St. Mary's College to Hold Academic Conference on Teachers, Teaching & the Media

Saint Mary’s College of California presents “Teachers, Teaching and the Media,” an academic conference exploring how educators are portrayed in the media and how teachers use traditional, online and social media to educate their students. The three-day conference will be held Oct. 16-18, 2014 in the Soda Center on the College’s campus.

Saint Mary’s Sociology Professor Robert Bulman, author of Hollywood Goes to High School and co-organizer of the academic gathering, said it will feature nationally recognized educators whose research focuses on the intersections of education and the media. “It’s vitally important to explore and put into context the media’s influence on education and examine how educators can use various aspects of today’s media, including online platforms, apps and social media, to connect with students,” said Bulman.

Conference presentations range from issues such as as how young children understand the media, Hollywood’s depiction of teachers, students, race and diversity matters in the classroom and how educators currently employ new media tools, including social media and MOOCS (Massive Online Open Courses) to educate students for the 21st century. Keynote presenters include:

• Erin Gruwell: Author of the book Freedom Writers Diary, which was adapted into a major motion picture, Gruwell is a teacher, education activist, and founder of the Freedom Writers Foundation which focuses on empowering educators and students to positively impact their own lives and the world around them.
  
• Jim Trier: A professor of education at the University of North Carolina, Trier’s academic research includes representations of teachers, students, and education in movies and television shows, including urban education depictions in HBO’s The Wire and the motion picture Half Nelson.
  
• Pamela Michael: Co-founder of River of Words, the world’s largest environmental youth poetry and art contest, Michael directs Saint Mary’s Center for Environmental Literacy and advocates adding the arts in STEM education, moving STEM to STEAM for science, technology, engineering, arts and math.

Schedule:

• 4:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014
  • Keynote Speaker: Erin Gruwell (6 p.m. Presentation)
• 8:30 a.m to 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, 2014
  • Keynote Speaker: Jim Trier (12 p.m. Presentation)
• 8:30 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014
  • Keynote Speaker: Pamela Michael (12 p.m. Presentation)

Where: Soda Center, Saint Mary’s College of California, 1928 St. Mary’s Road, Moraga, Calif. 94575

Cost: Conference Registration Fee: $175, Students: $100, Saturday only: $75
Note: All keynote presentations are free and open to the public.

Background: “Teachers, Teaching and the Media” is a trans-disciplinary academic conference organized by Saint Mary’s Communication and Sociology departments and the College’s Kalmanovitz School of Education. For more information about the conference, contact Professor Robert Bulman at (925) 631-8321 or rbulman@stmarys-ca.edu or visit the conference webpage atstmarys-ca.edu/teachers-teaching-and-the-media.

--Information and photo submitted from Saint Mary’s College of California.