Technological innovations continue to invade nearly every aspect of our lives. George Orwell‘s prediction in his novel 1984 of “ubiquitous surveillance” may have come true. Every click you make, every web page you view, every communication you make using digital technology can be tracked. Marketing researchers analyze this data to tailor advertising campaigns targeting you as an individual. Talking about cute clothes at a specific store while your phone is ‘sleeping’ may generate ads for that store on your social media feeds. Researching a political issue may result in targeted political ads appearing on your social media feeds. Every day, your digital profile is expanded and revised. These profiles summarize who you are as a consumer or potential consumer. But, who are you to yourself?
To prepare for the Discussion:
Review this week’s resources.
Reread your journal entries from previous weeks.
Search for yourself online. See what information is being shown to the world about you, or those with similar names to you.
Identify a person of significance in your chosen field of study.
By Day 3
Post a response (at least 200-300 words) to the following:
You are a magazine writer assigned to write a profile of the person who influenced your choice of degree program – not just going back to school or pursuing an education but choosing your specific field. OR, you can select a person who has contributed to your chosen field of study significantly.
Write 200-300 words describing your chosen field of study, WHY this person was important to your decision to pursue education in that field OR HOW the person you chose has contributed to your field. The person can be living or dead. Do not spend time on physical details like eye color or height but do include birth and death, if applicable, dates. You only have 200-300 words to describe the very essence of this person and the impact they have had.
In addition to your biographical description of your chosen person, include a couple sentences to responding to at least one of the following questions:
From among this week’s biographies, who do you think your chosen person would have wanted as a friend and why?
From among this week’s biographies, who might have been a good mentor for your person? Or who might your person have mentored?
Does your chosen person share any character traits with people from this week’s resources?