Well how about this topic - this is from my sister, MC POPPER
Lisbeth Goble (she's almost finished her PhD is Educational Statistics - the math gene bypassed me big-time)...
Call for Papers
TEACHERS, TEACHING, AND THE MOVIES III:
Representations and Pedagogy in Film, Television, and New Media
A Multi-disciplinary Conference
April 8-10, 2010
Vassar College - Poughkeepsie, New York
This year the third annual Teachers, Teaching and the Movies (TTM III) conference will be held at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.
This multi-disciplinary conference focuses on four burgeoning areas in the fields of education, sociology, media studies and communication.
1) Representations of Schools and Schooling in Old and New Media First, this conference creates a space for discussions on "old" and new media representations of schools, teachers (and their work), students and learning. Historically, the dominant narratives of school life, classrooms, teachers and students have perpetuated powerful, though often uncomplicated, representations through film and television. These representations continue to circulate through new media such as government websites, Youtube, Facebook, and MySpace.
Whether through old or new media, these representations influence common perceptions of the "good school", competent school leadership, and high quality teaching. Importantly, they also propagate problematic notions of the qualities and characteristics of the successful student. In short, media representations have become
unlikely authoritative texts on what counts as good education. We
invite papers that critically interrogate cultural representations of educational setting broadly, including the examination of the representations of schools, teachers, and students.
2) Use of Media as Pedagogical Tools
Second, this conference invites conversations that engage how film, television, and new media function as pedagogical tools in the classroom. Invited papers might explore their use and effect on pedagogy within historical, cultural, social, and/or educational frameworks - from the first uses of radio in the early 1920s to the most recent experiences with multimedia and the internet. Thus, we also invite papers that explore the ways that films, television, and new media open possibilities for new forms of pedagogy - their power as well as their problems and pitfalls.
3) Youth Media-Making as a Means of Social Transformation Third, this conference invites papers that encourage us to think about how youth organizations and independent youth use old and new media to
transform the worlds of youth. Through digital storytelling, film,
MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and other media, youth use such media to organize, protest, oppose and resist. This conference seeks to create a space to share the products of these efforts to create social change.
4) The Teaching of Critical Media Literacy Finally, this conference provides a space for educators who teach critical media literacy in their classrooms. Youth interact with media and the representations proliferated through media in ways that are often not problematized or complicated. We invite papers that describe how teachers work with youth to think critically about the images and texts that confront them daily.
5) Keynote sessions
Papers that address any of the four areas above (or their
intersections) are invited. In line with the keynote address this year by Professor Pedro Noguera, we particularly encourage papers that focus on:
* The critical examination of representations of urban education,
Black and Brown students, critical pedagogy and education for social change
* The use of media in the training of teachers committed to social
justice and change in schools
* The use of media in transformative and critical pedagogy in K12 classrooms
* The use of media (nationally and internationally) by youth for
social change, social justice and as transformative pedagogy.
We support paper submissions by youth, K12 teachers, youth organizations, researchers and professors. It is our hope to bring together a community of folks interested in engaging in lively discussions about the myriad roles that media plays in shaping educational experiences.
The conference will take place at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY.
The dates of the conference are April 8-10, 2010. The keynote speaker for this conference will be Dr. Pedro Noguera, distinguished professor of Education at New York University. Submitted papers will be reviewed by a multi-disciplinary committee comprised of scholars from relevant fields.
Paper Proposals
The conference organizers invite paper proposals from a range of disciplines (education, film studies, media and cultural studies, sociology, anthropology, psychology, history, English, American studies, communication, etc.). We are open to a wide variety of topics and approaches. Some possible questions include:
1) How has Hollywood represented Black, Brown and white teachers and students? How have youth been racialized through media? How has it represented male and female teachers and students? How have these cultural representations of schools and schooling changed over time?
2) What is the theory and praxis of the role of media in the
curriculum? How should media be used and not used in classrooms? As
well, schools are often faulted for continuing to use "old" or "outdated" media such as blackboards. Have new media actually improved instructional practices and student learning? Are new media used differently than older media?
3) How are schools and schooling depicted in film from world cinema and global media? What can we learn from them?
4) In what ways have the cinema's depiction of schools and schooling affected public perceptions of the education system? What role did old and new media play in the debates around education in the recent presidential campaigns?
5) How have youth and youth organizations used media to organize locally, nationally or internationally?
Please submit proposals of at least 250 words and no more than 500
words at the online website by Tuesday, December 1st, 2009. The url
for the website is: teachingandthemovies.com. Select the "auditions"
link to submit papers online. Please direct any questions to Colette Cann at cocann@vassar.edu. Acceptance of papers will be announced in January.