fandomhigh | World Wars and the Media, Tuesday

"Good morning, everyone." Mitchell's cheer seemed a little heavy on the sheepish side that morning. "I'm Mitchell. Not Professor Mitchell - I hear you have to go to school to earn that. Welcome to World Wars and the Media. Which is a fairly impressive title and sounds properly academic, which I'm not." Unless you counted that stint in Oxford in the thirties, and Mitchell had made very sure at the time no one was around to remember that. At least it was a little more optimistic than his original idea of starting the class, which had involved saying I have absolutely no idea how to teach a class like this and possibly George having a massive fit, if things went the way they tended to.

"But let's not linger on that. The 20th century is famous for its global wars and equal consequences," he segued. "It's equally famous for being a time at which the media exploded all over the place, giving us film, radio, television, the internet..." He looked momentarily wistful. "Obviously, these two cross-pollinated. Through propaganda, but also through the reverse. Rebellions were started and extinguished with the help of rising technology. Unlike previous centuries, there was suddenly this mass of... possibility," he made an enthusiastic gesture with his hands, "Where in the middle of an armed conflict, one single image could travel around the world and change everything. The way the people saw it, the way the people thought about it... It's a powerful tool."

He paused, leaning forward against his desk. "I'm not going to bore you with more general babbling," he said, "But we'll be here to look at and discuss a lot of these things. Of course, to do so, we have to know what we're starting with. So starting with you," he pointed out a random student, "I want your name, I want when and where you're from, and I want to know what you think about war. In a very general sense. What images spring to mind what you think about it? What stories have formed the way you look at the First World War, or the Second, if you even know what those are? Or if you don't, what stories have formed the way you look at the wars of your own place and time?"

Beat.

"Also, have some tea."

[[ ~~wait for the~~ ocd up! ]]

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Kate had a very important question to ask Mitchell after class.

"Do I get any extra points for not breaking cat-related rules and actually showing up as a human for introductions this time?"

...So, maybe it wasn't actually an important question.

Mitchell looked up when she approached; he chuckled lightly at her question. "I'll see if there's any grading rules about it," he granted.

"At this school? I wouldn't be surprised if there were," Kate grinned. "Considering there's at least one person that tried to take his finals while he was a dog."

"Really?" he asked, perking up. "Who was that?"

"Zack Fair," she said. "Unfortunately I wasn't there to see it, but apparently he wasn't going to let a bad case of the puppy screw up his finals."

"Zack?" Mitchell repeated, "He was in my first class, I think. He did seem very dogged about everything."

Kate gave him a 'wow that was a bad pun' sort of look.

And then totally tried to come up with another one, but failed.

He grinned lightly. "Don't hurt your brain," he said, "It takes a lot of life experience to come up with these."

"Or you've totally been collecting a bunch of dog puns for a while now, just waiting for the right time to use them," she snorted.

"Well, you seem to be on to me," said Mitchell, telling the complete and utter truth. He was awesome like that.

"Oh I'm so onto you. I have awesome powers of perception," Kate grinned.

"But apparently also bad memory. I'm pretty sure I had something to tell you, other than that I'm not a cat, but yeah. No idea what it was."

"Clearly," Mitchell returned, cheerfully, "You just haven't had enough tea. Or it's the lack of a television in the room that's putting you off."

"I've had enough tea, thanks," Kate said, making a face. "I think it's more about being coffee-deprived. And probably the television thing too."

"I prefer coffee, too," Mitchell finally admitted, "But tea gives the whole thing that academic spirit."

"Stuffy and British spirit," Kate corrected him. "Which is just confusing for everyone."

"Especially since I'm Irish," Mitchell offered, a laugh in his voice.

"I know, that's what I meant," Kate noted, smirking. "I'm not deaf, you know."

World Wars and the Media, Tuesday

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