Reflections – Hug0 Urqu|eta – 1D07

Media 180 has been quite a ride, if compared to a physical setting, I would set it as a walk through the Peruvian Amazon. The path was undiscovered (from my perspective), the foliage is thick and difficult to cut through (the concepts), and an infinite amount of knowledge can be gained from even the smallest sections of the path. In the end, even though the journey was challenging, the lessons learned in and outside of lecture are invaluable.

I was originally under the assumption that the course would more directly demonstrate – the how – of media (its tools and applications). Instead, the course took a more historically detailed approach, now clearly advantageous, it allowed us to witness the evolution of power and form media has taken over time, in turn, providing a more substantial understanding, implicitly and explicitly, of the various facets that comprise media.

If the course were to be renamed, I would suggest the following titles based my experience:
Life: Wake up from the Matrix and Stop Living Ignorantly 101 (inspired by Prof. Ewen)
Express your Opinions Fearlessly 101 (inspired by Prof. Harper)
Call to Action 101 – (my overall takeaway)

The class is about life, but moreover, it has been a call to action, a wake up call stating that the constant feeling of powerlessness may be a product of society, but we may also be indeed capable of rejecting it and changing it to what we see fit.
Media 180 sows radical ideas about the power of knowledge, control, change, and the insight to various perspectives deep into our minds, promoting the growth of even more ideas.

The rest is up to us.

“A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on. Ideas have endurance without death.”
— John F. Kennedy