Statement of Purpose: Welcome to Communicative Stuff!

My academic background is rooted in communication and media studies with a focus on technology and technological influencers. In 2008, I graduated from Fordham University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences with a Public Communication degree. While attending Fordham, I was schooled in viewing media as having an ecological relationship with its respective human consumers. This academic foundation sparked my interest in studying different electronic and digital media and how using said media influences human perception and behavior. After receiving my graduate degree, I worked as an adjunct instructor for multiple colleges and universities on Long Island and New York for three years. These positions afforded me an opportunity to both teach college courses and work together with students in an effort to understand how students, particularly those fresh out of high school, navigate through a life crowded with media technology. During this time, I realized that I enjoyed teaching and working with students at the college level and decided that this is what I would like to spend the rest of my life doing. This revelation brought me to Temple, where I have focused on web based perceptions of identity, specifically how users assemble an online identity and what this digital front gives off (read: communicates) to his or her peers.

            
Last semester, I had my first taste of material culture while learning that fashion, as communicated through clothing and buildings (or other structures), can serve as an indicator of a philosophical point of view. Although the focus of this course was indicators of postmodernity through fashion (among many other items), the experience sparked an interest in understanding what things communicate. I recognize that, just as with electric and digital technologies, items also influence human perception and behavior. By enrolling in History of Material Culture this semester, there are a few goals I hope to accomplish. Most notably, I look forward to the exposure into new literature about material culture and how this influences, or influenced, people during different times in recorded history.  I look forward to exploring this topic in this class and further developing my understanding of how cultural norms are reflected through various media.