In my ASTU English class we read Farhat Shahzad’s academic article, The Role of Interpretative Communities in Remembering and Learning. Shahzad’s analysis is constructed from narratives of students on their interpretations on the War of Terror. The student’s cogitated understanding comes from the influence from their communities, and the variety of technology of memories. Whether it is from family, or social media what I found engaging was how the students alter their mindsets, which is formed by different perspectives that they are exposed too.
One of Shahzad’s main elements focuses on the perception digital sources has on today’s society. In my sociology class we extensively discussed the crisis about the Syrian refugees. A lot of attention on social media was created when the three-year-old Syrian boy, Aylan Kurdi’s, body washed up on a beach as his family was trying to reach Canada. “Many Syrian Kurds have reported difficulties getting their applications processed” and when the Department of Citizenship and Immigration of Canada rejected Aylan’s family’s offer to come to Canada it made it even more challenging for them to leave Syria (Guardian). This is only one of the many incidents that have been brought up in the media recently. A coastguard emphasized how he “had rescued more than 42,000 people in the Aegean Sea in the first five months of 2015” (Guardian). Scrolling through my news feed on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter I was exposed to countless articles, videos, and images about the topic. This correlates to the theme of media that I am learning in my sociology class and how it impacts the sociological lives of students, in which it conveys how key issues on social media can spread so rapidly and influence today’s community.
Shahzad emphasizes how “memories and learning strategies are situated in their social relationships, political orientations, cultural meanings, world views, and historical experiences” (Shahzad). Similar to the traumatic experience of the War of Terror I shared this upsetting incident about the refugees with my family to see what their interpretations were. The heated discussion I had with my family allowed us to evaluate what our Society needs to do to aid to this problem. From the interpretative community of my family my perception on the topic was altered from the notions they accentuated. In comparison, the students in Shahzad’s article articulate their experiences and opinions on the War of Terror and how individuals shape memories and distinguish them based on their “interpretative community” (Shahzad).
Shahzad’s study investigates how an “agency, information available through digital source and an influential community” are emphasized extensively throughout the article (Shahzad). The interpretations that were illustrated through her research made me recognize how my discussions with my family and current events on social media influence me to change my perception on society.
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