It's been said that the lack of scholarship about the history of media literacy has been a source of some of the conflicts and debates among scholars and practitioners. Media literacy stands at the intersection of the fields of media studies and education, and these scholars have divergent perspectives on the past, present and future of the field. Â
The history of media literacy education represents an alternative counternarrative to the history of media effects and media studies scholarship. Media literacy is interdisciplinary, drawing upon important scholarship in education, the arts and humanities as well as the social sciences. Â
Now a new book aims to address this challenge by exploring the metaphorical "grandparents" whose theories and ideas have shaped the present generation of thought leaders in the field. Designed to introduce undergraduates and graduate students to key theorists, Exploring the Roots of Digital and Media Literacy though Personal Narrative (Temple University Press, 2016) includes essays from Henry Jenkins, Douglas Kellner, David Weinberger, Donna Alvermann, Lance Strate, Gianna Cappello, Susan Moeller, Dana Polan and many others. By weaving together two sets of personal stories -- that of the contributing author and that of the key ideas and life history of the historical figure under scrutiny -- major concepts of digital media and learning emerge.Â
Chapters include an examination of John Dewey, Marshall McLuhan, Roland Barthes and others whose writing and scholarship at the turn of the 20th century has offered insights to contemporary scholars trying to understand the practices involved in accessing, analyzing, and reflecting on mass media, popular culture and digital media. Instructors seeking to introduce today's students to key theorists and philosophers in the fields of media studies and education in undergraduate and graduate courses in Digital Literacy, Media Literacy, Techology in Education, and Mass Media and Society will welcome this book's use of personal stories that connect the best ideas of the past to the challenges of the present and future.Â
Historical Roots of Media Literacy by Renee Hobbs
David Weinberger on Martin Heidegger
Lance Strate on Marshall McLuhan
Dana Polan on Roland Barthes
Cynthia Lewis on Mikhail Bakhtin
Srivi Ramasubramanian on Gordon Allport
Michael RobbGrieco on Michel Foucault
Gianna Cappello on Theodor Adorno
Douglas Kellner on Herbert Marcuse
Henry Jenkins on John Fiske
Amy Petersen Jensen on Bertolt Brecht
Donna E. Alvermann on Simone de Beauvoir
Jeremiah Dyehouse on John Dewey
Renee Hobbs on Jerome Bruner
Vanessa Domine on Neil Postman
Peter Gutierrez on Scott McCloud
Epilogue by Renee HobbsÂ
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