[Air-L] Call For Abstract Proposals

[Kathleen Paciga]

>From the Cradle to the Classroom: Teaching Media While Raising Kids in a
Media Saturated World

Penny Dreadfuls, comic books, radio serials, teen magazines, television,
movies, D&D, MTV, rap music, video games, the Internet, social media...From
the moment media industries began specifically targeting children and
teens, parents have been bombarded with warnings and guidelines about how
to manage media’s role in their kids’ everyday lives. Each new format seems
to trigger extensive studies and reports, often with conflicting
information and advice for parents. As content spreads across a multitude
of devices and an array of media forms, it’s perhaps unsurprising that
these concerns have only escalated. Parents now grapple not just with
content but with how their kids (1) access that content and (2) even create
and distribute their own media. And in 2020 and 2021, as many kids and
parents spent the Coronavirus pandemic shuttered in their homes, the worlds
of school, work and home blurred; the roles, limits, and uses for media and
devices muddied even further.

Much of the mainstream literature discussing children’s media use sets
aside the lived realities of parents, focusing primarily on limitations.
For example, the American Academy of Pediatrics intermittently updates
their guidelines, but they often run in opposition to recommendations of
pediatric ophthalmologists or behavioral therapists (
https://www.pathwaypeds.com/american-academy-of-pediatrics-announces-new-recommendations-for-childrens-media-use/).
It is rare to hear from media scholars and researchers who are themselves
parents, explicitly foregrounding how their dual roles intersect. We hope
to use this opportunity to engender such a discussion among media scholar
parents.

This proposed book project will take the form of an augmented anthology,
with the author-editors writing structured chapters into which shorter
pieces written by other scholar-parents will be placed and addressed. What
issues face us as parents today in terms of our children's media use? How
does being a media scholar filter how we approach our children's use of
media and vice versa? How are we struggling just like everyone else to
understand, control, and cultivate our kids’ media engagement?

We invite media scholar parents to submit abstract proposals for
contributions to an edited volume that will examine kids and media through
the lens of this doubled position. A primary goal of this anthology is to
reach beyond the circles of academia, so we are looking for short think
pieces (1,000-2,000 words) that avoid jargon and that keep the direct use
of theory to a minimum. Think “theory light.” These pieces should reflect
your personality as well, and be written in an open and approachable
manner. (Examples of such writing include Susan Douglas’ Where the Girls
Are and The Rise of Enlightened Sexism, Peggy Orenstein’s Cinderella Ate My
Daughter, Kim Brooks’ Small Animals: Parenthood in the Age of Fear, and
Mary Dalton and Laura Linder’s Screen Lessons.) We welcome any ideas that
could take alternate forms (e.g. comic strips, 2D or 3D art, doodles,
poems, etc.) as well, and we encourage a broad array of topics. For this
volume “children” range in age from infants to teens.

Possible questions to consider include but are not limited to:

   -

   Despite your role as a media scholar, do you still view media as an
   obstacle you must "parent through?"
   -

   How has media has helped you parent better or smarter?
   -

   How has the pandemic or your child’s own personal health, learning, or
   behavioral challenges put a wrinkle in how you approached media consumption
   or creation?
   -

   How does media factor into how your children learn about structures of
   race and racism, gender and sexuality, class and other socio-cultural lived
   realities? How do you use—or avoid—media when it comes to related
   socio-cultural issues?
   -

   How do you weigh the potential risks and rewards of media in your
   children’s lives?
   -

   In what ways have your children voiced their own desires regarding media
   use and how did you work through that dialogue?
   -

   In what ways has your job as a media scholar caused conflict between you
   and other parents when it came to media use?
   -

   Has having children directly impacted the way your write about or
   research media?

For this volume, media is broadly and inclusively conceptualized:

   -

   Media consumption or production via YouTube, Tik Tok, and social media
   -

   Device culture (tablets, cell phones, laptops, computers, TV, video game
   platforms)
   -

   Video games, movies, TV shows, educational media, news
   -

   Streaming platforms, cable, broadcast
   -

   Media safety in multiplayer environments
   -

   Talking toys and AI objects
   -

   Marketing and advertising to kids and/or to parents
   -

   Media in schools, along with media literacy education

Important Dates

   -

   CALL FOR ABSTRACT PROPOSALS: November 15, 2021
   -

   DECISIONS ON ABSTRACT PROPOSALS: January 31, 2022
   -

   FULL PAPER SUBMISSIONS: June 15, 2022


Please send 250-word abstract proposals with the submission form, attached
or linked here
<https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q0_MAvBMvIYwAWNiqcoY4npK0NgacmAp/view?usp=sharing>,
by November 15, 2021 to the three editors of the volume.
--
*Katie A. Paciga, PhD*
Associate Professor of Education
*Columbia College Chicago*
<https://colum.academia.edu/KathleenPaciga>

<http://katiepaciga.blogspot.com>