On Key Terms and Textbooks: Teaching Comm101 in Dubai
On Key Terms and Textbooks: Teaching Comm101 in Dubai

Summary/Abstract: A handful of words have come to the forefront in global higher education and media, including globalization, internationalization, de-westernization, among others. These concepts and their application to universities and media may have slightly different implications depending on the locale. Nevertheless, for communication programs graduating future media workers these concepts are likely to spark important considerations in the development of the curriculum. In the case of the UAE, both the higher education and media landscapes are advancing rapidly. This has created a situation where many media outlets are sprouting up, creating original content and seeking a larger share of the regional audiences, and where schools are adding programs to meet the training needs. This paper explores the appropriateness of Western textbooks given a Global South context, as well as identifies and attempts to address several key terms of increasing importance in both the higher education and media landscapes. As any instructor who has taught introductory media and communication courses will know, it is often difficult to find a ‘required’ textbook that exactly ‘fits the bill’. All textbooks are not created (or greeted) equally in the global higher education landscape. For those who are teaching in the United States and Britain the textbooks are full of pertinent and timely examples, along with stories that help illustrate numerous points and terms. As the media industry matures globally, educational learning facilities follow suit and western-based introductory textbooks are increasingly becoming less appropriate for use in other regions.

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