The Critical Media Literacy Conference of the Americas is committed to democratic ideals and social justice values. We relate to the media as a dialectical space for criticism and celebration. The media are complex tools whose effects do not always coincide with the intentions. The media can promote democratic participation, support social justice, and offer considerable joy, but they can hinder democracy, ignite violence, and manipulate individuals and society. Our goal for this conference is to facilitate critical discourse about our mediated society with the intention to deepen our understanding and support each other’s work in the transformation of society, to make it socially fairer and environmentally sustainable.
Structure, Organization and Activities
The 2023 International Symposium will involve a hybrid series of presentations, dialogues, keynotes, cultural activities and engagements over a four-day period focused on Peace, Culture and Social Justice.
Everything will be disseminated open-access via ZOOM and Facebook Live, then uploaded to DCMÉT’s YouTube channel with the consent of presenters.
We are planning for roughly 18 sessions in English and 7 in French and 10 in Spanish. We will also have approximately10 sessions in Korean as well as 4 keynotes that will be simultaneously interpreted.
The one-hour sessions will be structured as dialogues with 3-4 presenters around themes that will be cultivated and developed through several meetings before the Symposium. A central focus will be on peace, culture and social justice with critical overlapping analysis and engagement emphasizing overlapping themes, such as democracy, global citizenship, transformative education, Indigenous knowledge, rights, development and reconciliation, social media, the environment, and solidarity.
Two program coordinators for each language are responsible for developing the sessions, and they are also members of the Organizing Committee, which will be led by Paul R. Carr (the Chair-holder of the UNESCO Chair DCMÉT) and co-chaired by Gina Thésée (the Co-Chair of the UNESCO Chair DCMET). There is also a local organizing committee in Seoul, and a communications sub-committee that will coordinate media relations and dissemination in the four languages of the Symposium.
Allyed and Shifting Schools are hosting a special three part mini series to help educators sustain the conversation and continue their learning. Starting on Monday of Media Literacy Week, and the following Mondays for those three weeks, a new episode drops!
Join Media Savvy Citizens for an online event where we’ll equip you with an overview on how to get our students used to ways to find and judge reliable, valid information from credible sources on the internet. In today’s digital age, it’s crucial for students to discern reliable sources from unreliable ones. Their expert speakers will share valuable tips and strategies to teach students how to build habits in students to find and judge credible information effectively. Media Savvy Citizens will provide an overview on their latest Finding Reliable Sources course. Don’t miss this opportunity to enhance your teaching toolkit and empower students to become critical thinkers and participants!
Learn more here.