HECU3555W

The From Consumers to Creators course is a critical exploration of the role of storytelling and media in social change efforts. In this course will examine the ways that story is both a lens through which one understand the world and a tool which can be used to shape it. Students will have the opportunity to learn about and evaluate media-based activist strategies in the context of competing theoretical perspectives on media and society. Students will use theory and field experiences to reflect upon and hone their own digital practices as an effective agent of social change. This course is one of three required linked courses taken concurrently which make up the Making Media, Making Change Digital Technologies, Storytelling, and Activism program taught through our institutional partnership with HECUA and their community partner, the Twin Cities public access media powerhouse St Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN), which provides technical training, equipment, and video production support. Students are also enrolled in HECU 3556 Digital Laboratory and enrolled in HECU 3558 Digital Media Internship where students can strengthen relationships with the diverse set of actors in the Twin Cities committed to using digital media to share their voices and build community. Interns contribute to public access and nonprofit programming and create professional quality video for community organizations in the Twin Cities.

prereq: Departmental Consent Required.

Arts/Humanities, Civic Life and Ethics

Every Fall & Spring