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What Is the “New Normal?”

The coronavirus pandemic has been one of the most significant global disruptions in recent memory, with massive shutdowns across the world that have caused many to reevaluate and restructure the ways everyday life operates. Combined with rising tensions in race relations and electoral politics, the last twelve months have proven to be one of the most unstable periods in modern American history.

This project tackles a self-reflexive question posed to us by the disruption of routine patterns of everyday life – what are we observing, understanding, or communicating by describing our changing reality as “the new normal?” I explore how this seemingly simple phrase points to serious complications in understanding how a major event disrupts understanding itself, representing a struggle to elucidate our new mediated situation specifically. ​

The Video

  • Video timestamps
    • 0:45​ – Introduction (What is the “new normal?”)
    • 6:51​ – CHAPTER 1: The Paradigm Shift (What changes in the new normal?)
    • 16:33​ – CHAPTER 2: The Reaction (Internal vs. External Factors)
    • 25:34​ – CHAPTER 3: The Truth (Who to trust, Expertise vs. Authenticity)
    • 35:02​ – Conclusion

“Once people get past their apathy and start taking a new risk seriously, the normal response is an ‘adjustment reaction’—a temporary fearfulness, sometimes accompanied by misplaced or excessive caution. This is the teachable moment. Don’t ignore it or ridicule it; guide it. Then we settle into the ‘new normal.'”

Pan American Health Organization, 2005

The Conspiracy Board

The Masterminds

Evan McAlice

Evan McAlice is a senior double-majoring in Communication Studies and Writing & Rhetoric. During his time at URI, Evan held numerous positions with the student newspaper, was a brand ambassador and research assistant for the Harrington School of Communications and Media, a host for The Daily Ram, and a Student Office Intern at the WRT office. Evan is also an Honors student, a recipient of the University Academic Excellence Award in Communication Studies, and has maintained a 4.0 GPA through all four years at URI. After graduating, Evan hopes to find work that continues his passion for digital communication, media, and writing.

Nikolaos Poulakos

Senior Lecturer, Communication Studies

“Niko Poulakos is dedicated to the ongoing quest to share, teach, and learn from his students the art of what people do with discourse and other more advanced media technologies. He enjoys investigating cultural trends with seemingly strange yet significant effects, from President Trump’s conspiratorial claims, to the communicative norms of the Occupy movement, to sexually charged fan fiction, to the collection of hyperreal things like Snapchat “streaks.” He hopes his classes and academic work say intriguing things about specific audiences, communities, and pockets of culture shaped by the materials they use.” – HSCM Biography

Acknowledgements

Greta Methot is a Professor of English at the Rhode Island School of Design. Her research and teaching interests derive from many areas of American literature and culture, including African American literature, travel writing, critical race studies, violence studies and documentary film.

Renee Hobbs is an internationally-recognized authority on media literacy education. She is the Founder and Director of the Media Education Lab, whose mission is to improve the quality of media literacy education through research and community service.

Scott Kushner is an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Rhode Island, where his research and teaching focus on media and cultural studies. Kushner’s scholarship helps us better understand the politics and cultures of everyday media.

References

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