DIGITAL LITERACIES & SOCIAL ACTIVISM
RTVF 4450/5660: Topics Course
Spring 2015
University of North Texas
Department of Media Arts
Instructor: Dr. Jacqueline Vickery
Office Hours: Tues. & Thurs. 12:30-1:50 & by appointment
Office Location: RTFP 237
Email:
Twitter: @JacVick
Course Meets: Tuesdays & Thursdays 2:00-3:20 in RTFP 180F
If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.
Course description: This course examines the intersection of media literacy, participatory cultures, network society, media advocacy, and social activism within the context of evolving technologies and social practices. The concept of literacy is undergoing a transformation as a result of changes in media, technology, education, and society. Scholars, educators, and professionals are recognizing the importance of digital literacy to citizenship, education, information-sharing, identity exploration, and community building. In order to be digitally literate you must understand technological affordances of communities and online tools, the pedagogical implications of participatory media cultures, the ethics and legal struggles around authorship and intellectual property, changing notions of public and private, and know how to leverage knowledge and skills in an increasingly global and networked society.
New media provide avenues for students and citizens to collaborate, organize, and share ideas across different networks and can be powerful tools for social change and education. In this course, students will critically consider how media can be used as a tool to advocate for social/political change and social justice. While engaging in scholarly and activist literature on media, social change, and advocacy, students will work together on a project/campaign/movement/advocacy of their choice. The class is designed to be collaborative, participatory, and project-based. Students will create media, curate an online presence, participate in online communities, and work together on creative multimedia projects that serve an awareness building and/ or social activist purpose.
Course objectives - By the end of the course students will:
- Learn media advocacy skills to advocate for social and political change and social justice through engaging with theories, case studies, application, and participation.
- Be able to think critically about how media can be harnessed to advocate for social and political change and social justice.
- Know how to leverage knowledge and skills for acquisition of social capital in a networked society
- Know how to collaborate and curate information in an online environment
- Understand the historical, contextual, local, and global implications of changing technological norms and practices
- Use a variety of online tools for collaboration, education, information seeking, and media production
Evaluation & Assessment (assignments will be further explained throughout the semester)
10 reading quizzes – 5 points each = 50 points
Breaching Social Norms Reflection – 15 points
Pop-up/Weavly video – 25 points
PowToon video – 25 points
Fact-finding analysis – 30 points
Infographic – 25 points
Curated blog posts – 10 points, 2 total = 20 points
Call to action – 25 points
Media component of choice – 30 points
Presentation – 15 points
Final campaign – 40 points
Total points possible: 300
270-300 points = A
240-269 points = B
210-239 = C
180-209 = D
Fewer than 180 = F
Social Activism / Media Advocacy Group Campaign:
As a group, you will select a social activism and/or media advocacy campaign (must have instructor approval). The campaign must work towards social or political change and/or social justice. Your goal is to learn about the issue & create clickable, spreadable, and interactive digital content and information that supports the mission/cause. While much of the contributions will be online, you are encouraged to have offline components to the campaign as well. The campaign has specific requirements, but also allows you to create content and activities of your choice. Components include:
1. A website that will serve as your hub for information and all media created
2. Fact-finding & framing analysis
3. An animated video
4. Infographic
5. Factual information presented in a concise, clickable, informative, and engaging format
6. Curated content about the topic/issue in the form of blog posts
7. A call to action (must have instructor approval): e.g. petition, fundraiser, rally, protest, screening, letter writing campaign, community event, flash mob, user-generated content submissions, other ideas upon instructor approval
8. Media component of your choice (must have instructor approval): e.g. app, game, PSA, curriculum/lesson plan, badge, podcast, shareable video, remix, mashup, other ideas upon instructor approval
Peer Evaluations
Because much of the course is based on group work, you have the opportunity to assess your peers with each group assignment. This means that every member of the group may not receive the same grade on every assignment. If your group struggles to work together I encourage you to come see me ASAP so we can work towards a solution.
Attendance: Quizzes & In-Class Activities
I do not take attendance every day. However, there will be 11 pop quizzes based on readings: 10 count towards your grade; I drop the lowest quiz grade including a zero. These will be administered at the beginning of class and you must be present to take the quiz. There are no make-up opportunities for missed quizzes. Additionally, there are 11 in-class assignments in the course. You can miss one without penalty, but after that you will lose 5 points from your overall final grade for every additional in-class assignment you miss. Work for the in-class assignments is due at the end of the class period (unless otherwise noted in class that day). Much of the work is group-based so it is crucial you make every effort to be present on those days. So while I do not technically take attendance every day, missing more than 1 or 2 class periods will negatively affect your final grade in the course. To reiterate: you must be present for the quizzes and in-class activities – there are no make-up opportunities for either of these.
Late Assignments
You will lose a full letter grade on the assignment for every day your assignment is late. Assignments more than 3 days late will NOT be accepted; this means you will receive an automatic “0” for the assignment (e.g. if an assignment is due Thursday, you have until Sunday to still turn it in before it becomes a “0”).
Extra Credit
I may occasionally offer an extra credit opportunity to the entire class; if so it is completely optional. No extra credit opportunities will be offered on an individual basis, so not ask. If you are struggling with the course materials, then come see me for additional guidance and resources. Do not wait until the end of the semester to try to salvage your grade.
Bring Your Own Device Policy
We will use laptops (or mobile devices) frequently in the class, so please bring one if you have access. If you do not have access to a laptop or tablet, please come see me. I do not mind the use of technology during lectures and discussions so long as you use it responsibly, do not distract your peers or yourself. Technology can and should enhance the learning environment, thus I trust that you will only use it responsibly in my class.
Grad Students Only
See instructor for additional requirements so as to earn grad credit for the course.
Important Due Dates:
Ø February 5: Campaign proposals due (group)
Ø February 12: Breaching social media norms reflection due (individual)
Ø February 19: Website template & URL due (group)
Ø March 5: Pop-up/Weavly video due (individual)
Ø March 26: Fact-finding & framing analysis due (group)
Ø March 26: Final project proposals due (group)
Ø April 9: Animated video due (group)
Ø April 23: Infographic due (group)
Ø May 5: In-class presentations (group)
Ø May 7: In-class presentations (group)
Ø May 14: Final projects due (group)
Ø T.B.D. by your group: 2 blog posts per person in your group (see sign-up sheet) (individual)
Weekly Topics & Tentative Reading Schedule
Week 1: Digital Culture
Jan 20: no readings
Jan. 22: Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading? – Rich (online)
Week 2: What the Heck is Media Literacy?
Jan. 27: Introduction to Media Literacy – Media Literacy Project (BB)
Jan. 29: The Seven Great Debates in the Media Literacy Movement – Hobbs (BB)
In-Class Activity: Watch & analyze Killing Us Softly
Week 3: Ok, So What about Digital Literacy?
*Submit Proposed Campaign Topics Feb. 5*
Feb. 3: Defining Digital Literacy – What Do Young People Need to Know About Digital Media? – Buckingham (BB)
Feb. 5: Introduction to NetSmart (pp. 12-26) – Rheingold (BB)
In-Class Activity: Deconstructing a media message
Week 4: Social Activism & Advocacy (before the internet)
*Breaching Social Media Norms Reflection due Feb. 12*
Feb. 10: Small Change: The revolution will not be Tweeted – Gladwell (Online)
Feb. 12: Before there were Memes, There was LOVE, AIDS, and RIOTS – Visual Aids (online); The Enduring Power of Posters to Promote & Provoke Dooley (online)
In-class Activity: Generating memes & web design
Week 5: Social Activism & Advocacy (now with extra strength internet!)
*Website Template due Feb. 19*
Feb. 17: Introduction to Contagious – Berger (BB)
Feb. 19: Selected readings from Spreadable Media– Jenkins, Ford, & Green (BB)
In-Class Activity: Guest speaker Nicole Warncke (Activist, M.F.A. documentary student, & former YTech Youth Media Educator)
Week 6: (Pop) Culture Jamming
Feb. 24: “Cultural acupuncture”: Fan activism and the Harry Potter Alliance – Jenkins (online)
Feb. 26: Pranking Rhetoric: “Culture Jamming” as Media Activism – Harold (BB)
In-Class Activity – Remix / culture jamming
Week 7: Narrative Power Analysis
*Pop-up/Weavly video due March 5*
March 3 selections from Re:imagining Change – Canning and Reinsborough (BB)
March 5: No readings
In-Class Activity: Frame analysis
Week 8: Hashtag Activism
March 10: Hashtag Feminism, #SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen, and the Other #FemFuture – Loza (online)
March 12: Hashtag Campaign Didn’t ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ – Bauer (online); Angry Twitter Users Hijack Robin Thicke’s #AskThicke Hashtag – Baker-Whitelaw (online); The Bill Cosby #CosbyMeme Hashtag Backfired Immediately – Aurthur (online)
In-Class Activity: Analysis of a collective hashtag
Week 9: Spring Break
March 17 & 19 no classes – have a safe and fun break!
Week 10: Media Education & Representation
*Fact-finding & framing analysis & final project proposal due March 26*
March 24: Watch famous feminists read mean tweets about themselves – Plank (online); Slutwalk: The Media, The Message, and the Gaze - Papy (online)
March 26: No readings
In-Class Activity: Screen: Miss Representation & video conference with Dr. Aaminah Norris (Director of Education & Research for The Representation Project)
Week 11: Commodity Activism
March 31: “Free Self-Esteem Tools?”: Brand Culture, Gender, and the Dove Real Beauty Campaign –Banet-Weiser (BB)
April 2: Good Housekeeping: Green Products and Consumer Activism – Littler (BB)
In-Class Activity: Who benefits from consumer activism?
Week 12: Media Activism vs. Slacktivism?
*PowToon/Animation Due April 9*
April 7: Invisible Children and the Cyberactivst Spectator – Pepper (BB)
April 9: The Difference between Slacktivism & Activism: How Kony 2012 is Narrowing the Gap – Bailyn (online)
In-Class Activity: Watch & analyze Kony 2012
Week 13: Digital Footprints & Digital Shadows
April 14: Corrupt Personalization – Sandvig (online)
April 16: Watch: “The curly fry conundrum: Why social media ‘likes’ say more than you might think” – Ted Talk Jennifer Golbeck (online)
In-Class Activity: Analyzing your digital footprint and digital shadows
Week 14: (Mis)Information
*Infographic Due April 23*
April 21: In-Class Work Day; no reading
April 23: Rumors, False Flags, and Digital Vigilantes: Misinformation on Twitter after the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing – Starbird et al. (BB)
Week 15: Free Speech & Censorship
April 28: Facebook Still Doesn’t Consider Rape Jokes to Be Hate Speech – Broderick (online); Now, Will Twitter Take the Harassment of Women Seriously? – Woollacott (online); The Laborers Who Keep Dick Pics and Beheadings Out of Your Facebook Feed – Chen (online)
April 30: Out-of-class work day; no reading
Week 16: Presentations
May 5: In-Class Presentations
May 7: In-Class Presentations
Week 17: Finals Week
Final projects MUST be submitted by 3:30 on Thursday, May 14 – NO LATE WORK ACCEPTED!
Bibliography
Aurthur, K. (2014). The Bill Cosby #CosbyMeme hashtag backfired immediately. BuzzFeed. http://www.buzzfeed.com/kateaurthur/the-bill-cosby-cosbymeme-hashtag-backfired-immediately#.rp6EZaNA6.
Bailyn, E. (2012). The difference between slacktivism and activism: How Kony 2012 is narrowing the gap. Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/evan-bailyn/kony-2012-activism_b_1361791.html
Baker-Whitelaw, G. (2014). Angry Twitter users hijack Robin Thicke’s #AskThicke hashtag. Daily Dot. http://www.dailydot.com/entertainment/robin-thicke-twitter/.
Banet-Weiser, S. (2012). “Free Self-Esteem Tools?”: Brand culture, gender, and the Dove Real Beauty campaign. In R. Mukherjee and S. Banet-Weiser (Eds.) Commodity Activism, pp.39-56, New York: NYU Press.
Bauer, G. (2014). Hashtag campaign didn’t ‘bring back our girls’. IndyStar. http://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/2014/08/07/hashtag-campaign-bring-back-girls/13717045/.
Berger, J. (2013). Contagious: why things catch on. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Broderick, R. (2013). Facebook still doesn’t consider rape jokes to be hate speech. BuzzFeed News. http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/facebook-still-doesnt-consider-rape-jokes-to-be-hate-speech#.vmXmYKPqN.
Buckingham, D. (2006). Defining digital literacy – what do young people need to know about digital media? Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy (1), pp. 263-276.
Canning, D. and Reinsborough, P.(2010). Re:Imagining Change: How to use story-based strategy to win campaigns, build movements, and change the world. PM Press.
Chen, A. (2014). The laborers who keep dick pics and beheadings out of your Facebook feed. Wired. http://www.wired.com/2014/10/content-moderation/.
Dewey, C. (2014). The only guide to Gamergate you will ever need to read. Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/10/14/the-only-guide-to-gamergate-you-will-ever-need-to-read/
Dooley, M. (2014). The enduring power of posters to promote and provoke. Print Mag. http://www.printmag.com/design-inspiration/power-of-posters/.
Golbeck, J. (2014). The curly fry conundrum: why social media “likes” say more than you might think. TED Talk. http://www.ted.com/talks/jennifer_golbeck_the_curly_fry_conundrum_why_social_media_likes_say_more_than_you_might_think?language=en.