Personal reflection: What did I learn? 

In my first year of college, I took an American politics course with Professor Jocelyn, a class in which we delved into the workings of the American political system. As it was an election year, we had to pick one candidate from a state and keep track of their performance. My candidate was MJ Hegar from Texas, and my prediction was that she was going to win the election against her republican opponent John Cornyn in Texas. Hence, we had to write weekly blog posts relating the reading and theme of the week to the race we were closely following to develop an argument for why we thought our candidate was going to win the election. The class was very engaging as we had to read the news regularly and keep up to date with what was happening and it ignited my interest in how media and politics intersect and overlap. This led me to pursue the Media and Politics minor because I wanted to learn more about how the media influences public opinion and political outcomes. 

Pursuing a minor in media and politics allowed me to explore this interest in more depth, combining classes from NUQ abd GUQ. Through courses on international relations, Gulf security, and Indian Ocean history at GUQ, I gained a comprehensive understanding of the political importance of regions like the Gulf and the Indian Ocean. These courses offered me a foundational understanding of international theory as well as the historical, and cultural context that shapes the region. At NUQ, I took classes that combined more explicitly the media aspect of politics. Beyond the American politics class I took in my first year, I took other classes more relevant to the region. I took a class about the Arab uprisings and the role of new forms of media (social media) in the revolts that swept through the Arab world a decade ago. I am currently taking a class about media and religion, in which we explore media representation of religion and the impact of religious narratives in media on public opinion. 

One common theme that spanned all classes I have taken in both universities is that I found myself particularly interested in learning about the Middle East as a region, hence the choice to take the Indian Ocean History class and the Politics of Arab Uprising course which helped me learn more about the historical and political context. The classes I took were also focused on the influence of media in shaping political narratives and power structures. This theme comes through in different ways whether through learning about the power of the media in the American context and elections, the use of social media during the Arab Uprising and the transformative effect it had, the impact of representation of religion in media particularly if we examine the case of the war in Gaza today. On the other hand, learning foundational concepts in international theory, security issues in the Gulf, and the interconnectedness of Indian Ocean history bolstered my understanding of the geopolitical context I am interested in. 

One example that exemplifies this theme is from my Arab Uprisings class. In this course, I developed a project on the role played by social media in the Arab uprisings in Morocco. I explored how social media played a crucial role in disseminating information, organizing protesters, and challenging state narratives. It was an opportunity to understand the political context and factors that led to the uprisings while also gaining a deeper understanding of the power of media in enacting political change by empowering individuals to seek different political outcomes. In addition to social media, we also looked at media censorship and the politics of media blackout during the uprisings particularly looking at the case of Egypt. Additionally, we discussed the strategies used by protesters to bypass censorship and state surveillance, which was interesting. 

Another example is from the media and religion course I am currently taking in which we examine how religious narratives can influence political discourse and public opinion. We discussed recently the media bias surrounding the Gaza war and how it relates to power structures. In our conversation, we examined how the war has been repeatedly framed as a war of religions, which exacerbated existing narratives and stereotypes in ways that exposed the shortcomings and biases of Western media outlets.  

Overall, the experience of taking the Media and Politics minor has been a rewarding journey. Having had the opportunity to cross-register at Georgetown allowed me to broaden my perspectives and take classes outside my comfort zone. Through the different courses I took, I have learned to critically analyze media discourses when I see them. Most importantly, it has opened my eyes to the impact of media in shaping political narratives and power structures. I can confidently say that this minor has equipped me with the necessary skills to better understand the dynamics of global politics and has enhanced my understanding of media narratives and how they shape the world we live in.