When I read the From Tom Paine to Blogs and Beyond chapter, certain terms popped off the page for me. On page one I read about how “personal journalism is not a new invention”… that people have been “stirring the pot”… and that personal journalism is “civic-minded and occasionally controversial.”

In honor of my first blogging experience and for this response, I would like to cause some controversy and “stir this pot” a little. First I have to explain my reasoning for taking this class. It is because I’m disappointed in our departments lack of experiential learning opportunities in the classroom. I registered for this blogging class because of my frustration with the many “theory based” classes offered here in the Department of Communication. I’ve taken classes with titles like interpersonal communication, small group communication and nonverbal communication. All ridiculous, all far too elementary, all wasteful.

So many of our 900+ students graduate from our department confused about which career path to take because they never had classes focused on specific Communication careers. These “theory-based” classes do not help students narrow down their career paths.

To take this one step further, what about internships required by the department? This experiential learning is vital in developing students’ skills sets in a major like Communication that is so dependent on workplace experience.

Of course we do offer some classes that provide experiential learning opportunities. Kathleen Fearn-Banks’ PR course, Karen Rathes’ Feature Writing course, and Lisa Cohen’s News in the 21^st Century course are all great examples of the types of courses that will provide us with marketable skill sets to compete in the job search after graduation.

I feel justified in this criticism because I feel that I have a strong hand on the pulse of the department and am a strong representation of our diverse student body. I am a department scholarship recipient, held a two year internship with Victoria Sprang the department’s Alumni Manager, was featured in this year’s Graduation Celebration video, am the president of the campus chapter of the Association of Women in Communication, have personal connections to faculty like nannying for Professor David Domke’s children, etc.

On page five in Dispatches from blogistan, Stefanac speaks of “an urge to communicate with peers and to help shape our own communities.” I am thrilled to exercise my voice on this blog and attempt to raise awareness of this issue and enact some change in the department. I am standing on my blog soap box pleading that our department provide more practical, hands-on, applicable learning for its students.

Do you agree with my criticism of the Department of Communication?

How does the use of a blog as a soap box improve and hurt our society’s various conversations through new media?

Has blogging gained enough power and momentum in our current society to “help shape our communities” or is it still a developing form of communication? How would we measure this?

Can a blog truly be used for objective reporting? Will there always be underling personal opinions since it is such a free form of writing?