[Air-l] Fwd: Academic Brain Trust May 12 St. Louis

[Steve Jones]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Bob McChesney <rwmcches at uiuc.edu>
> Date: March 24, 2005 3:37:18 PM CST
> To: sjones at uic.edu
> Subject: Academic Brain Trust May 12 St. Louis
>
>   
> *********************************************************************** 
> **********
>
> GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENT
>  Please distribute widely to Scholars in Law, Communications and Media  
> Studies, Information Studies, Political Science, Sociology, History,  
> American Studies, and more….
>   
> Free Press and the Illinois Initiative for Media Policy Research  
> (IIMPR) are hosting the kick-off meeting of the
> ACADEMIC BRAIN TRUST
> CONNECTING SCHOLARS TO MEDIA ACTIVISTS AND POLICYMAKERS
>  
> Kick-Off Brainstorming Session
>  Thursday, May 12, 2005
> 4-7 PM
>  Millennium Hotel
>  St. Louis, Missouri
>
>   
>
> Session Held in Advance of the
> 2nd National Conference for Media Reform (May 13-15)
> Featuring FCC members: Michael Copps, Jonathan Adelstein
>  Members of Congress: Diane Watson, Bernie Sanders
>  Also: Jim Hightower, Amy Goodman, Naomi Klein, Al Franken, Juan  
> Gonzalez, Bill Fletcher, Jr., Janine Jackson, Laura Flanders
>  Hundreds of journalists, artists and independent media producers
>  And: More media activists than you can shake a stick at
>  For details: http://www.freepress.net/conference/
>
>   
>
> WHY DO WE NEED AN ACADEMIC BRAIN TRUST?
>  
>
>  Collectively, academic researchers and scholars across many  
> disciplines comprise a grossly underutilized wealth of experience and  
> knowledge that is desperately needed right now in policy fights across  
> the country and across the globe. As public interest advocates and  
> activists wage lonely, under-funded campaigns around public  
> broadcasting, media ownership, Internet access, global media policy,  
> copyright, commercialism, and other important issues, there has been a  
> noticeable lack of input from the considerable talent in the field of  
> communication and media studies. It is a weak spot for those committed  
> to improving the media system, and it is a weak spot for the academic  
> community as a whole.
>   
>  The time to engage the larger scholarly community is now. A number of  
> crucial policy debates over the next few years will define our media  
> system for a generation, and have tremendous effect upon our  
> democratic culture. As scholars and researchers, it is our  
> responsibility to personally engage with these debates and to assist  
> citizen participation in deliberations on media policies that are  
> critical to the health of our democracy.  To encourage civic  
> engagement around these issues, it is imperative that we jumpstart  
> media scholarship in the public interest, and work to link our best  
> research and our research skills with the public.
>   
>  The Academic Brain Trust is open to scholars from all fields  
> employing all possible methodologies. It is open to faculty and grad  
> students. It assumes no particular political views, only a belief that  
> the crucial media policies that shape our media system should be the  
> result of widespread informed public participation, and that scholars  
> have an important role in the process. Although Free Press and IIMPR  
> are hosting the kick-off session, the future of the Academic Brain  
> Trust will be determined by those who participate and take leadership  
> of this important opportunity.
>
>  
> OVER 50 SCHOLARS HAVE COMMITTED TO ATTENDING THE KICK-OFF SESSION OF  
> THE ACADEMIC BRAIN TRUST
>  PLEASE JOIN US!
>
>   
>
> For more information on the KICK-OFF BRAINSTORMING SESSION of the  
> ACADEMIC BRAIN TRUST visit our website: http://academicbraintrust.org/
>
>   
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>
>  
>  Graduate students and junior faculty, particularly women and persons  
> from communities of color in the U.S., are encouraged to apply for a  
> limited number of travel grants that may be available, depending on  
> the timely receipt of applications, to attend the kick-off session of  
> the Academic Brain Trust and the 2nd National Conference for Media  
> Reform.
>
>   
> (These travel grants are different from the scholarships Free Press is  
> providing to the 2nd National Conference for Media Reform. The  
> deadline for applying for Free Press scholarships was March 15, 2005.  
> The Academic Brain Trust travel grants are specifically for graduate  
> students and junior faculty. People are permitted to apply for both,  
> but can only accept one.)
>
>
> The deadline to qualify for these travel grants is Monday April 4 by  
> 6PM eastern time. Click here to learn more and apply:  
> http://academicbraintrust.org/