225 North Mills Street
Madison WI 53706
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Curriculum & Instruction 225 North Mills Street Madison WI 53706 |
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Damiana Gibbons
I spent my undergraduate years immersed in all kinds of literature as an English major, with a special place in my heart for both Shakespeare and contemporary novels, such as Ana Castillo's So Far From God and Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon. But, I was equally obsessed with media, so when it came time to choose an idea for my Master's thesis, I chose to write about the most famous Black woman in America (if not the world)---Oprah Winfrey. In my thesis, I showed how the "Oprah" brand mimics an African-American trickster figure through Winfrey’s presence and absence in O: The Oprah Magazine and Oprah’s Book Club. After teaching at the University of Wyoming for a few years, however, I knew that I needed to know more about literacy and about teaching, so I made my way to the University of Madison-Wisconsin, where I am studying for my Ph.d in Curriculum and Instruction—Literacy. I am currently working with a stellar research team headed by Dr. Erica Halverson. We are interested in how digital literacy is fostered through youth video production in organizations across the country. I'll tell you, we are learning a lot about how digital literacy works in all different settings with all different types of youth. My own work focuses on asking the tough questions about how youth media organizations teach media literacy. For instance, how much latitude are youth of color given when they are making their movies? Does every movie with young African-American men have to have a scene with Black youth playing basketball? Along these lines, I will use social semiotics to analyze both the process of teaching media literacy and the youth-produced videos themselves because it will allow room to answer the tough questions while still providing an empirical demonstration of what is happening. But, let's be honest. It's also about hearing and seeing all of the different stories not only from the chats with youth media organization leaders as we watch kids filming or over a coffee in a local coffee shop but also the myriad of stories told by the youth as they express themselves in video. And, it's a lot more fun than reading dead white poets, that's for sure. |
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From the time my sister and I fought over whether to watch Wonder Woman or Scooby Doo to my current obsession with Ugly Betty and Pushing Daisies, I have always loved TV. I just love to hear any kind of story in any form, actually--- from my aunt Bea telling me all about how her dog refuses to go outside when it's raining to whether Rachel loves Ross on Friends to young people telling me how they live their lives by making videos.