Teaching
By Tara Graham
The millennial generation has grown up with one foot in the material world and another foot in the virtual. My classes are an attempt to bridge these two worlds.
I began teaching on the UC Berkeley campus in the 2010 summer semester. Since that time, I have regularly taught International and Area Studies (IAS), Middle Eastern Studies (MES) and Global Poverty and Practice (GPP) undergraduate courses.
My background is in journalism, with specialization in online media. The classes I teach always include a digital component whereby students learn to build websites to house and present their work to a global audience. To do so, my courses cover web production, online research methods, storytelling and writing, basic photography and videography, social media best practices, and new media theory. Students are asked to apply these methods and practices to international topics or social justice issues relevant to the scope of each course. I encourage students to tweet in and out of the classroom as a means of sharing commentary, resources and tips; asking questions; and cultivating a capacity for seeking answers beyond the classroom and course reader. In doing so, I believe I am teaching students how to use their Web 2.0 publishing capacity as a means to intelligently and critically express themselves as public scholars.
There are no final exams, nor quizzes or 25-page essay assignments, in my courses. Instead, students complete blog posts and research pages via websites of their own design. They produce and embed multimedia tools into these websites (interactive presentations, time lines, slideshows, etc.), which they later use to present findings before their peers or a jury of scholars. Students are evaluated on their independent research, web production, creativity and responsiveness to feedback, as well as in-class and online participation. In the end, students walk away with more than a letter grade; they walk away with a polished online portfolio of the work produced in the class. (Added bonus: I never walk away with smudges of red correction fluid on my hands.)
View student work produced in my classes here.
The millennial generation has grown up with one foot in the material world and another foot in the virtual. My classes are an attempt to bridge these two worlds. While I require regular attendance, reading and in-class participation, I also ask students to be present online—that is, to build, to write, to seek and to share. I am deeply interested in this digital moment and in the online media revolution that is quickly changing the way (former) audiences produce, encounter, distribute and curate information.
COURSES TAUGHT
*Student evaluations available upon request
Summer 2013
IAS 150: “Media & Popular Uprisings Around the World”
Spring 2013
IAS 120: “New Media for Global Poverty Action” (GPP)
MES 198: “Online Research & Web Production in Middle Eastern Studies”
Fall 2012
IAS 194: “Online Research & Web Production in International & Area Studies”
MES 198: “Online Research & Web Production in Middle Eastern Studies”
Summer 2012
MES 150: “Islam 2.0: Media & the Re-Shaping of Muslim Identity in the 21st Century”
Spring 2012
IAS 120: “Using Media Tools for Global Poverty Action” (GPP)
Fall 2011
IAS 120: “International Reporting in the Digital Age”
Summer 2011
MES 150: “Media, Politics & Society: The Arab World in the Global Context”
Spring 2011
IAS 140: “Field Reporting in the Digital Age: Using Media Tools for Social Justice” (GPP)
Summer 2010
IAS 160: “Media, Culture & Society: The Middle East in the Global Context”
