This Fall has been a busy one…(although I feel like everyone in the world says that). I’ve had the good fortune to teach three great classes, including a new course in social media where we are surveying the Hofstra campus about their social media habits (All undergraduate US university students, please take survey HERE). We have roughly 500 students surveyed to date, and are aiming to reach 1000 by Thanksgiving. We’re hoping to publish the study in the winter, with the School of Communication, in the hopes of showing how social media is changing the habits of students in a mid-size US University. Should be interesting to see what we find.

In other, news, I’ve been able to camp a few weekends, once with the family and once with friends in a cabin in Virginia, involving bb guns, bocce, and the usual discussions that don’t really amount to much but are as passionate as ever while they take place. Made me think about some important media issues this fall:

1. The Rent is Too Damn High – Jimmy McMillan stormed onto the scene this pass week at the Gubernatorial Debate hosted by Hofstra. While we vote this Tuesday, I think McMillan’s showing and following at the debate is a refreshing take in this world of prescriptive political discourse. The entire debate, and McMillan in general, had a surreal feeling to it, like I’ve never experienced in a political debate before. The interesting thing to me was the next day, thinking more about the dialog of the candidates rather than the theater. I think the fringe candidates held the debate to some accountability, and it was a good thing. People may disagree, but it

2. The Ruthless Double Down (surprise image below) – There is apparently a price for everything…and so my students convinced me. After reading about KFCs ruthless new ad ploy for their double down sandwich (500 calories, see the surprise “buns”), the media reacted in sarcasm and disbelief. However, when I polled my class, they were not so shocked, but mentioned that for the money, they would happily hand out sandwich in tight red sweatpants with double down written on the “buns” (hehe). Not sure what I want to say about this, just think we need to know about it.

3. Tuned-In: And in BIG news, the social media habits survey I mentioned above is part of a Social Media Literacy Project that will launch this winter, titled “Tuned-In.” The web space is not built and running, and will serve as a home for research, resources, a user-forum, and space for commentary about social media, education, and citizenship in today’s information age. The

I’ll be in London in November for the Media Literacy conference, and in Toronto for the DIY Citizenship conference as well. I’ll hope to

Follow “socialmedialit” (or pmihailidis) on Twitter to hear about these research projects and other interesting media literacy and social media news as the fall turns into winter.

Until then, here’s a great image to leave you with: A country where our bread is now made of chicken….

Things are going to be busy this fall, with a new course I’m teaching in social media, travel for conferences to London and Toronto, and an old guys getaway to a cabin in rural virginia. All exciting stuff, but all comes with lots of work.

Additionally, the Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change this summer was a blast. 50 students from 18 nationalities came to the 2010 Academy, and produced some amazing work. See all their products and results at: www.salzburg.umd.edu. You can also read an article on the experience at The Media Spot, written by visiting Academy scholar Rhys Daunic.

This fall, I’ll be transitioning to more writing and posting at my new site dedicated to the exploration of social media and citizenship. It’s called Tuned-In, and you can CLICK HERE to visit the site.

Enjoy the beginning of the semester, and please check in soon

PLEASE VISIT WWW.SALZBURG.UMD.EDU for more details on the program, partners, participants, and how to apply.

As alwasy, contact me for more details.

Thanks

Beyond Cynicism: Civic Engagement and Digital Media
The International Journal for Learning and Media (IJLM) now includes an online space for a community of editors, authors, reviewers, and readers to engage in scholarly and practical discussions around the Journal’s peer-reviewed articles, case studies and news to extend and enhance the discourse around digital media and learning.

We have posted our first panel discussion based on work published in the current issue, 1:3. Read the articles, watch the panel video recording and weigh in on the discussion of how scholars from different fields and traditions are defining civic engagement and media literacy today.

The Panelists
Paul Mihailidis, Assistant Professor of Media Studies, Hofstra University
Joseph E. Kahne, John and Martha Davidson Chair, Dean of the School of Education, Research Director of Civic Engagement Research Group, Mills College
Chris Wells, Center for Communication and Civic Engagement, University of Washington, Seattle

led by…
David Buckingham, Professor of Education and Director of the Centre for the Study of Children, Youth and Media at the Institute of Education, University of London and co-editor of IJLM

Watch and Discuss

Click here to watch the IJLM 1:3 forum and log in to participate in the conversation.

_____________________

The International Journal of Learning and Media (IJLM) provides a forum for scholars, researchers, and practitioners to examine the changing relationships between learning and media across a wide range of forms and settings.

David Buckingham, Tara McPherson, and Katie Salen, editors

Published quarterly by the MIT Press, in partnership with the Monterey Institute for Technology in Education, and with support from the
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

IJLM

http://ijlm.net

IJLM 1:3 Forum

http://ijlm.net/forum/13-forum-civic-engagement-media-and-learning

1. Wife delivered our first baby, a daughter named Emma Cresse Mihailidis. 11/16/09, 6lb, 14oz, 20inches, full head of greek hair, makes noises like a goat. She’s awesome.

2. D Xmas is revived. Complete with an herbal late night at the Kong and Auntie D’s hanging.

3. Newsday, of Cablevision…the “smartest company in the world,” after deciding to get rid of its product on the Hofstra campus (and alienate 12000 potential readers) decides to make people pay for their web site. Well done, smart, and well thoughout. If you own their optimum cable/internet plan, they don’t allow espn360.com to be played on your computer. These guys keep doing things right…I can’t wait to read about their next greatest move.

4. hope you enjoy the site and please be in touch about anything, including media literacy, media in general, or whatever else suits your fancy.

Happy New Year – pm

Here’s the cover of the report, and the teaser on the web site:

At all levels of education, initiatives in media literacy are premised on teaching youth and young adults to consume media critically—from how media shape political messages to the increasing pervasiveness of advertising.  But the challenges to such initiatives are daunting. Schools need the necessary resources and educators the requisite expertise and training to teach media literacy.  Supporting media literacy education for youth can help prepare children and young adults for lives of active inquiry and give them a better understanding of the ties between information, community, and democracy. This report, by Paul Mihailidis, professor of journalism, media and public relations at Hofstra University, makes the case that as media become more central to the development of youth in society, funders should recognize that media literacy education for youth is an important part of democratic development.

You can find the report, and download it by Clicking: Media Literacy: Empowering Youth Worldwide

This report is the third in a series of ML reports. The first two were written by Dr. Susan Moeller at the University of Maryland. See all reports by visiting; ML reports, CIMA at NED 2009

In between all the Obama coverage was….guess….you have it yet: David Letterman’s affair and the possible repurcussions. This is CNN. The person on the afternoon show is a pinhead (to use an O’Reilly word), and just stares at the screen and goes to correspondents to talk about these things. It’s amazing. So my thought is that this is indeed news, and relevant at that, but not to the extent that the cable networks show it. And they analyze this. Any rational or emotional person understands that a committee picking a city to host the Olympics has nothing to do with a president or any stump speech. I’m dumbfounded.

Then I thought that maybe the Internet and headlines are the greatest: they allow us to be monitoral. Scan headllines, read what we deem newsworthy. That’s were empowerment is. And I usually want to vomit after I’m in the dentist for a while…today seeing the dentist was a relief because I knew that he would shut the f*cking television off.