Glocal Classroom Revisited – Storytelling & Social Change Leicester-Malmö

These are reflections on a lecture given by Thomas Tufte, Ørecomm’s Co-director and Professor of Media and Communication Studies at The University of Leicester. Post is prepared by Ørecomm’s member Anders Hög Hansen.

The every day class room of ComDev is what we call the ‘Glocal Classroom’.

The name is even on the door in our studio. However, there is a particular extended format which not only involves people online as well as in a teaching location in Malmö or somewhere else in the world (as e.g. Paris where we are going to place ourselves in November).
This extended format is bridging two physical classrooms, and often two courses, with synchronous interaction between two in situ locations and one online community in one event. It is a more demanding pedagogical challenge, production and mediation, which we have tried in the past with e.g. University of Guelph in Canada, and Flinders University in Australia.

Wednesday 12 October, Professor Thomas Tufte (Media and Communication Studies, University of Leicester) spoke on Storytelling and Social Change at his new Real Life Research Class at University of Leicester. The event was also part of an Advances in Communication for Development course class in Malmö, with Anders Høg Hansen providing a brief introduction to storytelling and some moderation throughout.

Thomas took the class on tour through ComDev reflections and concepts applied to intriguing examples: from a Martin Luther King speech, over Popeye the Sailor, to the South African Soap Opera Soul City.

There was a general focus on Edutainment which may be of interest for the MA ComDev students. Recorded lecture delivered by Professor Thomas Tufte is available online: Part one & Part two.