ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that it is essential to have hybrid, globally networked classrooms to experience and challenge the assumptions of current diaspora studies by making tangible the residual and ongoing effects of displacement. Instead of limiting the understanding of diaspora to the traditional sociohistorical studies of migrating and displaced peoples, the methodology did not stop there; it focused on audiovisual representations of these diasporas-how diasporic subjects represent themselves and how others represent them. The course objective was to make the seam between the real and its representation readable while emphasizing historical specificity. This chapter shows how the course raised skill levels of visual literacy and analytical competencies for all students, as well as how globally networked class (GNC) and pedagogy brought an experiential awareness to the study of diasporas. The globally networked class contributed to an interdisciplinary critique of diaspora studies as an academic subject to historic specificity with visual literacy, sound analysis, and the critical experience of 'the gap'.
