Issue 26(1)
Using
Entertainment Media in Student Affairs Teaching and Practice.
(2004). Deanna Forney
and Tony Cawthon, (Eds.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 128 pp.
ISBN 0-7879-7926-0.
Review
by: Marie Dahleh
Assistant
Dean for Academic Programs
Division
of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Harvard University
Using
Entertainment Media in Student Affairs Teaching and Practice
is an excellent reference for anyone considering the use of entertainment
media in their work with students. The extensive references included
also will be useful to those with experience using films, television
or books with students. The book is organized so that each chapter
is self sufficient. The first chapter serves as an introduction
to entertainment media use, including the benefits, strategies
and research. Each subsequent chapter tackles a specific area.
The areas covered include, student development theory, multiculturalism,
sexual orientation, sex and gender, leadership, counseling skills
and career development. There are extensive references throughout
the book related to both the theory and the entertainment media.
The final chapter is devoted to lists of resources.
Fornay
encourages those who have not used entertainment media in their
teaching to consider doing so. She explains how she started using
multimedia in her work and how its use appeals to different student
learning styles. However, she warns that to guarantee success
inclusion of entertainment media "needs to be purposeful" (p.
9). This includes preparing the class for multimedia use and evaluating
its effectiveness.
Each
subsequent chapter treats an individual subject thus each can
be read as stand alone material. Each chapter begins with a discussion
of the theoretical basis of the topic. As an example, the chapter
on leadership begins with a discussion of what is leadership and
how to teach leadership. The discussion is brief (3.5 pages) but
still includes numerous references for those who desire further
reading. What follows is a discussion of the movies, television,
books and music that can be used to help teach leadership skills.
Some chapters, but not all, provide a concrete example how a particular
movie can be used as part of a class or workshop. All chapters
are brief and meant to serve as a motivation and guide for media
usage.
I highly recommend
this book to anyone developing workshops on student development
theory, multiculturalism, sexual orientation, sex and gender,
leadership, counseling skills or career development. The lists
of appropriate media sources make it easy to find something for
any of the topics discussed.
