Classes & Students

We are at the end of our first week of a three week module -- I am teaching the Critical Media Literacy class.  All of the classes are small here which makes for incredible, small group interactions -- my discussion-based philosophy of teaching really has a chance to work on a deep level -- of course, what professor doesn't love small classes?  The time and place flexibility of the program adds to the uniqueness of the program -- and, I think, makes everyone happier -- yesterday we left Dalkeith, took the two minute walk into the village and had class in a lovely little church cafe.  The day before, we were at the City Art Centre which I wrote about in the last entry seeing David Mach's sculpture and giant collages -- interpretations of verses from the King James Bible which was commissioned here in Scotland during the 1600's.  There, we met together, first analyzing "The Crucifixtion" from multiple perspectives and then we all went our separate ways to explore the five floors of the Centre.  The fifth floor has been given over to Mach and one of his artistic teams to work on the final collage of this exhibit -- "The Last Supper" which will be unveiled on September 20 -- we plan to be there! One of the highpoints of this excursion was watching this young team of artists discuss the layout and installation of the collage (while Mach sat on the side making phone calls!).  All of the interpretations put the Bible events in a contemporary setting which is starling in many of the pieces -- Mach is clearly pushing the edges with pieces like a bust of Jesus make out of matchsticks complete with white, white skin, pink, pink lips, blue-green eyes and red hair.  After a couple of hours, we went to an Edinburgh cafe to debrief and finish our analysis of the art.  Today, I have moved the class to the Stables Bistro which is on the estate -- a one minute walk from the palace.  Later today, I proposed to my colleagues that we meet in the local pub for "Pub Pedagogy" to share the high, medium, and low points of our teaching during this first week.