"We learned more from a three-minute record than we ever learned in school"

Abstract

The main question of this essay is: To which extent is the fact that we live in an information and media society consequential for the ways teaching is done in media studies? More precisely: How should media products be used in teaching of media studies at university level? An important movie can be shown to students and then the professor gives his or her lecture on the movie, which will be the professor’s interpretation of it. The same movie may also – or perhaps should also – be used as a means of engaging students in various themes the movie is part of. The main thing is that the meaning and importance of media and cultural expressions are dynamic and part of an on-going process of interpretation and discussions. Both students and professors are part of this process. This should be reflected in the ways teaching of media studies is done.