Abstract

Social media provides opportunities for building community in traditional face-to-face classrooms as well as standard online classrooms. Interaction between and among students—and with and beyond the teacher—can be enhanced through these more informal, largely visual mediums. Students connect with communities of fans, activists, and experts. Not only does social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram meet students where they are, it also gives them new spaces to explore. And not only do these social media communities connect them with new people, they also connect students with new ideas and new forums for social justice work. This “methods and texts” article outlines the way in which the author is using social media to build community among students in a variety of locations and virtual spaces in women’s studies and American studies classes. It offers practical advice as well as a model that can cross disciplinary and interdisciplinary classrooms of all kinds.

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