Critical thinking - a type of reasonable, reflective thinking that is aimed at deciding what to believe or what to do. It is a way of deciding whether a claim is always true, sometimes true, partly true, or false.Involves logical reasoning, reflective judgment, exploring assumptions, creating and testing meanings, identifying contradictions in arguments, and determining the validity of empirical findings and generalized conclusionsCitizenship – the state of being vested with the rights, privileges, and duties of a citizenthe character of an individual viewed as a member of society (often defined as the nation); behavior in terms of the duties, obligations, functions of a citizenthe quality of an individual’s response to membership in a communitymodernity has produced three zones of citizenshippolitical citizenship: residing and votingeconomic citizenship: working and prosperingvideo on America is not the greatest place in the worldAn idea of hereditary ownershipJust because your father was king doesn’t mean you get to be a leader later in lifePower needs to be checked, nor should it be hereditaryCommon people deserve betterPamphlet was described as “the most incendiary and popular pamphlet in the entire revolutionary era”British didn’t believe common people had a place in governmentChanged the way of thinking amongst American colonistsSold 100,000 copiesOriginally published as an anonymous pamphletLegislation that required tax to be paid on the transfer of certain documentsThose who paid the tax got an official stamp on documentsDocuments included newspaper, legal documents and playing cardsHad to be paid in valid British currency, not the colonial paper moneyWhy did the british do this?Censorship – didn’t want colonists to say anything bad about the BritishMight not be perfect, but tells us that we should not stand idly by while we are taken advantage ofUnity creates independence and thus prosperityWhen you think about stuff today that you think isn’t fair just sitting here won’t do anythingThings aren’t perfect, but that doesn’t mean you can’t change thatIdea of limited powerLecture 3Plato: The Allegory of the CaveIn a prison type of placeYou are seeing shadows of objects, but not the actual objectsThe Matrix, Cultural Boxes and YouThinking outside of the boxGets blinded by the light and it hurtsLearn things about the world and yourselfNot always easyWhat is at stake by opening your eyes/ mindWhat is at stake in examining your principles?What is at stake in contesting the status quo?How does the cave relate to democracy?The way we govern ourselves and the fact that we have the ability to govern ourselvesMaybe saying that we live in a democracy is an illusionHow does the cave relate to media?The shadows are bigger than they actually areThe media gives us shadows on the wall, but maybe bigger than they need to be blowing a story out or proportion or seeing the whole storyLight outside of the caveenlightenmentTruth or willingness to approach the truthLooking outside of realityDarkness in the caveDeceptionIgnoranceBeing comfortableLecture 4American BeautyHow do you define the American Dream?There is no more one American dream, but individual dreamsRelation to democracyHave you achieved it?Will you achieve it?American Dream videoA lot of people are happy with the life they live, but at the same time no one mentioned they achieved the American dreamPeople still want something moreWhen you live in a 5 bedroom house why don’t you want a 7 bedroom houseAmerican BeautyA critic on the American dreamAre the characters in the film living the American Dream?No they are trying to present themselves as achieving the American dream, but they’re really notHow does the American dream relate to other spectators of society?Corporations? Consumptions? Media?Dominant themesEmpty promises of materialism“its just a couch!” – part of the moviethere is symbolic value of the couch to herthey’re both trying to be happy, but at the same time you’re supposed to be a certain waymaterialism does not equal happinessthe gay couple was the “weird” couple, but ultimately they were they happy onesAppearances vs realityThe mom isn’t really happyRicky’s dad isn’t really happyPlatoAmerican culture at largeDiscussion QuestionsWhat are your main takeaways from the film?What are the problems with the current definitions of the American dream?Should we strive for a different kind of dream?Are all people allowed to have the American dream?Why was this movie assigned?Connecting to Plato when he stepped down and saw the lightPeople in the movie started doing things differentlyHappinessWhere does it come from? The concept?All the media and stuff promotes what it means to be happyLecture 5The CorporationMedia System Orientation- the structural organization of the media which guides the production of content and the societal logics related to the dissemination of information/knowledge thereinAuthoritatian- media is a mouthpiece1 personNorth KoreaState (theocracy/ party)- media as mouthpieceGroup of people (paternalism)ChinaPublic service- media as educatorBBCCommercial- media as a productWhen you watch the news you are forced to watch commercialsDemocratic participant- media as conduit for public participationThe internetSymbolic Culture- a concept used to differentiate the cultural realm constructed and inhabited by Homo sapiens from ordinary “culture”, which many other animals possessWearing Penn State clothingPresupposes more than the ability to learn and transmit behavioural tradtitions from one generation to the next. It requires the invention of a whole new kind of things, things that have no existence in the “real” world but exist entirely in the symbolic realmCulture is based on symbolsLanguage, objects…Corporation- a company to make a profitCommodification- the transformation of goods, ideas, or other entities that may not normally be regarded as goods into a commodityA consequence of this is the expansion of the market trade to traditional non-economic fields and the concurrent treatment of anything as if it was a tradeable commodityA bottle of waterIn the old days ppl would fill up their buckets to get waterCommercialism- the process by which a new product or service is introduced into the general marketIt is broken into phases, from the initial intro of the product through its mass production and adoption. It takes into account the