“Image from Film-Book.com” The latest in the series of Disney’s planned remakes, 2017’s Beauty and the Beast  stirred up controversy prior its release over the filmmakers’ revelation that this adaptation would feature a Disney movie’s first “exclusively gay moment” with the character LeFou, played by Josh Gad. This decision correlates with Disney’s wider efforts to increase inclusivity in representations of modern gender roles and sexuality in order to appeal to a wider contemporary audience; recent films in the Disney brand exemplify this strategy, such as Tangled (2010), Brave (2012), and Frozen (2013) with their proactive heroines who reject the damsel-in-distress archetype often foisted upon fairy tale females and instead, display character traits that subscribe to contemporary Western feminist values. Disney’s relationship with the Beauty and the Beast tale has always been progressive on issues of gender representation. In TIME magazine, Eliza Berman hails Belle as Disney’s first feminist princess, and attributes that to the efforts of the 1991 animated film’s screenwriter, Linda Woolverton, the first woman to write a Disney film. The article also details the challenges Woolverton faced in attempting to realize her vision of Belle, whom she was determined to make “a new kind of Disney heroine,” one more active and intellectually curious than her predecessors.  2017’s treatment of Belle, played by Emma Watson, furthers the portrayal of modern sensibilities on gender roles and juxtaposes current gender politics with those of the indistinct eighteenth-century time period of the film: Belle, rather than her father, is the inventor (she applies this trade to the domestic chore of laundry through the invention of a rudimentary washing machine), her bookish quality is expanded to include a scene of her teaching a young girl to read (an act met with hostility against female literacy), and her father describes her as a woman ahead of her time when she voices concern that the townspeople find her odd. In her introduction to Beauty and the Beast: Classic Tales About Animal Brides and Grooms from Around the World (Penguin Books, 2017), Maria Tatar points out that while different cultural iterations of Beauty and the Beast still feature the heteronormative romance as their centerpiece, their variations express cultural  and generational differences in ideas about social issues. Disney uses the version of the tale published in 1756 by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont as a foundation for their adaptations, but brings its themes into the twenty-first century by eschewing de Beaumont’s moral of virtue to convey a message of acceptance. The 2017 adaptation distinctly underlines the concept of self-identity to resonate with a diverse contemporary audience. This emphasis on being true to one’s self is particularly appropriate for the filmmakers when navigating representation of gender and sexuality in a time of shifting attitudes on these subjects. LeFou may remain a supporting character, but his character arc is updated to reflect the movie’s themes of self-discovery and acceptance. According to the film’s director Bill Condon , “He’s confused about what he wants. It’s somebody just realizing that he has these feelings [...] And that’s what has its payoff at the end”. From oral storytelling to film adaptations, fairy tales endure because of the manner in which they reflect a shared set of cultural norms and values. Disney’s latest Beauty and the Beast adaptation continues that tradition by expanding the film’s inclusive representations of gender and sexuality to reflect the changing cultural landscape. ... View more

I am fascinated by storytelling. I am a Moth podcast junkie and am a regular at story slams around Boston. Something about hearing other people’s stories helps me place my own experiences within a meaningful context. They have the power to help me empathize with other people’s perspectives. They can inspire and teach me. Recently, I’ve been reflecting on why storytelling holds such power. In a three-part series on Fast Company , Jonathan Gottschall, author of The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human (Mariner Books, 2013), talks about the ubiquitous, powerful nature of stories and their influence on us and our culture. He begins by illustrating how storytelling infiltrates many aspects of our human experience:   "Humans live in a storm of stories. We live in stories all day long, and dream in stories all night long. We communicate through stories and learn from them. We collapse gratefully into stories after a long day at work. Without personal life stories to organize our experience, our own lives would lack coherence and meaning." Storytelling isn’t new. As a social and cultural activity, storytelling predates writing and began as an oral tradition. It is a distinctly human endeavor that serves to share and interpret experiences, teach, and entertain. We are drawn to stories for a good reason. Turns out, we are wired for it. “Stories powerfully hook and hold human attention because, at a brain level, whatever is happening in a story is happening to us and not just them,” Gottschall writes. You see our desire to tell and consume stories in our love of television, movies, and books as well as our fascination with social media. Telling stories shapes how we interact with others not to mention well-constructed narratives are often behind compelling initiatives in advertising, business, and journalism. Storytelling is woven throughout all aspects of our media and culture and is evolving as we do. With the digital era, we are also seeing our increased ability to participate in and have an effect on the stories being told.  T hough the exact extent to how much m edia can change our society and vice versa is still unknown, storytelling's capacity for creating empathy and shifting cultural attitudes is an interesting phenomenon to look at. W hile trying to convince somebody to change a belief is largely ineffective, telling them a story with characters they can empathize with can be more persuasive. For example, Gottschall argues that social scientists believe that storytelling might have had an impact on shifting American attitudes on homosexuality over the past 15 years with television shows such as Will & Grace , Glee , and Modern Family. That's some powerful stuff! With storytelling being such a huge part of the way we consume media, teach, and learn, I suspect we will continue to talk and hear a lot about storytelling in the coming years. Want to learn more? Gottschall’s interesting three-part series on storytelling is available to read here: The Science of Storytelling: How Narrative Cuts Through Distraction Like Nothing Else Infecting an Audience: Why Great Stories Spread Story 2.0: The Surprising Thing About the Next Wave of Narrative How has storytelling impacted your life? Have you changed a perspective on something because of a well-told story? How do you think storytelling will evolve in the future? Feel free to share your thoughts below! ... View more

A while ago, I wrote a bit on COMMblog about the idea of "one perfect shot" that encapsulates a movie perfectly (or just looks really, really nice). That's been on my mind again as I finish up helping the authors of The Film Experience with the visual program for our new fifth edition of the book, which is coming out this fall. Editing lots of different types of books is fun, but I can say confidently that the visual side of editorial work is most fun with film books. The authors and I are constantly looking for examples to illustrate technical concepts (related to editing, cinematography, and, trickiest of all, sound!) as well as broader categories (like genre or narrative). We want some examples that students will know immediately -- often this involves looking at a list of the highest-grossing movies of the last year or two, and then trying to figure out which of those are most likely appeal to a wide-ranging "college student" demographic that can include teenagers, adult learners, and plenty of people in between (it helps if they're good movies, too). But we also want examples that come from classic movies, or obscure titles that students may not know right away, but should. We've heard from film instructors that they have similar struggles in the classroom: Trying to teach concepts through instantly recognizable movies but also trying to expand students' horizons and include movies from -- get this -- before they were born!  Here's a little preview of just a few of the images we're going to include in the fifth edition: Ghostbusters wasn't a huge hit last summer, but it's a good go-to example because it includes comedy (including good examples of comic framing, as in the frame below), special effects, four excellent female leads, and "intellectual property" from the past that so many studios are desperate to mine. Of course, there are always superhero movies. No matter how you feel about them, at least a couple images from them will make their way into an intro to film book these days. The first frame below is from X-Men: Apocalypse, which I admit wasn't the biggest hit in terms of recent superhero movies, but on the other hand, has this really cool shade of purple in this scene. Contrast with Captain America: Civil War, a very entertaining movie that, as you can see, has far less purple. I may sound flip, but that's also part of our consideration: How these images will look and catch students' eye on the page, be it in print or on an ebook reader. Not everything has to be super-current, either. In the Cinematography chapter, the authors use a series of images from Carrie (1976) to show different points of view within the same sequence. This overhead shot is one of my favorites. A box in the book's final chapter on writing about film discusses the creation of a video essay on Touch of Evil, which has similarly striking images to choose from. A lot of students supposedly don't watch black-and-white movies so it's especially important to choose memorable images to get them interested in the form. Finally, sometimes when a movie is being used for an example that's not 100% shot-specific, you can suggest particular shots that you just love. These images from God Help the Girl (2014) and It Follows (2015) perfectly convey aspects of their genres (musical and horror, respectively); it doesn't hurt that they're two of my favorite recent films. Don't you want to see those movies now, if you haven't?! The Film Experience will be out in the fall with literally dozens more new shots like this. In the meantime, I'd love to hear from any film or media instructors who have favorite frames or other visual cues they use for teaching! ... View more

Recent reports from Common Sense Media revealed that American teens spend an average of nine hours per day using media, excluding time during school or for homework. If you think that's a lot, additional reports state that parents, too, spend about the same time. When generations young and old are spending more than one-third of their day using media, it's no wonder that Steve Barrett, Editor-in-Chief of trade magazine PR Week, called media literacy "the social issue of our time."  In the wake of the 2016 Presidential Election and the controversy surrounding "fake news," media literacy has become a buzzword for educators and journalists alike, who now see the need for media consumers to be able to understand not only what "fake news" is, but also the importance of knowing where they're getting their news, what biases are possible in the news they're consuming, and what message this piece of news is trying to send. So, in case you missed it, here are a few places where we can see media literacy gaining traction around the country: CNN's Brian Stelter sits down with Michelle Ciulla Lupkin, Executive Director of the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE), to discuss what media literacy is, the need for media literacy in the classroom and the newsroom, and whether Donald Trump is media literate. Facebook teamed up with the News Literacy Project to combat fake news by increasing collaboration with journalists and working with third-parties to fact-check stories and promote news literacy among Facebook users. Libraries in Chicago are launching media literacy events to help library patrons do what they've always helped them to do: access and interpret information. In California, State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson introduced legislation that would require media literacy lessons in state public schools.  And in Pennsylvania, Representative Tim Briggs has introduced a similar bill. Are any media literacy initiatives occurring at your school, in your state, or in other communities? Leave a comment below! ... View more

Since the very beginning of the 2016 election, the media have been a key player. Donald Trump was able to use his star power and his active social media presence to breeze past his opponents and win the Republican nomination with very minimal advertising spending. He publicly fought with media personalities, such as Megyn Kelly, and entire news media companies, like the New York Times. Even now, as the President-elect, he continues to tweet his thoughts and feelings on a daily basis. But as the election came and went, its relationship with the news media has, if anything, become more complex. In recent weeks, Internet news has been brought into the spotlight, and many people are questioning what impact “fake news” had on the outcome of the election. In a time when a quick Google search or a scroll through your Facebook newsfeed can return thousands of “news” stories, ranging in quality from extremely well researched and reputable, to utter lies, those who are not critical media consumers may take any “news” story that passes through their Facebook feed as fact, without verifying the validity of that particular story. A recent article in the New York Times explores how both Google and Facebook are looking into their algorithms and trying to weed this fake news out of their sites to ensure that only reputable news is being spread. As the generation who is most heavily immersed in social media, but at the same time is less practiced at the art of determining a credible source from a bogus one, your undergraduate students may be even more susceptible to these fake news stories than their older counterparts. As your communication students study the news media, how can you guide them in the right direction? One instructor at Merrimack College has compiled a list of fake, misleading, clickbate-y and satirical news sources that has been shared many hundreds of times and can be a great starting point for a discussion. Have you incorporated a more in-depth study of fake news into your classes since the election? What ideas do you have for helping students become more critical of their news sources? ... View more

Media examples are crucial when teaching a mass communication course. Luckily, LaunchPad for Media Essentials has a wealth of samples available for your students to view so that you can practice convergence in addition to teaching it! LaunchPad for Media Essentials has over 50 video clips with accompanying short answer questions to help students think critically about the topics discussed. We have several clips per chapter, organized by chapter, so it’s easy to assign based on what you’re teaching in class that week. Our videos range from interviews with the chairman of the FCC to learn more about Media and Democracy and Net Neutrality, to clips from Pop Culture including Saturday Night Live, Transformers, or the music video for Uptown Funk. These videos give a behind the scenes look at media and issues that will help students understand how the media works. In addition to our video library, you can also upload any video or audio clip saved on your Computer or embed a video from YouTube using our video assignment tool, which allows for time based commenting. Additional suggested videos are available in the Instructor Resources Manual, which can be found under the resource button in LP. LaunchPad for Media Essentials also includes our g ame-like quizzing tool LearningCurve to motivate students and adapt to their needs based on their performance. LearningCurve includes reporting tools and metrics help teachers get a handle on what their class knows and doesn’t know. There are also two pre-made traditional quizzes for each chapter, which can be used in conjunction with LearningCurve. If you’re interested in seeing LaunchPad in action, please view the brief screencast below, and be sure to schedule a demonstration with Learning Solutions Specialist Heather Halter  http://www.meetme.so/HeatherKimball . Video Link : 1838 You can access LaunchPad for Media Essentials here: http://www.macmillanhighered.com/launchpad/mediaessentials3e/ To get access, enter your email address in the box that says “Request Instructor Access.”   ... View more

Just because A Pocket Guide to Public Speaking is a bargain priced book, it doesn’t mean that we cheap out on the resources! Our LaunchPad contains priceless tools to help your students become better public speakers. As a former public speaking instructor myself, I found that videos are a great way to connect students with the presentation process. LaunchPad contains over 200 videos, many of which also have multiple choice questions associated with them to create a well-rounded Activity. Our videos feature real students, presenting real speeches, which are shot professionally. Simply type a term in the search box on the LaunchPad homepage to find one that will be perfect for your students. Great examples of full length speeches include topics on Preventing Cyberbullying and Becoming a Socially Conscious Consumer. Not only do we have full length sample student speeches, we also take those videos and cut them down into smaller segments, so that you can focus specifically on a particular part of a speech. Talking about instructions? Use our clips on Attention Getters, Thesis Statements, and Previews. Lecturing on delivery? Assign students our Speech Clips on Effective Eye Contact and Effective Gestures. We take our videos one step further through our “Needs Improvement” clips, which demonstration what NOT to do during a speech. For example, see speeches with Logical Fallacies, or a student using too many Vocal Fillers and Not Enough Eye Contact. While showing great sample speeches is certainly helpful, I found that students internalize these clips more; they don’t want to make these mistakes in front of their peers or when a grade is on the line! All video clips can also be incorporated into a Video Assignment, which allows for time based commenting and rubric grading functionality. Click here for more information on how to build these activities: https://community.macmillan.com/videos/1383 In addition to our large video library, LaunchPad for A Pocket Guide to Public Speaking also contains an interactive version of James McCroskey’s PRCA and PRPSA to assess Communication Apprehension, A Relaxation Audio Download to help those apprehensive students, plus Speech Outlining guides and  templates, and tutorials on Presentation Software and Avoiding Plagiarism. Of course, LaunchPad also contains our ever popular LearningCurve adaptive quizzing. If you’re interested in seeing LaunchPad in action, please view the brief screencast below, and be sure to schedule a demonstration with Learning Solutions Specialist Heather Halter http://www.meetme.so/HeatherKimball. Video Link : 1837 ... View more

Bettina Fabos, an award-winning video maker and former print reporter, is an associate professor of visual communication and interactive media studies at the University of Northern Iowa. She is the author of Media & Culture: Mass Communication in a Digital Age, 2016 Update, and Media Essentials: A Brief Introduction, 3/e.    Q: What courses are you teaching this semester? BF: Digital Culture and Communication (http://uni.edu/fabos/dcc/dcc.html) is a class about the major issues facing us today with regards to the Internet. Interactive Digital Communication is a foundation interactive digital studies class that combines web development with design and some digital citizenship.   Q: What has been your favorite course to teach and why? BF: I loved to teach Mass Communication and Society, especially assigning students our oral history project towards the beginning of the semester, where they interview a person in their 70s or older about the way they grew up with media, so we can integrate their histories in class throughout the course of the semester. I don’t have a chance to teach it right now because I am very active in our Interactive Digital Studies (IDS) program, and my favorite course there is probably Digital Culture, which has some connections with Mass Comm and Society. I also like to teach Interactive Digital Visualization, and I love to teach the foundation IDC class, too. This is when I see students discover they are really good at code or design, and that’s pretty thrilling. Q: What advice do you have for other instructors who teach this course? BF: I would say help students make connections with their own personal and family histories as much as possible; I would say show a LOT of videos and play a lot music; bring in current events with each class; try to make the radio chapter—which can be tough (why should students care about radio networks?) but so important—interesting by helping them visualize what it was like to live in the 20s, 30s and 40s, and make comparisons between radio and the Internet, since there are so many comparisons. Q: What are some of your research interests? BF: I study digital archiving, interactive timelines, public memory, critical literacy and I pull all this together through creative digital projects, like the Hungary timeline I’m working on right now. It tells the story, over 16 online chapters (filled with photos and animation) of how my Hungarian family emerged from serfs to become successful farmers, and how they survived the calamitous 20 th century. Q: What do you think is one of the biggest challenges students face now when they enter college? BF: I think one big challenge is getting to know the students in their own classes, because students come today with their phones, and are immersed in their little personal bubble before class, and don’t reach out to each other, so I have to work extra hard to build community in my classrooms. I think another big challenge is that Universities are underfunded. Students often have to work longer hours to pay for college, and are strapped financially. Universities are also putting too many students in classes, and hire so many adjuncts who are underpaid and don’t have time to schedule office hours. Ultimately this kind of “that’s the way it is” and “we all have to tighten our belts” environment affects learning and students. I don’t believe this has to be the future. Our society needs to invest in education. Q: What motivates you to continue teaching? BF: My students are so amazing. I love being the first one outside their family to tell them that – just a simple comment like that can ripple through them their entire lifetime, and I’m completely aware of the impact I have on my students.   I’m taking my four student collaborators to Hungary next June to present our Hungary project to the U.S. Embassy, the Fulbright Commission, and the Central European University, and two of them have never been to Europe before. So this is incredible, being able to introduce them to things they would have never done before. On a personal note... Q: How do you spend your time when you're not teaching? BF: I love reading just about anything well written. I like to cook and have dinner parties. I play the violin and I have lots of musician friends and we play chamber music together. I LOVE to hike in Switzerland (I have Swiss citizenship), and getting inspiration from traveling. I grow lots of flowers, and I make cakes for friends. I do yoga but I’m sadly inflexible: I still haven’t even perfected “Downward Facing Dog”! Q: If you hadn't pursued a career in higher education, what career path do you think you would have chosen? BF: I could have made documentaries (that was my path before I met my husband Chris – my goal at one point was to travel around the world making interesting travel documentaries); written children’s books or teen novels; owned a café…I could have fixed up houses and flipped them. Sometimes I worry that I spend way too much time in front of a computer screen! What’s your favorite TV show or movie of the year so far? BF: I like Swedish police dramas like The Bridge. I’m into Stranger Things. This year I have not had time to see one movie—I go for TV series over movies these days! I have watched Spotlight three times though!   Q: What was the last book you read? BF: In the Darkroom by Susan Faludi. Q: What book has influenced you most? BF: I would say a series of interviews by Bill Moyers called A World of Ideas. I was a failed journalist, living in Switzerland, working as a secretary for a nonprofit foundation, and I picked this book up (it was a fortune in Geneva’s one English bookstore), and it changed my life. Q: Where is one place you want to travel to, but have never been? BF: I would love to go to Buenos Aires. Q: When you sit down to listen to music, which artists or genres do you go to most? BF: Indie music like Kishi Bashi; early, early baroque like Monteverdi; anything my daughter Olivia tells me to listen to…she is such good influence on me! Q: What is something you want to learn in the next year (Communication-related or otherwise)? BF: I’d like to learn more JavaScript, and become a better gardener. We live on a prominent corner in Cedar Falls so the pressure is on. Q: What is one thing people would be surprised to learn about you (i.e. What's your "fun fact"?)? BF: I’m pretty shy, and I don’t like to speak in public!  Teaching, actually, is difficult for me for that reason. I don’t like to be considered “an expert” like some people, because I always consider myself a work in progress. My husband, Chris, is such an amazing public speaker and gives radio and TV interviews all the time. I am much better as a behind-the-scenes person. ... View more

With the 4 th edition of Reflect and Relate comes the first time we’ve had a full media package to accompany the text. That means that you now have access to LaunchPad for your Interpersonal Communication course, which contains carefully selected and custom curated content for each chapter of the book.   The resources available in LaunchPad truly do live up to the title of the book. Students work through reflection activities such as journal entries and self quizzes, and then relate to the material with our flagship offering – Making Relationship Choices case studies, featuring “The Other Side.”   Making Relationship Choices activities immerse students into a situation they’re likely to experience in real life – Choosing Between Friends, Struggling with Family Transitions, and Dealing with Mixed Messages. Students are provided with a communication concept for background, then are presented with the “Case Study,” which lays out the scenario. Then, they are taken to “Your Turn” – 5 short answer questions that require reflection on the situation. Next, we see “ The Other Side ,” a video in which the other person involved tells his or her side of the case study story. As in many real-life situations, this video shows information which wasn’t available when crafting a response to the Case Study. The video reminds students that even when we do our best to offer competent responses, there always is another side to the story that we need to consider. Lastly the student is asked to take an interpersonal competence self-assessment to evaluate their previously submitted responses and is given a chance to think about what he or she might have done differently.   Other resources available in this LaunchPad include Journal entries for topics such as Ineffective Listening Behavior and Self-Assessment Quizzes that look at skills such as Evaluating Empathy. Our video library contains over 75 clips that show communication concepts in action, such as “I” Language and Power Distance. Of course, we also have a full test bank , pre-made multiple choice and true/false quizzes , and our popular LearningCurve adaptive quizzing is available with this book for the first time.   If you’re interested in seeing LaunchPad in action, please view the brief screencast below, and be sure to schedule a demonstration with Learning Solutions Specialist Heather Halter‌ http://www.meetme.so/HeatherKimball Video Link : 1778 ... View more

Source: Joe Raedle/Pool via AP With the presidential debate season officially underway after Monday evening’s event at Hofstra University, public speaking and debate are in the forefront of more and more mainstream conversations. Embracing the spirit of convergence, I sat and watched the debate unfold across three screens: the TV on which I watched the debate, my phone where my Facebook News Feed was overrun with opinions, articles, and memes of the event (Hillary’s sassy shoulder shake later inspired this amazing gif), and my computer where I followed the NPR fact checker. Throughout the evening, I couldn’t help but be amazed by the ubiquity, not only of discussions of the event in general, but specifically of the conversation of the art of debate and of public speaking that surrounded it. What makes an individual “the winner” of the debate? Who decides the rules of public speaking in such a forum, and what happens when one of the participants throws all the rules out the window? What level of preparation can and should be expected of those given the chance to participate in such an important tradition? In reading and participating in several such conversations, I couldn’t help but think what an amazing opportunity this series of debates will be for students studying public speaking this semester. They will see that public speaking is vitally important, not just as an assignment in a class they need to pass to graduate, but as a life skill that can help them succeed in school and beyond. They can analyze, in real time, modern public discourse, and have conversations with their friends about these events. They can predict, and later reflect upon, what effect these debates will have on the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. The possibilities are endless. How are you incorporating the presidential debates in to your public speaking classes this semester? ... View more

A very special congratulations to Steven McCornack‌ for winning Best Article Award from the  International Association of Language and Social Psychology! Steve is the author of Reflect & Relate, 4e, Interpersonal Communication & You, 1e and the newly published Choices & Connections: An Introduction to Communication, 2e.  For more details on Steve's paper, click here.  ... View more

In the wake of the shooting at Orlando's Pulse Nightclub in June 2016, Ryan Fitzgibbon launched a petition on change.org asking the Unicode Consortium to remove the pistol from its vast set of emoji. "Together," Fitzgibbon wrote, "Let's show Silicon Valley that we're capable of communicating without weapons, and ask for an official removal of the gun emoji to bring awareness on a global scale to this important conversation on gun violence." The Unicode Consortium--of which Apple, Microsoft, Google, Twitter, and Oracle are members, among others--promotes international standards of encoding and votes on emoji that are officially encoded and released for public use. To date, Fitzgibbon's petition has received 364 signatures from around the country, though some people expressed that they signed the petition solely so they could leave a comment to say how "silly" and "pointless" it was. "Why are you worrying about this stupid emoji??" one signer commented. "Are you going to ban pictures of guns too?"   Fitzgibbon's efforts may seem minimal, even futile, when considered within the large, complex and divisive issue of gun control in the United States, yet he is not alone in seeing the role of emoji in communication, and the role of communication in reinforcing cultural beliefs and norms. On August 1, 2016, Apple announced that with their release of 100 new emoji for iOS 10 this fall, they would also add a bright green water gun, meant to look like popular super-soaker style toys. This would replace the handgun emoji. In June 2016, Apple also blocked a proposal from Unicode that would add a rifle emoji, intended to represent the Olympic sport of rifle shooting. Still, Apple's actions beg the question: so what?  In a culture where the value of visual communication has risen in mass media and social media, emoji enrich (and even replace) text-based messages to express emotion that can sometimes be lost in translation, or rather, lost in a mediated communication context. Apple has reported that millions of people use its iMessage software, with 200,000 messages being sent each second, so with each release of a new emoji set, Apple has made efforts to be more inclusive with its offerings. Emoji depicting people now embrace more racial and gender diversity, and Apple's next release this fall will include emoji representing families with single moms and single dads. Removing an emoji such as the handgun marks the rare instance in which Apple has made an effort to be exclusive. As inclusive emoji attempt to strengthen tolerance among diverse populations, removing an emoji marks Apple's attempt to strengthen intolerance of gun violence by removing guns from conversation, diminishing the normalcy with which we talk about them. Apple's decision to remove the handgun emoji was made independent of the Unicode Consortium, but this decision still recognizes the tech giant's power to influence cultural values, and will likely set a precedent for similar decisions in the future. Whether Apple and other tech companies have the right to influence cultural values is up for debate, but as for now, it is easy to see how Apple, in a country that is stalemated on how to handle gun violence, is actually doing something about it, and doing the most it can.  ... View more

Joseph Ortiz is a Professor at Scottsdale Community College in Scottsdale, AZ. He is the author of Choices & Connections: An Introduction to Communication, 2e. Q. What courses are you teaching next semester? JO: During the fall term, I teach two courses: Introduction to Human Communication and Interpersonal Communication. For the spring term, an introductory small group communication course—and occasionally digital storytelling-- is added to the mix. Q: What advice do you give your students who have public speaking anxiety or general communication apprehension? JO: Start your preparation early. Know the central idea to be communicated. Compose a structured outline and practice with it. Get feedback from trusted others. I design my course in a way that builds upon these steps using low-stakes speech assignments to help students gain confidence. Q: What has been your favorite course to teach and why? What advice do you have for other instructors who teach this course? JO: I really enjoy teaching the Introduction to Human Communication. It’s an opportunity to introduce students to the breadth and richness of our discipline while providing them with life skills. My advice to others teaching this course is to identify three to five “take-aways” for the course. In other words, several years from now, what do you want students to remember about your course? For example, I want students to be poised and confident when presenting messages. Develop ways of integrating these “big ideas” as recurring themes in your lesson planning, assignments, and assessments. Q: What are some of your research interests? JO: The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). Q: If you could create (and teach) a brand new course for your department, what would it be? JO: Communication Ethics and Responsibility. Q: What do you think is one of the biggest challenges students face now when they enter college? JO: Many students at a community college are uncertain about their academic purpose. Additionally, they are often underprepared for college level work. I respond to this challenge by creating an engaging and personally relevant course experience, and by having early interventions to direct students to academic support resources when needed. I’m fortunate to be on a campus with highly qualified staff that provides high-impact tutorial support, counseling services, and academic advisement. Q: What motivates you to continue teaching? JO: Students amaze and challenge me. I love learning about their views of relationships, technology, social issues, and popular culture. I remain a student at heart without compromising the boundary of professionalism. On a personal note... Q: How do you spend your time when you're not teaching? JO: I treasure time with my family. I also enjoy reading and following sports. During the summer, I succumb to the Siren Song of Netflix; I’m presently binging on Cheers. Q: What are some of your hobbies? JO: I’m a leisure cyclist. Scottsdale has a system of beautiful bike paths for riding. I also enjoy discovering craft beers, and I’m trying to find the nerve to brew my own! Q: If you hadn't pursued a career in higher education, what career path do you think you would have chosen? JO: I started college with plans to attend law school. I would likely be practicing law in the public sector focusing on human rights, life quality, and social justice. Q: What was the last book you read? JO: Lab Girl by Hope Jahren. It is an insightful look at one woman’s experience in the STEM field with detours into fascinating facts about botany and ecology. Q: What book has influenced you most? JO: It’s tough to identify a single book. From a personal standpoint, I would have to say, To Have or To Be? By Erich Fromm. The book broadened my perspective of the fundamental question of what it means to live happily. Among the books that influenced my teaching is The New Peoplemaking by Virginia Satir. I read her work early in my career, and it helped shape my experiential approach to teaching communication skills. Q: Where is one place you want to travel to, but have never been? JO: I want to see the Vatican for its religious and historical significance, and the art. Q: When you sit down to listen to music, which artists or genres do you go to most? JO: My musical taste is eclectic, ranging from composer, John Rutter, to Pitbull. But my playlist is heavily populated with 70’s classic rock and pop music. And I will stop anything I’m doing and listen reverently to any music written or produced by Burt Bacharach. Q: What is something you want to learn in the next year (Communication-related or otherwise)? JO: Although I can cultivate a great flowerbed, I’m a frustrated vegetable gardener. I want to get better at container gardening, especially root vegetables. Q: What is one thing people would be surprised to learn about you (i.e. What's your "fun fact"?)? JO: I was a competitive long distance runner in college. In the late 70’s, I was a founding member of a still thriving running club (over 500 members now) in Southeast Texas called, The Sea Rim Striders (www.searimstriders.org/whoweare.php). ... View more

Summer's here, and this peach caught my eye. Set on the blue ledge of my office, it became the perfect example of complementary colors. When we're preparing a movie, we think about complementary colors, and all kinds of color combinations. I ask my students to do the same for their video projects. Colors convey meaning, emotion, and genre. They are part of telling a visual story. For example, thrillers generally have deep, dark blacks and highly contrasting colors. Documentaries -- or movies that try to feel documentary-like -- use a color palette that is narrower. When I was producing Titus, the first film Julie Taymor directed, she didn't want the color green in the movie. Green conveys hope, and Julie didn't think Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus should feel hopeful. We can ask our students: Do you want the colors to pop? Do you want your video to feel more monochromatic? Simply paying attention to colors, and using color as part of your design, can make a video feel much more professional. Blue and orange are "complementary colors," and when you put them next to each other, as in this photo, they seem to vibrate. I found it striking to see such a powerful example of color-in-action right in front of me. You probably remember the color wheel. It has six colors arrayed around a white central circle. Red is opposite green; yellow is opposite purple; blue is opposite orange. The color wheel isn't random. Those opposing colors are called "complementary" due to the physical nature of the human eye. If you stare at a blue wall for a long time and then look at a white wall, you will see an orange after-image. Why? Because the color receptors in your eye become tired looking at the blue wall, so they relax when you look at the white wall, and your brain "sees" that as orange for a few moments. That's why complementary colors are so powerful when you put them right next to each other. But enough of the science. Colors are just one more way we can convey narrative and emotion. When we use them in our classroom work, suddenly, subconsciously, things feel richer and more purposeful. I got so swept away after I took this photo that, taking a cue from T. S. Eliot, I decided to eat the peach. ... View more

Dan O'Hair is dean of the University of Kentucky College of Communication and Information. He is the author of Real Communication , 3e, A Speaker's Guidebook, 6e, and A Pocket Guide to Public Speaking, 5e . Q: What advice do you give your students who have public speaking anxiety or general communication apprehension? DO: I have students take slow, deep breaths just before speaking.  I also encourage them to become completely familiar with their introduction so that they can start off very well prepared. Q: What has been your favorite course to teach and why? DO: I love teaching public speaking because it gives me a chance to watch the dramatic improvement in student’s speaking skills over the course of the semester.  I also enjoy teaching interpersonal communication—the content is interesting and relevant to just about everything we do in life. Q: What advice do you have for other instructors who teach this course? DO: Most instructors I have talked with think it is a really good idea to respect students for where they are in the first few days of class.  Some will be more confident and accomplished than others.  Being flexible with varying degrees of skills goes a long toward building trust with students. Q: What are some of your research interests? DO: I have studied how communication can be improved in hurricane warnings.  I have conducted a great deal of research on how physicians and patients can communication with one another more effectively. Q: If you could create (and teach) a brand new course for your department, what would it be? DO: I am very interested in communication technology and social media, so I plan to develop and teach courses in those areas. Q: What do you think is one of the biggest challenges students face now when they enter college? DO: First, financial costs are the biggest challenges I hear from students. Second, sometimes students have not developed the same expectations as their instructors.  This is an issue that can be worked out with better communication. Q: What motivates you to continue teaching? DO: I love my students; I love trying to make them laugh, and I love to challenge them to think differently. On a personal note... Q: How do you spend your time when you're not teaching? DO: I love playing golf, although I wish I was much better at it.  And, I love being with my family and especially my 2-year old granddaughter who never fails to challenge me. Q: What are some of your hobbies? DO: Reading, golf. Q: If you hadn't pursued a career in higher education, what career path do you think you would have chosen? DO: Attorney. Q: What was the last book you read? DO: A historical biography about Hitler as a youth. Q: What book has influenced you most? DO: The books written by Carlos Castaneda about Native American mysticism. Q: Where is one place you want to travel to, but have never been? DO: Spain and Italy. Q: When you sit down to listen to music, which artists or genres do you go to most? DO: Classic rock; jazz.  My favorite group is Rush. Q: What is something you want to learn in the next year (Communication-related or otherwise)? DO: How can I become wiser. Q: What is one thing people would be surprised to learn about you (i.e. What's your "fun fact")? DO: I was an Eagle Scout at age 13.  Scouting was about the only thing I lived and breathed back then. ... View more