JimmieJ Public Discourse MLS 590

My focus is youth mentoring and the need for more adult participation.  Being a mentor and working in a high school has shown me there are skills, abilities, and experiences children could learn from a wide variety of people.

I do believe that the current formats aid in polarization.  These formats are loud and fast, contain elements of disrespect and tones of a lack of concern for fellow human beings.  This is carried over to the everyday interactions of people.  These actions that harm conversations appear to be the norm in many settings today.  I think the content of these programs is important, but I wish the conversation could happen in a much more respectful manner.  I do think the popularity of these shows is important because conversations need to take place and these programs serve as the start of the conversations.

When considering what disciplines are most visible in media today, I think it is key to recognize where you turn for media.  Not only do different networks present different messages, but different forms of media reach their audience in different ways.  Television can be harder hitting, louder and more engaging because you can visually connect with the subject.  In comparison, radio programs cannot always present themselves in the same manner simply because that could alienate their listeners.  Radio leaves much to the imagination of the listener that in today’s fast paced and engaging society is a hurdle to be cleared.  However, television and radio stations often have the same parent organization that try reach similar audiences through multiple methods which could lead to a manipulation of the messages to target intended audiences. With all that said, I believe that today’s media focuses so much on politics and economics that other disciplines can get o...

To think of leading public intellectuals today was a difficult task.  I say this because I spend so much of my time trying to determine how I will convey information to an audience that quite often needs to be entertained more than they want to learn.  For me, educators carry a certain amount of the intellectual weight simply because they have an unknown audience that looks to them for information and wisdom. My parents used to was a program called the Tavis Smiley Show when I was younger.  Listening to them have conversation about the topics and issues Tavis Smiley presented as well as the people he would have on his show is something that I think helped me to grow.  It is not that he was a leading intellectual, but he would raise issues and questions that could be answered by intellectuals which I then saw discussed by my parents and others.  I feel that there need to be more of these discussions today so children learn to speak up for themselves and issues...

Public life and the public sphere are alive!  When thinking about class lecture and society as a whole, the public sphere is provided for in many ways today.  Platforms to speak are not only widely available, but they are also filtering into parts of society, like high school, that they may not have originally reached. Project Soapbox  is a program that high school educators can set up for their students to participate in two minute speeches of the student's choice to address issues of society.  This is an attempt to allow young students to have the opportunity to shape their communities and voice issues important to them. The part of Project Soapbox that I find important is the need for students to deliver a speech to an audience.  I find this critical to the development of young people today because as a high school teacher I have seen firsthand the impact of social media on students over the past few years.  I feel the personal delivery gives the st...

Hello and welcome to my blog for MLS 590 Public Discourse at North Central College!  My name is Jimmie Jacobs and I am a second year graduate student in the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program with a focus on culture and society.  Graduating in 2005 from Illinois State University with a degree in Social Science Education, I have taught high school social studies at Normal Community High School (1 year), Urbana High School (1 year), and currently Waubonsie Valley High School (in my 10 th year).  Over the course of my career I have taught American History, World History, World Geography, AP Human Geography, Government, Sociology, and Credit Recovery. This particular master’s program interested me because it was not a typical degree program for teachers.  I was never a fan of the cohort programs that sped you through classes so you could advance on the pay scale because people seemed to not utilize the information in their actual classrooms.  Admin...