Communication professors Grace Cheshire and Gabriel Wisnewski-Parks rebranded the first-year seminar class, COMM 190, to incorporate topics like social media and conspiracy theories.
Cheshire and Parks are entering their third year teaching communication at Western Carolina University and teaching human communication classes.
Overall, the class discusses media literacy through the lens of identity and institutions.
“We essentially overhauled the course entirely,” said Cheshire. “We wanted to make the class more personal to our students, so we focused on three major units: Identity, Media & Messages and Institutions. Our goal is to show how the links between identity, media and institutions form and impact our communication patterns and understanding.”
In 2024, students are experiencing historic cultural shifts. The course showcases the importance of the communication field compared to other disciplines and invites students to become majors. It also explains how messages and media affect our evaluation of government and the workforce.
“My hope is that the class helps prepare them for the rest of their college experience,” said Parks. “Beyond that, I hope the class helps them reflect on the power of media in our lives and encourages them to be critical thinkers and consumers of media.”
Once they advance to the professional world, students are expected to understand how to navigate the media. Without the training to do so with current technology and adapt to media, they will not succeed.
“Media plays a fundamental role today in how we navigate our identities, relationships, and society at large,” said Parks. “But we don’t ever really learn to think critically about what media is and its power in our lives. COMM 190 tries to illuminate media so that we better understand it and can use it more effectively in our lives.”
Some class activities include profile presentations, where students critically examine three of their online profiles and explain what the profiles share with the world about themselves. As well as “brain rot” memes, to prompt discussion by sharing memes and identifying media in daily life. Lastly, the conspiracy theory final consists of a presentation and paper evaluating common conspiracy theories using research and critical thinking skills.
“The major objective Wisnewski-Parks and I wanted to accomplish was to balance learning with fun engagement,” said Chesire. “We want our freshmen to see that communication is a deep well, with a lot to study and many options for careers after earning a communication degree. This has been a wonderful opportunity for us as faculty, and we are enjoying experimenting and learning alongside our students this fall!”