This professor is dedicating an entire course to discussing selfies

Selfies are often frowned upon in academic settings, where it's wise to put your phone away and listen to your teacher. But for one lucky group of students, the selfies are now the

course material. Eve Bottando, an Indiana University Northwest communications professor, will explore selfies in a 400-level class this fall. "People think selfies aren't worthy of

nuanced conversations, and they are," she told the _Chicago Tribune_. "It's an excellent teaching moment." SUBSCRIBE TO THE WEEK Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts

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class will discuss research being done on selfies as well as the questions the pictures raise about our society. One real-world example: Is it okay to post Holocaust memorial selfies on

Grindr? And Bottando isn't alone in her academic interest. At the University of Southern California, one freshman class focused on what selfies say about our ethnic, gender, sexual, and

class identities. Go ahead, bring your best duckface to class this year. Explore More STEM Speed Reads