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media_activism [2022/12/12 13:01] – ntnsndrmedia_activism [2025/08/11 17:48] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1
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 **MDST 5002** **MDST 5002**
  
-Depending on whom you ask, media-powered activism can sound like either a silver bullet or a lost cause. It's often both at the same time and more in between. Through hands-on examination of the strategies and tactics of movements, past and present, we'll discover how media can shape social change and how we can become more savvy media practitioners ourselves.+Depending on whom you ask, media-powered activism can sound like either a silver bullet or a lost cause. It's often both at the same time and more in between. Through examining the strategies and tactics of movements, past and present, we'll discover how media can shape social change and how we can become more savvy media practitioners ourselves.
  
-The central themes of this course are power, agency, and narrative in media for social change. Whom does a particular media choice empower, and whom does it render as a passive consumer? How do we choose our heroes, and what are the consequences of those choices? How can we tell stories of change that invite people to take part in changing the world? Our work will consist of close reading, familiarizing ourselves with relevant debates, and honing our own practice.+The central challenge of this course is to develop a working theory of how social change can happen and the role of media in it. When is spreading a message sufficient, and when is building institutional power necessary? How can we design media with accountability to affected people? How can we tell stories of change that invite people to take part in changing the world? Our work will consist of close reading, forming a space of mutual support, and honing our own practice in collaboration with community partners.
  
 ## Instructor ## Instructor
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   * Cultivate habits of media activism by doing it through passionate, strategic, pragmatic advocacy   * Cultivate habits of media activism by doing it through passionate, strategic, pragmatic advocacy
   * Analyze theories and lessons from a wide range of social-change campaigns throughout history and around the world   * Analyze theories and lessons from a wide range of social-change campaigns throughout history and around the world
-  * Articulate a theory of change that informs community-engaged work +  * Articulate a theory of change that informs media practice 
-  * Create a ready-to-deploy media intervention through collaboration with a social-change agent+  * Create a ready-to-deploy media intervention in collaboration with community partners
  
 ## Expectations ## Expectations
  
-### Weekly+As a foundation for all else, students are expected to complete the weekly reading assignments. This does not necessarily mean microscopic reading of every page, but it does mean engaging rigorously with portions of particular interest, as well as familiarizing oneself with the works as a whole and thinking critically about their interconnections. Come to class prepared with notes on specific quotations and ideas that you want to discuss.
  
-Students are expected to complete the weekly reading assignments. This does not necessarily mean microscopic reading of every page, but it does mean engaging rigorously with portions of particular interest, as well as familiarizing oneself with the works as a whole and thinking critically about their interconnections.+### Interventions (30%)
  
-#### Interventions (30%)+Most weeks, students turn in an Intervention. These Interventions are simple, informal multimedia sketches that contain a) a challenge or problem related to the week's texts and b) an outline for an original strategy that addresses it. Interventions need not be realistic for students to carry out; students may imagine themselves as representing better-resourced organizations, real or imaginary. The purpose of this assignment is to explore our own sense of agency and to exercise adventuresome thinking. Over the course of the semester, a student's Interventions may address various topics, or they can connect in a way that builds toward the final project.
  
-Each week, students turn in an Intervention. These Interventions are simple, informal multimedia sketches that contain a) a challenge or problem related to the week's texts and b) an outline for an original strategy that addresses it. Interventions need not be realistic for students to carry out; students may imagine themselves as representing better-resourced organizations, real or imaginary. The purpose of this assignment is to explore our own sense of agency and to exercise adventuresome thinking. Over the course of the semester, a student's Interventions may address various topics, or they can connect in a way that builds toward the final project.+Interventions may take the form of a drawing, infographic, game, video, skit, text, art installation, business plan, social media campaign, or other media, digital or otherwise. In any case, they must be submitted digitally as a new thread in the appropriate discussion topic for each week's unit. They should amount to the equivalent of one interesting page's worth of material. Each Intervention should:
  
-Interventions may take the form of a drawing, infographic, game, video, skit, text, art installation, business plan, social media campaign, or other media, digital or otherwise. In any case, they must be submitted digitally as a new thread in the appropriate discussion topic for each week's unit. They should amount to the equivalent of one interesting page's worth of material. +  * Demonstrate a sophisticated grasp of assigned texts
- +
-  * Demonstrate a sophisticated grasp of one or more assigned texts+
   * Communicate a problem and a creative proposal by which to address it, expressed through appropriate and engaging media   * Communicate a problem and a creative proposal by which to address it, expressed through appropriate and engaging media
   * Practice adventuresome thinking in both concept and presentation, using compelling media techniques to communicate the proposal   * Practice adventuresome thinking in both concept and presentation, using compelling media techniques to communicate the proposal
  
-Students are invited to view and comment on each other's Interventions. +Students are invited to view and comment on each other's Interventions on Canvas. They will also help guide our class discussions each week.
  
-#### Class discussions (30%)+### Class discussions (30%)
  
-Students should be active participants and make contributions to the oral discussion that reflect strenuous [[engagement with assigned sources|engagement]] with the assigned texts. Please come prepared to contribute original analysis, reflections, and critique. Inform the instructor ahead of time about any missed classes.+Students should be active participants and make contributions to the oral discussion that reflect strenuous [[engagement with assigned sources|engagement]] with the assigned texts. Come prepared to contribute original analysis, reflections, and critique.
  
-Evaluation of discussion contributions takes place twice: at the middle of the semester and at the end.+Evaluation of discussion contributions takes place twice: at the middle of the semester and at the end. Students are expected to:
  
-  * Engage actively and strenuously with the bulk of each unit's assigned texts over the course of that unit's comments, with direct quotations, evidence of close reading, and thoughtful analysis+  * Engage actively and strenuously with the bulk of each unit's assigned texts, demonstrating direct quotations, evidence of close reading, and thoughtful analysis
   * Interact respectfully and critically with fellow students, demonstrating careful attention to others and presenting reasoned articulations of one's views   * Interact respectfully and critically with fellow students, demonstrating careful attention to others and presenting reasoned articulations of one's views
  
 +Participation in all sessions is an expectation for the course. Full or partial absences from class, due to circumstances beyond the student's control, should be discussed with the instructor in advance.
 +
 +Before the end of each evaluation period, you are welcome to propose the grade you think you have earned with a one-paragraph explanation, in the relevant assignment in Canvas. The instructor will determine final grade, taking your input into account. 
  
 ### Final project (40%) ### Final project (40%)
  
-Each student will complete a final project that is ready to deploy upon completion, in partnership with a relevant organization, community, or company. Projects might consist of anything in the same range of media as the weekly Interventions---except, rather than mere sketches, this project must be fully implemented.+Each student will complete a final project that is ready to deploy upon completion, in partnership with a relevant organization, community, or mentor. Projects might consist of any sort of media intervention appropriate to the student's social-change goals. Projects do not need to be publicly released, but they should be plausibly ready for doing so. Accountability to partners is paramount; it is natural and expected that the project will evolve through the dynamics of collaboration.
  
-After discussing the topic with the instructor, students will turn in a proposal that explains and justifies the project's objective and medium. The proposal, as well as the final project itself, should reflect a sophisticated grasp of the themes and texts of the course. In particular, projects should convey an analysis of power and agency through which they intervene, resulting in a plausible case for making effective social change.+After discussing the topic with the instructor, students will turn in a proposal that explains and justifies the project's objective and medium. The proposal, as well as the final project itself, should reflect a sophisticated grasp of the themes and texts of the course. In particular, projects should convey an analysis of power and agency through which they intervene, resulting in a plausible case for making meaningful social change.
  
-Students will constructively review complete drafts of each other's projects before submitting the final draft. Students may choose to form groups of connected projects, but each student is responsible for turning in their own contribution independently. A revised version of the proposal must be turned in with the final project, in both the draft and final stages.+Students will constructively review complete drafts of each other's projects before submitting the final draft. A project statement must be turned in with the final project, in both the draft and final stages, which may be a revised and updated reworking of the proposal.
  
   * Proposal: **(40%)**   * Proposal: **(40%)**
-    * Explain and justify the project idea in a 1,800-to-2,000-word text with scholarly [[citation standards]] and a high degree of stylistic quality +    * Explain and justify the media intervention in a 1,800-to-2,000-word text with scholarly [[citation standards]] and a high degree of stylistic quality 
-    * Describe the community collaboration underway; propose an intended medium and the scope of project deliverables, including rationale for each +    * Describe the partner collaboration underway and the structure of accountability with the partner; articulate a clear objective for impact, reflecting an understanding of the intended audience 
-    * Articulate a clear objective for impact, reflecting an understanding of the intended audience, a relevant theory of power, and a theory of agency +    * Propose an intended medium and the scope of project deliverables, including rationale for each, in the context of an explicit theory of change 
-    * Include strong evidence of background research, citing relevant primary and [[:scholarly sources|scholarly sources]], while engaging with at least two assigned texts from the course+    * Include strong evidence of background research, engaging relevant primary and [[:scholarly sources|scholarly sources]], along with at least two assigned texts from the course
   * Complete draft: **(10%)**   * Complete draft: **(10%)**
-    * Produce a draft of the project that meets the expectations discussed in the proposal process +    * Circulate a draft of the project that fully represents the intended scope and quality 
-    * Include revised proposal+    * Include an updated project statement with the same specifications as the proposal
   * Peer review: **(10%)**   * Peer review: **(10%)**
     * Provide feedback for at least two fellow students' drafts, of at least two paragraphs each, with [[:peer review|these suggestions]] in mind     * Provide feedback for at least two fellow students' drafts, of at least two paragraphs each, with [[:peer review|these suggestions]] in mind
   * Final draft: **(40%)**   * Final draft: **(40%)**
-    * Produce a project that is polished, compelling, informed by peer review, and ready to deploy +    * Produce a media intervention that is polished, compelling, informed by peer review, and ready to deploy
-    * Reflect rigorous [[engagement with assigned sources|engagement with assigned sources]] and course themes, in project and/or revised proposal+
     * Demonstrate collaborative engagement with community partner, such as through testimonies or other evidence of their participation     * Demonstrate collaborative engagement with community partner, such as through testimonies or other evidence of their participation
-    * Present a plausible strategy for circulation, audience, and social change+    * Present a promising strategy for circulation, audience, and social change 
 +    * Include a project statement that meets the same specifications as the proposal
  
-#### Final grades+### Evaluation
  
-Based on the stated point structure, grades will be awarded as follows: A (94-100), A- (90-93), B+ (87-89), B (83-86), B- (80-82), C+ (77-79), C (73-76), C- (70-72), D+ (67-69), D (63-66), D- (60-62), F (0-59).  The minimum passing grade is 60 for undergraduates and 70 for graduate students.+Based on the stated point structure, grades will be awarded as follows: A (94-100), A- (90-93), B+ (87-89), B (83-86), B- (80-82), C+ (77-79), C (73-76), C- (70-72), D+ (67-69), D (63-66), D- (60-62), F (0-59). The minimum passing grade is 60 for undergraduates and 70 for graduate students.
  
-### Schedule+Extensions under extenuating circumstances are possible by arrangement with the instructor prior to the due date; otherwise, late work is subject to a penalty of one letter grade per day.
  
-Each week: +Generative AI is permitted but should be credited as such and must not serve as a substitute for doing your own thinking and work.
- +
-  * Interventions are due in the appropriate online discussion unit at noon on Tuesdays +
- +
-For the final project: +
- +
-  * Consult with the instructor on the final project concept, via email or meeting, by Tuesday, March 1 +
-  * Proposals are due on Canvas at noon on Tuesday, March 8 +
-  * Drafts are due in the online discussion at noon on Tuesday, April 19 +
-  * Peer review comments are due in the online discussion at noon on Thursday, April 21 +
-  * Final drafts are due in Canvas at noon on April 26+
  
 ## Agreements ## Agreements
  
-  * We work together to foster a respectful, mature, convivial community based on mutual learning through our diverse perspectives +  * We work together to foster a respectful, mature, convivial community based on mutual learning through our diverse perspectives.
-  * When problems arise, we will seek to address them collaboratively whenever possible.+
   * We respect one another's privacy. Content shared in class or online will not be shared with anyone outside of the class without permission.   * We respect one another's privacy. Content shared in class or online will not be shared with anyone outside of the class without permission.
-  * We adhere to all [[university policies]] regarding accessibility and academic integrity; we take responsibility for understanding them and the relevant procedures. +  * We adhere to all [[university policies]], as well as course guidelines on [[academic honesty]]; we take responsibility for understanding them and the relevant procedures. 
-  * We accommodate disabilities and other diverse needs, making use of our own capacities and [[campus resources]].+  * We strive to accommodate disabilities and other diverse needs, making use of our own capacities and [[campus resources]]. Please discuss any particular support you require with the instructor.
  
 ## Shared texts ## Shared texts
  
-Throughout the course we will be reading three books together:+Throughout the course we will be reading classics in social-change theory alongside two free, open-access books by leading media scholars:
  
-  * Zeynep Tufekci, _Twitter and Tear Gas: The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest_ (Yale University Press, 2017) +  * Zeynep Tufekci, _[Twitter and Tear Gas: The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest](https://www.twitterandteargas.org/downloads/twitter-and-tear-gas-by-zeynep-tufekci.pdf)_ (Yale University Press, 2017) 
-  * adrienne maree brown, _Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds_ (AK Press, 2017) +  * Sasha Costanza-Chock, _[Design Justice: Community-Led Practices to Build the Worlds We Need](https://design-justice.pubpub.org/)_ (MIT Press, 2020)
-  * Sasha Costanza-Chock, _Design Justice: Community-Led Practices to Build the Worlds We Need_ (MIT Press, 2020)+
  
 +In addition, we will read and discuss other shorter works as well.
  
-### 1. Points of intervention+### 1. Theories of change
  
 +  * Saul Alinsky, "[The Education of an Organizer](https://archive.org/details/RulesForRadicals/page/n77/mode/2up)," in _Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals_ (Random House, 1971)
 +  * Audre Lorde, "[The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House](https://monoskop.org/images/2/2b/Lorde_Audre_1983_2003_The_Masters_Tools_Will_Never_Dismantle_the_Masters_House.pdf)," in Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua (eds.), _This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color_ (New York: Kitchen Table Press).
   * Donella Meadows, "[Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System](http://www.donellameadows.org/archives/leverage-points-places-to-intervene-in-a-system/)," (Donella Meadows Institute, 1999)   * Donella Meadows, "[Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System](http://www.donellameadows.org/archives/leverage-points-places-to-intervene-in-a-system/)," (Donella Meadows Institute, 1999)
-  * Marshall Ganz, "[Public Narrative, Collective Action, and Power](https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/29314925/Public_Narrative_Collective_Action_and_Power.pdf)," in Sina Odugbemi and Taeku Lee (eds.), _Accountability Through Public Opinion: From Inertia to Public Action_ (The World Bank, 2011) 
-  * Franz Fanon, "[Spontaneity: Its Strength and Weakness](http://burawoy.berkeley.edu/Reader.101/Fanon.IV.pdf)," in _[The Wretched of the Earth](https://abahlali.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Frantz-Fanon-The-Wretched-of-the-Earth-1965.pdf)_ (Grove, 1963 [1961]) 
- 
-### 2. "A networked public" 
- 
-  * Prologue, introduction, and chapters 1--2 in Tufekci, _Twitter and Tear Gas_ 
  
-### 3. "Making a movement"+### 2. Twitter and Tear Gas: Part I
  
-  * Chapters 3--4 in Tufekci, _Twitter and Tear Gas_+  * Prologue, introduction, and chapters 1--4 in Tufekci, _Twitter and Tear Gas_
  
-### 4. "A protester's tools"+### 3. Twitter and Tear Gas: Part II
  
   * Part II in Tufekci, _Twitter and Tear Gas_   * Part II in Tufekci, _Twitter and Tear Gas_
  
-### 5. "After the protests"+### 4. Twitter and Tear Gas: Part III
  
   * Part III and Epilogue in Tufekci, _Twitter and Tear Gas_   * Part III and Epilogue in Tufekci, _Twitter and Tear Gas_
  
-### 6. Case study+### 5. Mobilizing publics
  
-Choose an historical example of a social movement from [Beautiful Trouble](https://beautifultrouble.org/case/), [Beautiful Rising](https://beautifulrising.org/type/story), or the [Global Nonviolent Action Database](https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/). Consider it in light of the book we just read. Do some additional research to examine the mediated components of it, and prepare to present an analysis in class as your Intervention.+  * Sarah J. Jackson and Brooke Foucault Welles, "[Hijacking #MYNYPD: Social Media Dissent and Networked Counterpublics](https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12185)," _Journal of Communication_ 65, no. 6 (2015) 
 +  * Merlyna Lim, "[Freedom to Hate: Social Media, Algorithmic Enclaves, and the Rise of Tribal Nationalism in Indonesia](https://doi.org/10.1080/14672715.2017.1341188)," _Critical Asian Studies_ 49, no. 3 (2017) 
 +  * Zizi Papacharissi, "[Affective Publics and Structures of Storytelling: Sentiment, Events and Mediality](https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2015.1109697)," _Information, Communication, and Society_ 19, no. 3 (2016)
  
-### 7. "The Matrix of Domination"+*By this time, consult with instructor on final project topic.*
  
-  * Introduction and chapters 1--2 in Costanza-Chock, _Design Justice_+### 6. Case study
  
-### 8. "Narratives" and "Sites"+Choose an historical example of a social movement from [Beautiful Trouble](https://beautifultrouble.org/case/), [Beautiful Rising](https://beautifulrising.org/type/story), or the [Global Nonviolent Action Database](https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/). Consider it in light of the book we just read. Do some additional research to examine the mediated components of it, and prepare to present an analysis in class as your Intervention.
  
-  * Chapters 3--4 in Costanza-Chock, _Design Justice_+### 7. Media tactics
  
-### 9. "Pedagogies"+  * Paulo Freire, chapter 2 in _[The Pedagogy of the Oppressed](https://envs.ucsc.edu/internships/internship-readings/freire-pedagogy-of-the-oppressed.pdf)_ (Continuum, 2005 [1970]) 
 +  * Marshall Ganz, "[Public Narrative, Collective Action, and Power](https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/29314925/Public_Narrative_Collective_Action_and_Power.pdf)," in Sina Odugbemi and Taeku Lee (eds.), _Accountability Through Public Opinion: From Inertia to Public Action_ (The World Bank, 2011) 
 +  * Martin Luther King, Jr., "[Letter from Birmingham Jail](https://letterfromjail.com/)" (April 16, 1963)
  
-  * Chapter 5 and "Directions for Future Work" in Costanza-Chock, _Design Justice_+### 8. "The matrix of domination"
  
-### 10. Case study+  * Introduction and chapters 1--2 in Costanza-Chock, _Design Justice_
  
-Choose an historical example of a social movement from [Beautiful Trouble](https://beautifultrouble.org/case/), [Beautiful Rising](https://beautifulrising.org/type/story), or the [Global Nonviolent Action Database](https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/). Consider it in light of the book we just read. Do some additional research to examine the mediated components of it, and prepare to present an analysis in class as your Intervention.+*Project proposal due; no Intervention.*
  
-### 11. "Fractals"+### 9. "Narratives" and "Sites"
  
-  * "introduction"--"interdependence and decentralization" in brown, _Emergent Strategy_+  * Chapters 3--4 in Costanza-Chock, _Design Justice_
  
-### 12. "Resilience"+### 10. "Pedagogies"
  
-  * "nonlinear and iterative"--"thank you" in brown, _Emergent Strategy_+  * Chapter 5 and "Directions for Future Work" in Costanza-Chock, _Design Justice_
  
-### 13. Case study+### 11. Case study
  
 Choose an historical example of a social movement from [Beautiful Trouble](https://beautifultrouble.org/case/), [Beautiful Rising](https://beautifulrising.org/type/story), or the [Global Nonviolent Action Database](https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/). Consider it in light of the book we just read. Do some additional research to examine the mediated components of it, and prepare to present an analysis in class as your Intervention. Choose an historical example of a social movement from [Beautiful Trouble](https://beautifultrouble.org/case/), [Beautiful Rising](https://beautifulrising.org/type/story), or the [Global Nonviolent Action Database](https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/). Consider it in light of the book we just read. Do some additional research to examine the mediated components of it, and prepare to present an analysis in class as your Intervention.
  
-### 14. Aftermath+### 12. Glimpses of change
  
-  * Wu Hung, "[Tiananmen Square: A Political History of Monuments](https://www.jstor.org/stable/2928718)," _Representations_ no. 35 (summer 1991)+  * Marisol de la Cadena, "[Indigenous Cosmopolitics in the Andes: Conceptual Reflections beyond 'Politics'](https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-1360.2010.01061.x)," _Cultural Anthropology_ 25, no. 2 (May 2010) 
 +  * Walidah Imarisha, "[All Organizing Is Science Fiction](https://www.walidah.com/blog/2018/11/24/listen-to-walidahs-umass-amherst-sci-fi-speech)," History Department, University of Massachusetts Amherst (November 13, 2018)
   * Ursula K. Le Guin, "[The Day Before the Revolution](http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/tbacig/hmcl3230/3230anth/day.html)" (1974)   * Ursula K. Le Guin, "[The Day Before the Revolution](http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/tbacig/hmcl3230/3230anth/day.html)" (1974)
  
---- 
  
-[ [[note:media_activism|Notes]] ]+### 13. Final reflections 
 + 
 +Be prepared to discuss lessons from your final project in class.
  
 +*Final projects due; no Intervention.*
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