College Majors - A different perspective on AI

 A few days ago a friend of mine (Brian Silverman) posted some very interesting information on his LinkedIn blog about choosing a major in college that I should have realized much earlier. One of the points he brought out was the focus in jobs on communication and the influence of AI in the workplace. As a general rule I have experienced - not in the workplace - is that AI is dangerous, it may take over our brains and bodies, and it will eventually take over the world and we won't need humans any longer. This really is a conversation in groups where no one is interested in learning any more - they are infatuated with fear! You should really read Brian's post for the complete conversation, but until then, I have published my response below to his remarks. Follow Brian at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/absilverman?challengeId=AQE1-8di3bI7twAAAYoDh42QmShfVYr6e8aqb2DRvuWD5D2yfrha82BQYR25wCEKmTRwc2dAsoXmW8mKJoRuMut31iKruo54MQ&submissionId=f962a00a-5b2c-7c17-a5f2-56991f6d833c&challengeSource=AgG0bE2aNX3cJgAAAYoDh9mM45XV4xFTFknDY5tUnh_SK3VVoMHAR8Zz5pnbrug&challegeType=AgH-Nnq0BPATfQAAAYoDh9mP9kV3y5DUQd_6eewlR8I3u2r-1-EWlpc&memberId=AgFf574Gw8CmxwAAAYoDh9mSLgPRVcCaUjCK3rc7ekkOSPI&recognizeDevice=AgHdGXMIYBjRgQAAAYoDh9mV4r9lruYtxJm4ZI-GWAfKbvPiDSAC

Good points made, Brian, about the positive attributes of an English/Liberal Arts degree. In my experience over the past 50 years, I have learned the value of communication - with a caveat - communication occurs when I transmit information to a listener and I can determine that listener has received and has understood what I am transmitting. In many cases, it's a good idea to actually ask the listener to "tell me what I just said in your own words". There have been many instances of misunderstanding that could have been prevented by asking for a listener response - not just "yes, I understand".

 

In the early days of my higher education, I quickly realized the importance of asking the simple "5 Ws - plus How" questions in order to ask for and receive baseline information. Once I received this initial information I could begin to dig deeper and ask the "What if" questions to stimulate critical thinking - the central focus in exploring literature and in multiple responses from multiple people. I can't over-emphasize how important these responses are in the process of creativity. In many cases, there are no right answers and no wrong answers. This happens on a regular basis because these responses are emotionally generated based on the history of each listener. Another value of these types of answers is the ability to see things from a wide variety of perspectives - many of which we might never have thought of.

When I read your comments on the importance and benefits of an English/Liberal Arts degree I had a "duh" moment for not thinking of this myself (especially after so many years working in communication/English). Thanks for waking me up! I refer to your statement: "The key for young students today, and their future success, will be adaptability. A good liberal arts college education will help open their minds to curiosity, eagerness to learn, and the flexibility to respond to economic and technological changes. I suggested that the best #collegedegree would be English. Writing, understanding, and communicating well is a foundation skill for most professions."  

And your reasoning: "Taking a programming class online and learning about AI is possible, but the ability to clearly communicate and write takes time. It will build flexibility for her and other young adults and future professionals."

I like the way your think!

Chuck Hamilton Ph. D.                                                                                             

English Literature, Film Studies, Photography, & Journalism/Graphic Arts

 

Changing the Conversation in Adaptation Studies

Changing the Conversation in Adaptation Studies

            In the world of academics and the study of adaptation, we frequently hear the term associated only with the adaptation of a text to film, but, as you continually point out in your blog posts, that is only a small part of the concept of adaptation.  I, too, was very taken, as was Laurence Raw, by Jillian St. Jacques's presentation during one of my adaptation panels during the February conference of the SWAPCA in Albuquerque. And, immediately afterward, began to move my thoughts away from film, to culture and society, and the adaptations I have participated in during my life, both outside and inside the academy. Not so dramatic as Jillian's, but still as more than one of the (what I refer to as) "followers," who always do what they are told, and who seem to be so much alike, and so happy - never even seemingly wanting to be different, or an individual.  Maybe, for them, this predictable "follower" characteristic is a form of coping, or maybe breaking away from the status quo is too frightening, but, as a child in the 1950s and 1960s, then in college in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the only movement that fascinated me, and eventually engulfed me, was that idea of individualism.  Pursuing that idea, alone, made me an outcast in my native 1970s northeast Texas, something which continues today. This, coupled with what one of my colleagues refers to as "anti-intellectualism," has created an almost unsurmountable barrier to individualism here, to education, and to discovery - key elements for me in cultural adaptation.  Much is overlooked by those who refuse to investigate change, refuse to pursue discovery, refuse to listen to a variety of perspectives, and refuse to look at themselves as individuals with something individual to say.

            Years ago, I began to move away from the "film only" presentations of adaptation at conferences, to a more culturally-centered presentation. Much of the time, it seems participants, and audience members, are disappointed when they don't hear the typical film adaptation presentation they expected, even though film is included as a part of my presentations. Those reactions reveal what I consider two distinct theories: one, that the academy only considers text to film adaptation worth study (some even limit this study to adaptation of canonical texts); and, two, that cultural adaptation somehow does not fit within my area category (Adaptation: Literature, Film, & Culture) - hard to believe that cultural adaptation is not considered as relative, essential, or dramatic enough for conversation at one of these international events.

            My congratulations to Jillian, and to Laurence, both of you have accomplished great strides in the field of adaptation studies, have gotten it out of the "text-to-film only" category, and are encouraging a conversation that takes adaptation out of the stuffy, marginalized, environment of academia and into the public sphere of popular culture. Thanks to you two, and a variety of others who have also decided to broaden their study of adaptation to include culture and society, my panels, and the papers I present, have expanded the conversation. We in academia understand, as do Laurence and Jillian, the value of studying the past, but we also understand the importance of focusing on the present and toward the future, and with cultural studies leading the parade. In order to keep the current, young, just out of public school, students excited about learning, we have to make education interesting, relevant, and useful for them, and cultural studies is an essential element in this undertaking. 

            Studies in cultural adaptation also figure as essential elements in interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity studies (both essential in the working world outside academia), but the fear from inside the academy is that introduction of these studies and techniques will undermine the disciplinary kingdoms created over countless years by those who discount every "other" as just a passing fancy for students who cannot decide which discipline to choose as a major. Comments such as, "You'll never get a job without a specialty," or "No one will hire a liberal arts major." Although nothing is further from the truth, professors are the rule in the academy (the kings of their kingdoms).  If you do not listen to them, and follow their dictums, you will have a hard time graduating, and especially getting approval of your thesis or dissertation. Even within the academy, individualism is not looked at favorably, and, in many cases, the influences of culture and society are not areas of interest or focus. What is not being realized is the connection between literature and culture - current culture- or how cultural changes and differences affect the world around us.  As an example, in a recent blog post, you write about cultural adaptation saying, " This is not designed as a political piece: far from it.  Rather it is designed to show how a mindful awareness of one’s surroundings and how we respond to them can help us become more “adaptive” as people, as well as making us more aware of the continuities linking different cultures."

            My personal conclusion, after my emersion from the unvarying strictness of adaptation studies as a student in the academy, is that I cannot grow, intellectually or culturally, while cloistered. And, although I knew what I needed to do, I was so inundated with "old-school" philosophy concerning adaptation, that I had lost focus when it comes to the importance of cultural adaptation in every area of study.  Thanks to scholars like Laurence Raw and Jillian St. Jacques for your contributions to the study of cultural adaptation, and to the world-wide conferences for allowing us to bring the conversation back to the forefront. Let's keep this conversation going. 

Chuck Hamilton

Charles R. Hamilton, PhD

Professor of English

Northeast Texas Community College

SWP/ACA Area Chair - Adaptation: Film, Literature, and Culture

P.O.Box 1307 Mt. Pleasant, TX 75456

Email: chamilton@ntcc.edu

903-434-8248

"In a certain sense we are all made of words:...
our most essential being consists in language. 
It is the element in which we think and dream and act,
in which we live our daily lives."                                                                                                         
                                               N. Scott Momaday

The Future

I was fortunate to be able to sit in on a few of the undergraduate presentations this year (Undergraduate meaning high school students in this case), hand heard some of the best presentations at the conference. They were all very well prepared, did not have to totally read every word of their papers, focused on the audience, used power-point and clips effectively, and were able to participate in conversations and answer questions after their presentations. One student from Crosby (TX) High School even wrote, shot, and performed in a 15 minute video that was exceptional. What a breath of fresh air. These students are our future, and we really need to encourage students to participate every year. These students presented like professionals who had been through this before, but actually, none had. Congratulations to all undergraduate presenters - I'm looking forward to next year!!!