Social media’s undeniable influence on society and culture has snapped its way into the educational system. Schools like the University of Southern California are reportedly offering a “#SelfieClass” to show the ways in which society views gender, race, class and sexuality in the 21st century.
The Freshman class is reportedly a new description of an old course, namely “Writing 150: Writing and Critical Reasoning: Identity and Diversity,” according to the school.
“Selfies are not just about self-portraiture. They are also autobiographies and autoethnographies,” according to clinical professor Alison Torpe, who has used selfies in class to examine gender norms, race and ethnicity at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
According to a university release, Associate Professor Mark Marino is leading the class. He said: “When we look at selfies, we’re also looking at the beginning of the 21st century,” and “the cultural moment of the selfies will pass and become something that’s iconic of our age, the same way that photographic self-portraits or painting self-portraits or religious journals were the selfies of their moment.”
It turns out that USC is not the only school to offer a “selfie class”: apparently rival UCLA has one too.
Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter @AdelleNaz
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