Final Blog

My favorite topics covered in class was deviance and panic, the copycat effect, and the crime and drug problem. I also really enjoyed the media role in suicide article as well as the free blog entries - though I sometimes found them difficult. 


To me, deviance is a very interesting subject. I think that I have trouble wrapping my head around it and because of that, hearing other peoples thoughts on it made that class extremely thought provoking. I also liked the way Dr. Castle set up that class, where we had to think of things that were deviants and not crimes, and crimes but not deviants. That was difficult and I enjoyed that a lot. 


The copycat effect was another one of my favorites for a similar reason. I don't know if I believe it to be true, or if i can understand just how far that can go. It was definitely helpful to learn some statistics as well as hear some stories of related crimes.


I think everyone enjoys learning about drug-related crimes. The heroine article was super fascinating and talking about the drug cartel in Columbia, in class, was really fun. 


The media role in suicide article just seemed pertinent at the time, at least to my life. There had been many suicides in the media recently and I had been studying them in depth, as well as hate crimes, and I thought that article came at a good time. I was happy to go to class knowing we'd be discussing this issues. 


Lastly, the free blogs were fun because I got to talk about whatever I wanted to, and often times that topic was myself. Everyone enjoys talking about themselves. 




My least favorite topics were the Scopes Monkey Trial because I've learned and talked about them many, many times, and I can't pinpoint which topics these were but sometimes, perhaps even during a topic I found interesting, the discussion lagged. Either people made idiotic comments (and not in a joking manner) or the class just didn't seem interested. When no one is engaged, it's hard for me to remain engaged, as well. I also am torn with my feelings on the diamond discussion. I am extremely grateful that Dr. Castle showed it because now I am not going to buy diamonds but it really was a "buzzkill", if you will. The Sarah Mclachlin video was so sad. It was also frustrating because I realize a few people are not going to change it. I'd also like to point out that I'm a big advocator for inclusive language and it's not secret that I'm a big feminist so with that said... I feel that discussion was heteronormatively directed. Assumably, men are asking women for their hand in marriage. Women have husbands, men have wives. Men have to buy the diamonds. Men deal with the pressure of romanticizing the relationship - through diamond engagement rings. Well, not necessarily. But, anyways...


I would like to see the topics I enjoyed the most expanded. Makes sense, right? Also, as much as I hated the media fast, I'd like to see it expanded. We did it and I understand the point of it, but I think blogging about it wasn't enough. I don't feel like it was monitored enough (though I can't really figure out how it would be monitored) and we didn't discuss it that much in class. I think the topics I liked least can easily be limited. I'd have to really look into the course content as a whole, directed toward the big picture, before I decided if anything could actually be limited. Maybe I would discuss more mediums. One day we had a discussion about news channels and perhaps that is applicable to some students' lives but I, personally, don't watch the news if I have down-time. I never watch TV but if I have time to relax, news is not going to be the station I turn on. I hated that discussion.


I'm not sure I'd vary much from how Dr. Castle taught it but I have read some extremely interesting books on this subject and I think I would implement them, and then pull a few of the articles away. I think I'd open with the media fast and then broad subjects about media and justice and eventually get more specific. I would also keep the presentation. I'd probably also give a short paper on how media and justice affect one's life or something. Something simple, but something to give the students another grade. I guess this would be a mid-term. I'm not sure I'd keep the blogs. I'd have to think of something to replace them with first. They were helpful for the most-part. I'd also like to figure out a way to monitor class discussion. Dr. Castle, you are a very patient person, but I am not. I think if the discussion veered away from my point, I'd have to redirect it. Also, Dr. Castle, you leave your opinion out, often, so it's hard for me to determine what exactly you're looking to hear. I would definitely share my opinion with my students after discussion, or during, to push them in certain directions and so they could see all sides of the arguments. 


My ideal course content would be focusing more on the mediums that I know students use. I would keep the content pretty similar to the one we had, though. I really enjoyed this class.