Cynthia Lewis, Professor of critical literacy and english education (department of Curriculum and Instruction), presented a featured session at the Assembly for Research of the National Council of Teachers of English conference in Madison, Wisconsin on February 19th. Also presenting in the session entitled “Digital Media as Activism and Academics in an Urban High School: The DigMe Program” were English teacher and DigMe co-developer, Delainia Haug and David Cruz Nava, a graduate of Roosevelt High School who showed videos he created while a student in Haug’s English classes and discussed his films as activism related to immigration reform. The session provided an overview of the digital media curriculum and the findings of a study on students’ critical engagement in the class.
Eight graduate students from literacy education also attended the conference. Three students presented papers: Candance Doerr-Stevens presented “Forging Space for New Identities and Literacy Practices through Digital Media Consumption of Radio Documentaries”; Heidi Jones presented “Oscillating Identities: Utlizing and Online Role Play in a Writing Methods Course”; and Rachel Hatten presented 21st Century Skills, the Push for Blended Classrooms, and the View from the Trenches.”