Social Media Storytellers: On Academic Freedom is a two-quarter undergraduate class that meets weekly, over lunch, to explore the topic of academic freedom as it impacts students in their daily lives and classrooms, the faculty and campus they interact with, and higher education broadly, both in the U.S. and abroad. Students are encouraged to engage in creative projects that center their voices and perspectives as well as that of their student peers.
Engaging through stories is a powerful and creative means to address complex issues. The student-created social media series centers the perspectives and narratives of our undergraduate fellows. The fellowship uses social media as a storytelling platform and is featured on the School of Humanities’ social media platforms (Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn) as well as on our website and in our monthly newsletters.
Winter Quarter
In winter quarter, Academic Freedom Fellows participate in seminars with faculty from across the School of Humanities. Weekly seminar topics include:
- Definitions of academic freedom
- Viewpoint diversity
- The international dimensions of academic freedom
- Artificial intelligence and academic freedom
- Campus free speech
Spring Quarter
In spring quarter, the course builds upon these scholarly conversations to engage with staff from across the School of Humanities and UC Irvine leading discussions on communications-related topics including social media analytics, writing for public audiences, podcast creation, and much more. Students will engage in:
- mini seminars with staff and experts from across and beyond UCI, gain a richer understanding of the media landscape and how to participate.
- hands-on workshops with communications experts, learn skills such as video production, image creation, and caption writing, and develop concrete communications skills applicable to a variety of job contexts.
- student-driven research on the topic of academic freedom, with self-reflection and engagement with contemporary conversations
- Networking with faculty, staff, graduate students, and peers by engaging in School of Humanities programming around academic freedom.
