Critical Intersections: Collaboration in Media and Information Literacy
Biographical Sketch
Natasha Casey is associate professor of communications at Blackburn College, Illinois where she teaches media and information literacy, communication theory and other courses in the department of English and communications. She holds a Ph.D. in communication studies from McGill University (Montreal, Quebec). Her research interests include critical race theory and media and information literacy. She serves on the board of the Gateway Media Literacy Partners in St. Louis, Missouri.
Spencer Brayton currently serves as Library Manager at Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove, IL. In this position he oversees library services and operations for college libraries. His research and teaching interests focus on the overlap between critical media literacy and information literacy.
Type of Presentation
Individual presentation
Brief Description of Presentation
Information literacy was, and still is to an extent, taught as a set of skills that must be attained. Some media literacy camps take a similar approach, technological “gee whizzers” as Renee Hobbs calls them. We reject these approaches and instead advocate information literacy and media literacy instruction that is cross-disciplinary and incorporates critical components (i.e questions the production of knowledge, etc.).
Abstract of Proposal
Critical information literacy (CIL) and critical media literacy (CML) are sub-areas within the broader fields of information literacy and media literacy. The latter two are typically (though not exclusively) located within the disciplines of library and information science (LIS) and communications respectively. Earlier this decade Marcus Leaning observed, “ . . . the experience of being a user of information resources and a consumer of media is so similar that the two cannot be separated”. Leaning goes further by characterizing disciplinary silos as “pedagogically wasteful”.1 Following his lead, we strongly advocate that the critical wings of both information literacy and media literacy have much in common and should be allied. With its focus on knowledge, power and justice, critical pedagogy serves as the bridge between CIL and CML. And although the critical component is a more recent feature of information literacy than media literacy, it now occupies an important place in both areas. We will provide a rationale for combining CIL and CML, provide a model for its implementation (via examples from our own media and information literacy course), critically evaluate next steps for our work including removing the silos between both areas and examine the critical pedagogies that fuel our cross disciplinary collaboration.
Start Date
2-24-2018 9:50 AM
End Date
2-24-2018 11:20 AM
Recommended Citation
Casey, Natasha and Brayton, Spencer, "Critical Intersections: Collaboration in Media and Information Literacy" (2018). International Critical Media Literacy Conference. 26.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/criticalmedialiteracy/2018/2018/26
Critical Intersections: Collaboration in Media and Information Literacy
Critical information literacy (CIL) and critical media literacy (CML) are sub-areas within the broader fields of information literacy and media literacy. The latter two are typically (though not exclusively) located within the disciplines of library and information science (LIS) and communications respectively. Earlier this decade Marcus Leaning observed, “ . . . the experience of being a user of information resources and a consumer of media is so similar that the two cannot be separated”. Leaning goes further by characterizing disciplinary silos as “pedagogically wasteful”.1 Following his lead, we strongly advocate that the critical wings of both information literacy and media literacy have much in common and should be allied. With its focus on knowledge, power and justice, critical pedagogy serves as the bridge between CIL and CML. And although the critical component is a more recent feature of information literacy than media literacy, it now occupies an important place in both areas. We will provide a rationale for combining CIL and CML, provide a model for its implementation (via examples from our own media and information literacy course), critically evaluate next steps for our work including removing the silos between both areas and examine the critical pedagogies that fuel our cross disciplinary collaboration.
