16 Jul 2017
<span style="background-color:rgb(239, 243, 251); font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:12.8px">7/16/2017</span><br />
Amman -- The Jordan Media Institute (JMI) has finalized the development of two new courses and added them to the study plan of MA students in Journalism and New Media. The two courses are Philosophy and Cultural Studies, and Media and Political Islam.<br />
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JMI Dean Dr. Basim Tweissi said that the development of these two courses stemmed from the JMI vision and mission concerning quality education and delivering innovative courses that provide all graduates with the necessary skills and knowledge to excel in a changing media environment in the region. It is also meant to keep up with changes, needs, and the highest international standards. This will contribute to capacity building and the development of the way of thinking of students and provide them with tools to learn how to develop constructive critical thinking. <br />
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He added that the JMI is the first Jordanian and Arab educational institution that decides to add "Philosophy and Cultural Studies" as a compulsory course for higher studies students in the fields of social sciences and humanities in light of the circumstances witnessed by the region. <br />
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The course, which includes applied activities by the students, has a number of foundations that highlight contemporary shifts in humanities whose effects are experienced by the students. The course also includes a number of key themes, such as the definition of philosophy and its history, schools, and main concepts; the essence of the concepts of wisdom, rationalism, independence, and aestheticism; as well as pluralism and diversity and its relationship with modern media and communication practices. Students also study contemporary schools of thought and the changes they have witnessed, besides the concepts of truth and facts and their relationship with news, media coverage, and critical thinking. <br />
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Dr. Antoine Massara, professor of law and cultural studies and media at the Lebanese University and who is an Arab thinker who holds a number of degrees in several social and human fields, contributed to the development and teaching of this course. <br />
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As for the second course, it is Political Islam and Media. It addresses the problems from which a large percentage of international, Arab, and local media outlets have been suffering when covering "political Islam."<br />
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This course, which is taught by Dr. Mohammad Abu Rumman, a well-known researcher and expert in political Islam, was developed to fit media students at the JMI. It aims at achieving some key results, including building a knowledge base about main trends in local and Arab political Islam movements and monitoring and analyzing samples of local, Arab, and even international media coverage of these movements to deduce problems and come up with the best methods of media handling in general.<br />
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The course focuses on the historical development of the modern movements of political Islam and media coverage of political affairs and the media discourse of these movements. The course has a broad applied aspect.<br />
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The JMI has developed the MA program to meet the actual and growing Arab needs for distinguished professional media persons by enriching their cultural knowledge and diversifying their applied skills. <br />
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The curriculum has been developed by a select group of Arab and foreign professional journalists and university professors. <br />
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