21 Jun 2016
With the beginning of the current semester, the Jordan Media Institute (JMI) has started teaching Philosophy and Cultural Studies after deciding to make it a compulsory course for all JMI students. This subject is taught by Dr. Antoine Messarra, professor of cultural studies and law, and Dr. Ahmad Madi, professor of philosophy.<br />
Dr. Basim Tweissi, dean of JMI, said that adding this subject to the compulsory courses of MA students was in response to the pressing need for developing the way of thinking of students and giving them tools to learn critical thinking, the importance of cultural diversity, history of ideas, and accepting the other. This also reflects JMI's awareness of the importance of the subject of philosophy and cultural studies for journalism students in particular and for young students in various disciplines, especially in light of the changes witnessed by the cultural environment of Arab youth at the current stage.<br />
The subject is divided into two parts: The first covers the fundamentals and concepts of philosophy and includes basic philosophical concepts, the principles of logical and critical thinking, the principles of epistemology, values, the philosophy of religion, the philosophy of art and aestheticism, the philosophy of science, and historical, modern and contemporary schools of philosophy. The second covers the fundamentals and concepts of contemporary cultural studies and includes the history of human culture, media and law, media and religion, women writings, cinema studies, Orientalism, and major contemporary intellectual and artistic movements.<br />
In addition, each part will contain a number of systematic curricular activities, such as debates, discussions, and exchange of visits with student delegations from other cultures.<br />
JMI is the first Jordanian and Arab educational institution that decides to add philosophy as a compulsory subject for graduate students in the social sciences and humanities in light of the circumstances witnessed by the region.