Courageous Rhode Island was a whole-of-society community education initiative to prevent targeted violence and terrorism through strengthening media literacy and active listening. This two-year program included three programs for adults, educators, and youth. Although it was specifically designed for the residents of Rhode Island, it reached a local, national, and international audience.
Courageous Conversations. For adults, we offered an online dialogue and discussion program that brought people together to address the role of media and technology in amplifying the fear and hate that leads to violence. We designed, implemented, and assessed an online discussion series to increase awareness of the risks of harmful propaganda and disinformation. We modeled the use of media literacy concepts to analyze media messages and gave people practice in active listening to reduce conflict. The program reached 1,986 people, and research findings show that participants increased their active listening and media literacy knowledge and skills, while reducing defensiveness and increasing intellectual humility.
Courageous Professional Development (PD) Program. Fifty-four secondary and college educators participated in a ten-hour online professional development program that modeled learning activities that activate critical thinking about media, active listening, kindness and compassion, and community engagement. Most educators created and implemented at least one lesson and some developed more intensive units. Educators reached 10,278 students during the 2023–2024 academic year. Although they perceive that teaching about propaganda and disinformation is risky, especially in the current political climate, educators used a range of instructional practices to support student learning. Research found statistically significant increases in educators’ confidence, strategy, knowledge, and skills in bringing media literacy pedagogies into the curriculum.
Courageous Youth Media Contest (YMC). We developed a student media contest for middle school, high school, and college youth, who were invited to create written, visual, video, and audio content to highlight the value of media literacy and active listening to reduce the hate and fear that leads to violence. We received 71 submissions of print (including essays, poetry, and opinions), video (documentary, informational, and persuasive), audio (including podcasts and an original musical composition), and graphic design (print brochures and memes). We awarded 20 prizes to students for their creative writing, graphic designs, videos, and original songs. Some student-created media works were displayed on two highway billboards, reaching an audience of 984,104 drivers in RI. An additional 130,000 social media users saw student work that featured on posts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and X.
The University of Rhode Island received a grant for COURAGEOUS RI from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, opportunity number DHS-22-TTP-132-00-01.