Selfie, Offered As A Course In US University

Selfie has been trending on the internet for a long time now. People take pictures of themselves

when they are in the bathroom, kitchen, toilet, Plane, Restaurant, Cars etc and post it on their social media page with the caption Selfie. Many individuals have their own understanding or definition of selfie.

According to reports, students at a top California University can now take a course devoted to 'Selfie'. The first year class  is called Writing and Critical Reasoning.:Identity and Diversity, although at the University of Southern California Campus it is better known as # SelfieClass, LA Times reports.

The course explores how individuals constructs " an image of their identity - their gender, their ethnicity, their sexuality, their socioeconomic status" in selfie, says associate Professor Mark Marino.

It also examines audience response to each image, a process he describes as "the co-creation of identity". Students have to examine both their own selfie and those taken by  celebrities - an early exercise asks them to consider what can be gleaned from a photo Beyonce took of her own feet.

While some people consider selfie-taking a sign of modern  narcissism, the Prof. disagrees, arguing it's just the latest way humans have found to communicate.  "The process began  the first time someone put their hands on the wall of a Cave and it continued with the written letters, painted selfie-portraits and personal diaries," he tells the Chinese News Agency Xinhua.

To prevent things from becoming too selfie-obsessed, students have to take part in a service project, helping local young people to apply for University scholarships. That elements of the course encourages them to interact with people beyond their online social networks, Prof. Marino tells LA Times, describing it as " selfie awareness".