Multimedia for Academics

In Media Res – A Media Commons Project is an innovative website where researchers submit videos  — oftentimes of a popular/iconic TV show or film or YouTube post — and then briefly analyze the clip.  It’s set up so readers can respond to their analysis as well. This is a terrific way to make research more public and, well, more fun.

My all-time favorites are a mashup of Barack Obama and a Bollywood film titled “Barack OBollywood: Afro-Asian Connections on the Viral Video Trail,” mainly because I think the video is hilarious, and an unaired segement from Battlestar Gallactica that provocatively considers issues of race and gender.  What the frack.

Help for Hungry Students

What with the high price of gas, food, rent and everything else, college students might consider joining their fellow Angelenos in the Fallen Fruit movement to learn how to forage in their urban neighborhoods.  This should be good additional training for journalism students, who are today’s hunter-gatherers.