Sunday, February 1, 2009

Here are my initial thoughts on the class. I thought I'd change it up and number them, since that seems to be a popular approach these days ... kidding.

Thought #1 - Oh, s---, my blog is 13 hours late. Sorry about that.

Thought #2 - At this point, I'm a bit concerned that the quantifiable/qualifiable discussion is going to obscure the actual material. The historical context of a theory is absolutely relevant, don't get me wrong, but if we don't understand those theories then it doesn't really matter how academia at large views them. But the rest of my thought are on that same discussion, so I'm probably not much help.

3 - Teresa & David - I agree, people study what interests them, and there's no such thing as absolute objectivity. But that slope gets pretty slippery and pretty existential pretty quickly, and I agree with Teresa that researchers can be professional and objective with a study. But labeling an ideology up-front doesn't work, to me. Not because people won't take it seriously, but because it's unfair and self-serving - the researcher runs the risk of only seeing what he wants to see because, well, that's exactly what he said he would do. That's not honest, since that agenda could well be wrong.

4 - Just out of curiosity, why Marx? I understand the desire to analyze media and power structures, and I certainly agree there's a connection. And Marx has been very influential, but he's not the only one. Why not Machiavelli? "The Prince" was more objective and more comprehensive than "Das Kapital." Or what about Plato, Dickens, von Clausewitz or Lau Tzu? If power-media connections are so pervasive, why start with the writer with the most anti-establishment perspective - and the one with the most political baggage?

5 - To me, the biggest weakness I see with the critical/cultural perspectives presented here is a lack of context. Just ask anyone who's been laid off recently - a critical study of layoff practices or reactions is certainly noteworthy, but it just doesn't carry the same weight as state-wide job loss statistics or unemployment rates. Without knowing the big picture, we don't really know how in-focus the detailed critical/cultural picture really is.

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