1V: Asking Questions

Walking into my first Inquiry 101 class on Thursday I did not really know what to except… and honestly I had no idea what inquiry even meant.  Now I know that Inquiry is all about asking questions and learning new things.  In this course we will ask questions about college and anything we want to know, it’s a place where everyone can open up and learn from each other.  We are a learning community and will be taking steps together to improve our knowledge about many different topics.

During the past three days not only did I learn what Inquiry meant, I also learned a few others.  In my Media and Everyday Life class we talked about how persuasion occurs through media and shapes our world. But what exactly is persuasion? Well, I learned that persuasion is the coproduction of meaning, achieved when the sender of a message succeeds in audiences identifying with that message.  Persuasion is achieved through symbols, images, and language.

In my Geography and Conflict class we talked about Conflict, which emphasizes the role of coercion and power in a social order.  It derived from Karl Marx who saw society as fragmented groups competing for resources.