Friday, October 26. 2018

Today's schedule is ABCD

A & D Blocks Human Geography - Today we'll once again look at the key question, "Why Is Access to Folk and Popular Culture Unequal?" We'll examine the Internet and Social Media's influence on popular culture.


The Internet has made pop culture transmission a two-way street. The power to influence popular culture no longer lies with the relative few with control over traditional forms of mass media; it is now available to the great mass of people with access to the Internet. As a result, the cross-fertilization of pop culture from around the world has become a commonplace occurrence.

Valerie Berset-Price wrote a lovely piece called From Pop Culture to Global Culture: How Millennials and Technology Are Influencing Our World. In it she states

For Millennials (that would be you - my inset), two things are happening simultaneously: culture is impacting technology, and technology is impacting culture. On one hand, culture serves as a standard of judgment. It places an importance on what is acceptably good, valuable, and ethical. It conditions how and what we communicate, and it is the lens by which we perceive the world and, in some ways, the way the world perceives us. On the other hand, technology has served as a force for sweeping cultural change, joining the ranks of war, colonization, religious influence and military expansion as cultural modifiers. The expansion of the internet has allowed global communication and information to permeate everything from apartment walls to international borders...Such global exposure has provided the basis for peaceful international homogenization as well as deep conflicts of perspective, and technological advances have increased the speed and frequency of both.

In addition to individuals contributing to culture, Multinational, nongovernmental corporations can now drive global culture. This is neither entirely good nor entirely bad. On one hand, foreign cultural institutions can adopt successful American business models, and corporations are largely willing to do whatever makes them the most money in a particular market. However, cultural imperialism has potential negative effects as well. From a spread of Western ideals of beauty to the possible decline of local cultures around the world, cultural imperialism can have a quick and devastating effect. (from Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication).

Today you'll need to answer:

1. Why do developing nations view television as a new source of cultural imperialism?
2. Social media (Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube) is changing the way that popular and folk cultures are diffused. Give and support an argument for how the Internet might aid the preservation, or even expansion, of some folk cultural elements.
3. Why do many governments consider it important to limit the freedom to use social media?
4. A recent study of University of Maryland students found that not using any electronics for 24 hours produced anxiety, craving, and other symptoms akin to withdrawal from alcohol or drugs (FOMO). How do you think you would react to a 24-hour ban on all electronics?

B Block Criminology - Today you need to finish your shoplifting poster. Remember:
You work for the Retail Council of Canada and have been hired to create a poster campaign about shoplifting. The poster campaign has two purposes:

1. To help employees identify people who are shoplifting and
2. To explain how to reduce shoplifting in stores (target hardening and target removal strategies)

After a bit we'll watch an episode of Leverage (the Boost Job) from Season 3. I'd like you to pay attention to is the skill set that each member of the leverage team has: Nathan "Nate" Ford "The Mastermind"; Sophie Devereaux "The Grifter"; Alec Hardison "The Hacker"; Eliot Spencer "The Hitter"; and Parker "The Thief". I'd also like you to think of the types of crime in the show and how each one was perpetrated (auto theft, embezzlement, fraud, and identity theft). In the episode Nate (the master mind of the group) briefs the team and explains that the owner of Penzer's Auto, Duke Penzer, is an ex-racer and he "clones" stolen cars by registering them in other states. Parker (the thief) knows all about how car theft works and explains how Penzer runs his scam...The episode deals with auto theft, fraud, and good burglars. This will help you with Monday's blog entry on auto theft and the following week's log entry on good burglars.