Excelsior COMM347 Module 2 Discussion (dq1+dq2) Latest 2021 July

COMM347 INNOVATIVE COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE

Module 2 Discussion

DQ1 Culture and Communication: Exploring the Big Picture

Photograph of a Nepalese man standing in front of a snowy mountain while speaking on a satellite phone. Retrieved from Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest: http://quest.eb.com.vlib.excelsior.edu/search/communication-everest/1/107_287686/A-Nepalese-man-speaks-on-a-satellite-phone-at-Makalu-BaseIn this module, we are trying to establish the intertwined, interactive, and mutually supportive relationship between culture and communication. For this first activity, I want to really nail that down by dealing with big ideas that encompass this relationship. “Culture” and “Communication” are two giant concepts that cut to the heart of our daily existence (as individuals and as a society). And while I think that the importance of each concept on its own is readily apparent, I want you to be able to connect the two and to be clear about the powerful relationship between the two. You will notice that your discussion also takes into account innovation – and how the ways in which we communicate have been revolutionized in recent decades. This activity aligns with module outcomes 1 and 3.

Below are thesis statements that cut to the very heart of the relationship between culture and communication. Please select one of the following statements and support it using evidence from both the readings (including module notes) and from your own experiences and observations:

Communication shapes culture.

Culture shapes communication.

“The value of co-creative media – as a site of innovation and engine for social change – is still not fully understood; however, it is clear that critical concerns for enduser control in questions of media representation, learning through creative expression and commitments to social change and justice are what distinguish co-creative within the broader context of participatory culture. Co-creative practices call into question the authority and legitimacy of established storytelling institutions (including journalism, entertainment, advertising and national cinema), and continue to expand possibilities for media participation and social inclusion” (137).

Cultural innovation is most often driven by communication and communication technologies.

DQ2 Communication Quagmires: Nonverbals and Cultural Contexts

Photograph of a gathering of children and women seated on a series of wide steps in India. Retrieved from Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest: http://quest.eb.com.vlib.excelsior.edu/search/crowds-india/1/118_798137/IndiaCommunication can be fraught with misunderstanding, misinterpretations, and disconnects between cultures. In the module notes, I described this as a potential “quagmire.” In this discussion activity, I’d like to look at this issue in light of nonverbals and overlapping cultures. For these questions, I really want you to zero in on our film, Lion; on an episode of the former hit TV show The Office; and on the articles “Love in Translation” and “Sarcasm in Written Communication” (about emoticons).  This activity aligns with module outcomes 1 and 2.

Please choose one of the following to answer as thoroughly as possibly, using evidence from our readings to support your own critical thinking:

The television program the office is fraught with nonverbals that often add significant messages and context, or that outright undermine the literal verbal messages. As you watch this episode, take notes on the nonverbal communication (keeping in mind the types of nonverbal communication I listed for you in the module notes), and describe what they tell you about “the culture” in this organization. That is, how do they tell a story and paint a picture that is not communicated via speech?

One of the key components regarding the film Lion is Saroo’s negotiation of different cultures – his native India, his move to Australia, his relationship with an American. I want to zero in on the communication element of this film. How does communication both lead to profound problems and troubles in this film and, conversely, how does communication ultimately become a force for redemption?

In the New Yorker article “Love in Translation,” Lauren Collins describes how culture and communication present challenges in her marriage. Even deep into the relationship, she writes, they “often had, in some weirdly basic sense, a hard time understanding each other. The critic George Steiner defined intimacy as “confident, quasi-immediate translation,” a state of increasingly one-to-one correspondence in which “the external vulgate and the private mass of language grow more and more concordant.” Translation, he explained, occurs both across and inside languages. You are performing a feat of interpretation anytime you attempt to communicate with someone who is not like you.” (Emphasis is mine.) I’d like you to reflect upon the experiences that Collins describes in this article and upon this statement specifically. Do you have personal anecdotes or situations you’ve observed that further illuminate the above passage? Describe them and show how they support the passage, particularly the part that I’ve emphasized.

Emoticons and Emojis. While those smiley, frowny, crying, and winky faces were unheard of a couple of decades ago, our communication landscape is now littered with emoticons and emojis. Do you think they lead us further into or out of a communication quagmire – or both? Please explain your answer as fully as possible.