could want to know, you can find nearly instantly online. My dislike is the constant use of modern media that now seems commonplace. Text messaging, facebook, television, laptops, ipods; one or more of these seem to always be in use. At times I just avoid it all for a while. My most recent vision for my future is that of a career working in “environmental communication”. I think a lot of work is still to be done showing the public that most environmentalists are not just trying to save the environment; they are trying to help people, in the short and long run. I am particularly interested in organizations like the Apollo Alliance that are attempting to generate a massive coalition of common interests behind clean energy and environmental goals.
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ReplyDeleteHello! I’m Sarah Schipelliti. I lived in Bradford, Massachusetts until I was about seven and then I moved to North Reading, Massachusetts. I have lived in Massachusetts my whole life until I came to lovely UVM.
ReplyDeleteThe fun media experience I had, would have to be a movie that I saw and a book that I started to and am still in the progress of reading. The movie I watched, which I highly recommend, is called The Cove. It is an exciting and intense documentary type film that exposes the dolphin slaughter occurring in Taiji, Japan. It delves into not only the obvious animal cruelty of the whole situation but also other more under cover issues which include, but are definitely not limited to, the major health problems that surround the topic (such as mercury poisoning) as well the political issues. It was quite the eye-opener for me. The book I’m reading is called “The Dalai Lama, A Policy of Kindness: An Anthology Of Writings By And About The Dalai Lama”. I’ve really just started reading it, but of what I’ve read so far it’s quite good.
Twenty-first century media culture is an interesting concept. One thing that this media system is good for is allowing people to have quick access to information, practically everywhere they go. Nowadays all one has to do is “google it” to find any random obscure fact and they have an answer. Although I suppose there is a downside to this aspect as well. In a way, it decreases the need for libraries. Books will soon become obsolete if all information can be accessed via the web. Which, in a way, is sad. There is something special about going to the library picking the book off the shelf, turning page after page full of words written in ink on the otherwise blank paper, versus staring at a screen and scrolling down. One thing I absolutely dislike about today’s media culture is this concept that the text message is a conversation substitute. People will send a text and immediately expect one back. It’s as if not immediately responding to a text is like you saying something to someone in conversation and the person just stares back at you without speaking. As far as I’m concerned, text messages are phone emails, not a method of conversation. I’ve noticed differences even with my younger siblings in how we both utilize the text message. With them, whole conversations can be had via text messaging. The communication aspect of the human connection is being altered. Conversation is becoming more and more impersonal and distant, where “☺” replaces an actual face to face smile or inflection in the voice over the phone, where “lol” is supposed to replace that infectious sound we so fondly call laughter. It scares me to think of what the future media culture and media technology will do to the art of conversation.
The vision I have for my own future involves me gradating from UVM with a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing. I hope to get a job at a hospital somewhere in the Boston area that is very involved with research (that I hopefully could be involved with as well). I also hope to get a Masters in Public Health and a Masters in Nursing. In addition, in the summer of 2012 (the summer after I graduate) I will be biking across the country with my friend!! (Who is also in this class and who also mentioned this in her post as well.)
Hi, my name is Paul Smith and I am from Utica, New York. I attended a ski academy in east Burke, Vermont my last few years of high school, and now Burlington has been my home the past three years.
ReplyDeleteOne interesting media experience I had over break involved watching an abundance of Anti-drug advertisements on television while in Quebec. Nearly every other commercial was sponsored by the Canadian government who used very strong images to get the message across. I normally do not watch much television but the string of ads in Canada definitely attracted my attention and made me compare it to government ads in the United States. It is always fun to view media in different countries and gain perspective on culture and language.
21st century media has certainly created an ease in which to gain information and transfer ideas. I like how technology has helped with access to media, particularly access to the internet, and newspapers and text being transferred online. While I enjoy reading news online, I realize there is an aspect of media slowly being fazed out such as newsprint. One thing I do not like about 21st century media is the ability to have a cultural influence on so many, particularly children. Between the corporate advertisements, and the technological materialism these influences are creating an unsustainable culture which is harmful to the environment in many ways.
I am not sure about my future, I hope to graduate in a year in a half with a degree in geography and environmental studies. From there the list is long and vague, a career in sustainable development maybe? Architecture? Or maybe even ski coaching.
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ReplyDeleteMy name is Zach Williams and I was born and raised in Burlington, VT. Over the vacation I worked a lot and skied however there was a few media experiences that stuck out. My most interesting one was downloading a DJ program to my friends iphone which allowed us to play around with different sounds while our music was playing. This technology is yet another step in the stairs of technological advancement and is part of the competitive drive to create newer, faster, and better media tools. I like this drive a lot however at the same time it is incredibly problematic the old style of social interaction. With the advancing of media technology down goes the level of social interaction which is a fundamental part of life. I love the outdoors and although could see myself working in media my ambition is to work in the mountains either in ski area management or for park services or another organization of that nature. Helping save the forest one species at a time sounds pretty good to me.
ReplyDeleteHey, my name is Casey Moore. I’m from Clinton, New Jersey, a nice town in rural Hunterdon County. One thing to know about people from my part of Jersey is that they love their state but hate the stereotypes that come with living here. I think the majority of people who read this would know what I’m talking about. =)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite media experience over break had to have been seeing Avatar in an IMax theatre in NYC with some friends. The movie itself was great, but the IMax component made it simply amazing. If anyone has yet to see a movie in one, I highly recommend it. I’ve yet yet to figure out how they work as well.
The thing I love most about 21st century media and the devices that go with it is also the thing I hate most. I’m talking about being available to anyone else on the planet at any second of the day, i.e. cell phones, texting, twitter, and any other ripoffs of those mentioned above. There is rarely time to be by one’s self when you’re constantly connected to the rest of the world. I currently use a BlackBerry, and although the availability of internet and other apps is only a click away , I feel that privacy is slowly diminishing! Where and when is the encroachment of cell phone use going to stop?
When people ask me what I’m going to do in the future, either professionally or personally, I prefer not to go into specifics because I enjoy not knowing exactly where my life is going to take me. I’m studying Environmental Studies and I plan to go to law school to integrate the two, but the world might have other plans for me. Only one way to find out...
Hola, my name is Britny Alvarado. I was born in Manhattan, NY, and I currently live an hour outside of NYC in a small suburb in Connecticut.Over this winter break, I sadly found myself watching tons of television shows and movies on my computer. For the timeperiod that I was home in Connecticut, I would be on my computer and finding random things to do on the computer. I am not proud of that at all, but there is absolutely nothing to do around me in COnnecticut, so I found myself relying on technology for most of it. One thing i like about our 21st century media culture is how it so easy to access things, whether it is research tools or trying to find out where something is. But that connects to the think I hate about our 21st century media culture, the fact that we rely on technology for EVERYTHING.I hate that everyone is always connected to some sort of technology, and I myself am guilty of it. For my 19th birthday I recieved a iphone, and I am always on it where it is playing games or checking my facebook. I am trying to ween myself off of this dependance, but it is so hard because I have access to this device at all times. Lately I have been leaving my cell phone either in my room or car while out, so I don't feel the need to be checking it.
ReplyDeleteThis past Friday I finally broke down and decided to switch majors. I am in the rubenstein school with an environmental studies major, but I have found myself not loving what i was studying. Over break people would ask me "Well what do you want to do after college with environmental studies", and my response was "I have no future." This negative outlook on my major made me ralize that I needed to suck it up and start studying what I really love, nutrition. I am currently in the process to switching to be a nutrition major, but I plan to keep environmental studies as a minor because I feel that i can go even further with nutrition by integrating ENVS.
Hey, I’m Meg! I am from Wallingford, Vermont, which is about two hours south of here, right on route seven. Over break I went to Oregon to visit my best friend, Jill, who just moved there in the fall. During the all-day airport/plane adventure to get there, I read an entire book. The book was called Miriam’s Song, and it told the story, in first person, of a girl who grew up in South Africa during apartheid. I was captivated by the story, which was written by Miriam’s older brother who moved to the US and became a famous writer. Miriam’s descriptions of poverty, violence, and political chaos gave me insight into a world I could have never imagined on my own. As a person who has never experienced anything remotely close to Miriam’s childhood, I was deeply moved. I can’t get much more specific without giving away the entire book, but I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about a drastically different culture and an inspiring revolution.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I like about 21st century media culture is that I can stay in touch with my loved ones most of the time, no matter where in the world our travels take us. I have a best friend on the west coast, another in Massachusetts, and a boyfriend in the Coast Guard. Without cell phones and the internet, it would be really difficult to maintain those relationships while we’re apart. On the same note, something I dislike about 21st century media is that it creates the illusion that relationships with other people can be completely reliant on technology. One example that always comes to mind is Facebook. Honestly, what percentage of our cyber “friends” do we actually see or talk to on a regular basis (in person)? As you can tell, I am very indecisive about this issue.
In the future, I would like to be a successful writer, journalist, and environmental activist. I am aware that it can be extremely difficult to build a professional career out of advocacy work. I would also like to be an organic farmer at some point, which will be equally difficult.
I am rewriting this for the second time, so it is a little bit on the brief side this time around. Hello, my name is Janet Ruttenberg. I was born at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, where my mother was working as an anesthesiologist. My father had grown up in New York City and wanted a change of scene, so after my youngest brother was born we moved to Newton, which is about fifteen minutes outisde of Boston, MA. I mentioned my messing around with google translator over winter vacation in class today, but I also always have fun watching silly videos of house cats on youtube. It was also mentioned today that between my place here in Burlington and my parents home, I have one dog Hugo, six cats (Bootsy Collins, Ziggy Stardust, Wilma, Gregory, Television a.k.a. TV, and Shark), a turle Elvis, and a late Beta fish Simon. I like that I can obtain accurate research via the web, but don't like how people often assume all the information they find on the internet is such. I would like to work in pet care, and hopefully work to make our pets' ecological footprints lower. I love domesticated animals and wildlife, but I feel it is very important to realize that our pets are just an extension of our human society, and have negative impacts on wildlife as well.
ReplyDeleteMy name is Sarah I am from both Sarasota, Florida, and NYC. During my holiday vacation I was in the Dominican Republic with a UVM class on community gardening. One day we were in a small, I mean really small, town that had an internet cafe. When they say cafe in the DR what they really should be saying is room with a couple of computers. Well anyways I had to learn how to send out an e-mail using a keyboard whose keys were all two off. Very nerve racking especially when someone is reading your e-mail aloud behind you. Yep. No privacy there.
ReplyDeleteOK, so one thing I like about media, and I mentioned this in class is spell check. I really stand by this statement. Where would I be if I had to spell everything out the old fashioned way? Yikes. Now as for something that I dislike about 21st Century media I would have to say that I really don't like being on the computer that much. As an individual I am far to energetic to be stuck behind a screen.
Visions for my future? How about something that helps pay for my horrific college debt. If I had my wish I would like to be working towards bridging the gap between community members and farmers. I want to bring our country to a place where you know the person who milks the cow, whose milk you drink. I would love to elevate the farmer to celebrity status.
Hello Everyone, my name is Faye Iwata and I’m from Brooklyn, New York, but have also lived in Seattle, WA as well as Japan, where my father is from. A fun media experience I had during my holiday vacation was going to watch a conversation between Naomi Klein and Raj Patel at the New York Society for Ethical Culture. I went with my whole family and boyfriend on this really cold night, and it was free so there was an incredibly diverse and dynamic audience that was really fun to be a part of. Afterwards we ran into a few people that we knew and had coffee and it got me pretty pumped to come back to UVM this semester. Otherwise we did a lot of outdoor activity so not a lot of media was involved, and I just wasn’t too impressed with Avatar. One thing I like about media today is the sharing capability, and the ways in which it can bring any number of people together to share an experience in real life. One thing I don’t like is its unhealthy addictive tendencies that seem to mesmerize the masses, and how people create more “relationships” with a screen than they do with real faces. In the future I have a vision of either becoming an outdoor educator or an artist of some kind or both or a professional surfer.
ReplyDeleteHi, my name is James Wagenknecht. I was born in Massachusetts where I lived until I was 11. Then I returned to my ancestral home here in VT where I went to high school in Fairfax. My winter break highlights were secluded snowshoe trips in the woods deep behind my parents house. But on a frightening note I can only describe the sound a frozen lake makes as you walk alone across it several miles away from another person, as terrifying. In regards to the Media there are a huge number of things I do like about it, the volume of information available and the speed of access to it being my favorites. But I sincerely worry that the tide of technology is moving too swiftly. I worry that in a short number of years we won't have to interact face to face with anyone if we choose not to. My future lies in the realm of direct food production, a farm. But I move towards the rural world while deliberately keeping a foot in the urban one, knowing all too well that the two are creeping closer and closer.
ReplyDeleteHey. My name is Peter Buckley. I live in Dorset, VT, but have moved several places since childhood. I grew up on the Jersey Shore, where my parents grew up and then moved to Rye, NY before coming to Vermont in high school. In the summers, I lead wilderness trips-backpacking, canoeing, sea kayaking, rock climbing etc. - some lasting up to a month. I really enjoy the outdoors and backpacking in particular, and have spent almost a year of my life in the backcountry. This past summer I interned on an organic farm and education center in Danby, VT. I am a senior here at UVM majoring in Environmental Studies and am in the process of writing my thesis- a long, arduous and stressful task that has been occupying much of my time this semester. My topic is designing a farm-to-school curriculum and putting into action at Orchard Elementary, a local school in South Burlington.
ReplyDeleteI, like many, enjoy the modern comforts of society, including our hyper-involved internet socializing networks. I am not much of a facebooker, but I've gotten to know its purpose, in that I can stay in touch with family members and distant friends without much effort. I do not like knowing absolutely everything about someone via their facebook page, but its a good spare time activity. Maybe it is due to my long stints outdoors, but I really like to get out of society, rid myself of technology and connect with myself and the land around me. Modern media is good though, it opens up communication channels that would otherwise be unexplored and has great potentials for making differences in peoples' lives, but it comes with added responsibility.
After graduation, I would like to go out west and lead wilderness trips and teach environmental ed. for awhile, before hopefully going back to grad school and becoming a teacher of sorts. Thanks for listening everyone and I am excited for the class