Media@McGill is pleased to welcome Professor John Downing as its Beaverbrook Visiting Scholar for fall 2010. During his two-week residency, Downing will present a keynote talk on the topic of "Transnational Dimensions of Social Movement Media" on Thursday, 28 October 2010, at 5:30 p.m. in Arts W215, 853 Sherbrooke West, Montreal. This event is a collaboration between Media@McGill and the AHCS Speaker Series. The talk is free and open to the public.
Transnational Dimensions of Social Movement Media
The history of transnational social movements is a long one, and includes international labour solidarity, the abolitionist movement, the anti-colonial movement, the anti-apartheid movement - but also fascism. In recent times, global social justice activism, feminism, environmentalism, peace activism, First Nations' rights have added to the list - but so has India's Hindutva movement activism, Falun Gong, and a scatter of others. The presentation will initially focus upon discussing what is meant by 'transnational', 'social movement' and 'social movement media.' The bulk of the presentation will review and analyse the role of some well-known and some perhaps less well-known examples of transnational social movement media and Internet use. You may also be interested in a recent related Devoir article.
John Downing is currently Visiting Professor in the Information and Media Studies Department, Aarhus University, Denmark, and will be a Fulbright Visiting Professor at the universities of Helsinki and Tampere, January-May 2011. He is Professor Emeritus and Founding Director of the Global Media Research Center, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He has also taught at the University of Texas at Austin (1990-2003), and previously at Hunter College, City University of New York (1981-1990). His research interests include globalization, culture and media; alternative media and social movements; political cinemas of the global South; social class, racism and media. His recent publications include: Radical Media: Rebellious Communication and Social Movements (Sage Publications Inc., Thousand Oaks, California: 2001); Sage Handbook of Media Studies (Sage Publications Inc., Thousand Oaks, California: 2004); Representing ‘Race': Racisms, Ethnicities and Media (co-author Charles Husband) (Sage Publications Co., London, UK: 2005); and the Sage Encyclopedia of Social Movement Media (2010). He also edited the segment on international communication in the 12-volume International Encyclopedia of Communication, edited by Wolfgang Donsbach. He serves on the executive editorial board of the journal Global Media & Communication, was recently elected editor of the ICA journal Communication, Culture & Critique, and is a vice-president of the International Association for Media and Communication Research.