In this episode of the Themester 2021 podcast exploring RESILIENCE, Dr. Betsi Grabe expounds upon her scholarship on people's perception of news media and how it is packaged for the public. Grabe then shifts to how the new digital age has impacted her research and how it changed how the public ingests information. She compares her past and present experiences in the news industry and how external factors play a role in the mediascape.

The Media Filter

In this episode, Dr. Betsi Grabe discusses how the increasing investment and consolidataion by major news corporations has forced journalism into a more business-style structure while at the same time the flow of information has exploded— requiring humans to adapt to an overwhelming media escape.

Capitalism and Journalism

In this episode, Dr. Jessica O’Reilly analyzes the cross-sectionality of global health and environmental functions. This analysis includes observations of how distinct cultures and religions approach resilience in separate ways using their own specific epistemology. Specifically, O’Reilly contrasts Indigenous wisdom and Western science. This leads to an intriguing conversation about environmental racism and justice in colonized communities and whether resilience itself is an oppressive expectation for these communities. 

This conversation took place August 26, 2021.

Cultural Resilience

In this episode of the Indiana University Themester podcast, Dr. De Witt Douglas Kilgore of IU's Department of English discusses the world of Marvel and DC, and the connections between identity and the world of comic books. Kilgore comments on the evolution of heroes in mainstream comics, and how youth in today's age can see more representation from the last 60 years.

This conversation took place July 8, 2022.  Themester 2022 focused on the theme of "Identity and Identification."

Identity in Comic Books

In this episode, Dr. Amrita Chakrabarti Myers of Indiana University discusses her IU course "Wenches, Witches and Welfare Queens," and the evolution of the black woman stereotype in media. Myers comments what it means to change those stereotypes in today's society, and what can be done to include the correct representation in the ever-changing media.

This conversation took place June 13, 2022.

Identity of a Black Woman

In this episode, Dr. Stephen Selka explains what it truly means to be "human."  Selka discusses the concept of the human from a historic and cross-cultural perspective, but also its role in post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction, to express what being human means now and for the future and how identity connects to it all.

What It Means to be Human

In this episode, Dr. Andrew Weaver of The Media School at Indiana University discusses the impact of media on today's youth. Weaver discusses how media shapes identity and what he sees as hyperbole around the role of technology in shaping how people think and behave. 

This conversation took place July 22, 2022.

Media and Identity

Part 1 of a 2. In these episodes, Dr. Colin Johnson of Indiana University's Department of Gender Studies discusses the long progression of LGBTQIA+ identity in the United States and breaks down the development of queer theory. Johnson further explains the difference between urban and rural societies' viewpoints on queer culture, and how being queer in rural America isn't always what we think.

Queerness in Rural America, part 1

Part 2 of 2. Dr. Colin Johnson discusses the long progression of LGBTQIA+ identity in the United States and breaks down the development of queer theory. Johnson further explains the difference between urban and rural societies' viewpoints on queer culture, and how being queer in rural America isn't always what we think.

Queerness in Rural America, part 2

In this episode, Dr. Benjamin Irvin discusses the history of disability in the United States. 
He explains the medical model of disability vs. the social model. Under the social model, society’s views of disability change, making disability a concept open to historic analysis. Dr. Irvin discusses views of disability and disability healthcare in the United States, starting from the Revolutionary War. Irvin’s conversation touches on issues of ableism such as barriers to access, the presumption of incompetence, invisibility disability, and the prevalence of ableist vocabulary in everyday life.

Disability in the United States

The Indiana University, College of Arts and Sciences's Themester program is a focused and multi-faceted inquiry into a variety of topics that change each fall semester. It fosters the exchange of ideas and connects the issues our faculty teach in the classroom to our students’ lives through courses, lectures, exhibits, films, and more.

Disability in the United States

Themester

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