A daily workout

We are repeatedly told that exercise is one of the most important things in life, and it is drilled into our heads how to do it correctly; you have to start while you are young, you have to do it regularly and you should work every muscle equally. As the professor for Understanding mass media, Prof. Menke-Fish, sees it, general education is exactly like exercise. She believes that general education is a daily workout that students need to take advantage of.

The people that mostly appreciate exercise are usually elders, because then is when they realize the little exercise they did while they were young helped their present health. As with exercise, general education is for the long run, and unfortunately, as Prof. Menke-Fish believes, students will only realize the importance of the program until 20 years have passed; when they have more experience and maturity. This is why students are not willing to take general education classes, they are not looking into the future; they are only concentrating on the present.

Prof. Menke-Fish also believes that with general education we can explore every aspect of the world and therefore be able to think about things from numerous perspectives. Like exercise, where every muscle needs to be kept fit, in general education we need to learn about every subject. To be solid and well rounded human beings, we need to be “tuned into the world around us and approach the problems we face from multiple points of view; a well designed liberal arts education brings that opportunity.”

To make the class memorable for the students, as she believes it constitutes an important part of their education, Prof. Menke-Fish does not make her students read the syllabus on their first class. Instead students will be tested on how they view the world and how their perceptions are affected by the media. Prof. Menke-Fish welcomes the students, and tells them that they should believe everything that the media says; she will support this with a video that states how students should view things. This will help the students question the way in which they think about society, and realize the impact the media has on their opinions and stereotypes.

Throughout the class, Prof. Menke-Fish will use to several videos, posters and especially slides which will help the students visualize the ideas and stereotypes present in the media. They will also have to take risks in weekly projects called “in the media, about the media”, where they will have to apply that week’s readings in group presentations.

Prof. Menke-Fish clearly believes that general education is one of the most important parts of the learning experience. As advice to students she concludes “this is the last opportunity to think about a topic in a way you will never encounter again, it should not be taken lightly… general education will sustain you”.