The Arab Spring and Social Media Research Mandy Terc 10 March 2012.

The Arab Spring and

Social Media Research

Mandy Terc10 March 2012

Final Presentations & Papers: Students will build upon the in-class unit

on linguistic strategies of the Arab Spring through their final projects. Each student will select one country or topic from recent regional events, conduct original research on it and use one or more concepts presented during the

course to analyze their topic.

Assignment Prompt

Primary source data may be drawn from Internet sources, media

coverage, public Facebook sites, signage and other public sources.

Students who speak Middle Eastern languages will be encouraged to use

their knowledge. In-class presentations will focus on raw data and allow for feedback and advice in shaping the final paper and providing students assistance in writing about

primary source material.

The final paper will be approximately a 12-page, double-spaced essay that effectively uses theoretical concepts from the class to analyze linguistic components of recent events in the

Middle East.

Key Themes in Protest Art

1)The use of local and global symbols.

2) The combination of images, slogans and several languages

to communicate grievances and beliefs.

3) The various potential audiences.

4) The use of art to communicate.

Key Themes in Protest Video

1)The often anonymous, unverifiable origins.

2) The range of production values.

3) The ability to record events that are otherwise

inaccessible.

4) The many aspects of protest witnessed (singing, signage,

marches, violence).

1)The role(s) that young people play in organizing and shaping

resistance.

2) The ability of local groups to connect to global movements/ideas.

3) The common protest themes in both the US and globally.

4) The use of social media (Facebook, Twitter) to

catalyze and record historic events.

Key Themes in Social Media

1)The ability to communicate across languages and

cultures.

2) The satirical nature of the content.

3) The reliance on images and symbolism to communicate

political messages.

Key Themes in Cartoons

1)Gender

2) Class

3) Space: public vs. private

4) Technology

5) Globalization

6) Power: formal vs. informal

Concluding Thoughts