Experimental College

Instructor Spotlight: Jazmyne Garrett

Jazmyne Garrett teaches EXP-0050-E: Reality TV & Perceptions of Love
Jazmyne Garrett smiling by a grassy hill in a colorful sweater and black dress

Tell us about yourself and what inspired you to teach this course

I am a senior majoring in education and CSHD. My hometown is Brooklyn, NY. What inspired me to teach this course was my screenplay that I wrote for my Screenwriting I class. The play follows Trina navigating her time through a reality tv dating show. The more I wrote the play, the more invested I got into the background of reality tv dating shows. 

What is one thing people should take away from how love is depicted in reality TV? 

Despite the name, reality tv depicts authentic moments under heavily structured settings. From the long waking hours to the meticulously crafted editing techniques and sound bites, reality tv manufactures emotional intensity by compressing relationship development into an unrealistic timeline. People should take away that these shows offer stories, not blueprints for real relationships through highlighting entertainment over accuracy when it comes to depicting what healthy, effective relationships look like.

If Tufts had a reality dating show, what would the premise be?

Blind Study Dates with students from different departments. As the dates progress, they’ll experience a series of different outside distractions that can potentially change the relationship. The couple with the least distractions wins.

What do you hope that students will take away from your course?

I hope that after taking my course my students can develop a more analytical perspective while watching reality tv dating shows. I also want them to think more critically about our media exposure and how media tends to highlight binary social and gender norms that are not inclusive and accurate of the reality it claims to be representing. 

What is something that has happened in your course that you are excited about?

I recently hosted a class watch party where we watched “UnReal”, a show that goes behind the scenes of producing a reality tv dating show. It put all of the concepts we’ve gone over in class in practice to broaden the students’ understanding.