The semester is up and running and introductions to courses are completed. Striving to cover several trajectories within media studies I am now giving lectures in fields such as media history (social implications of contemporary new media technology), communication theory, globalization and social change (focusing on participatory communication), media and political activism, visual communication, convergence culture, queer theory and media policy.
The width of subjects must be considered an advantage since I get to face a variety of perspectives and student input during the lectures. Within the world of universities and research, a division is often set up between teaching and individual or collective research. I believe it is highly important to not only say that one is pro-integration of the two, but to also actively work to promote this integration.
My research is and should be improved by my teaching experiences, as well as the students should benefit from closing in on the research side. Forms for this integration can of course be different, but still it is an important point to make in a time when new, ambitious students are entering the education in media- and communication related programmes and courses, and we as teachers are here to engage them in the scholary field as well as embrace critical thinking and tools for entering, change and improve the future.