Speaking the Lower Frequencies: Students and Media Literacy

Contents

Contents Acknowledgments vii 1 Entering the Pensieve 1 2 Autoethnography of Teachers, Texts, and Space 17 3 Fragments of the Sociological Imagination 41 4 Strange Texts in Postmodern Space 67 5 Breaking and Making Frames as Context 97 6 Conjuring the Future 125 7 Evoking the Lower Frequencies 141 Notes 151 Bibliography 155 Index 165 Acknowledgments There are probably as many ways to write up an acknowledgments section as there are people I need to recognize. To make sure that I do not forget anyone, let me chronologically reflect on my development to this point (October 2, 2004). I’ll start with a few people who influenced my decision to enter graduate school and go all the way up to present colleagues and friends. First, I have to give props to my man Charlton Coles. Charlton was the first of my high school clique (“PSI-Inc”) to finish his Ph.D., in psychology at the University of Florida, thereby setting the pace for the rest of us. I’d also like to thank my former engineering co-workers (especially Eric Babcock) for joining Charlton in encouraging me to pursue my sociological interests, even though this seemed crazy at the time. There are a number of people who I hung out with in the early years at Indiana University who helped me realize that I was in the right place: my s558 methods group (Connie Rutledge, Keri Lubell, and Yolanda Zepeda), “Scubed” (Roxanna Harlow, Leslie Berg, Jeff Elder, Karen Lutfey, and Jeremy Freese), the “Race and Ethnic Studies Subaltern ” (RESS) (Rox, Leslie, Jeff, Susan Oehler, and Jean Shin), Philip and Ann Holden-Moses, Roopali Mukherjee, Crystal Price, and Susan “Novie” Arias. Thank you for keeping me sane. During my last two years at Indiana University I conducted and wrote up the autoethnography that provides the foundation of this book. From this period I would like to thank Dwight Brooks for keeping my cultural studies flights of fancy in check, Bill Corsaro for showing me how to fully harness the power of ethnography, Tom Gieryn for being my theoretical guru and all-around active sounding board, and Donna Eder for keeping the big picture in focus at all time. I could not have done the project without my assistants, Lori Canada, Rob Perez, Beeta Homaifar, Anna Lindzy, and Jennifer Richie. Thanks for an enjoyable and stimulating experience, gang! I must also mention Kevin Stewart for giving me a place to stay in the 1997–1998 academic year, and for letting me use his Miata. There are three groups of people who have been influential ever since I entered higher education in 1986. First, I’d like to thank my family (especially Dad, Keith, and Evelyn) for all the support you’ve given. Second, to the professors who served as mentors and role models (Tom, Donna, Dwight, Jason Jimerson, Richard Corbin, and Brian “The Godfather ” Powell), I will always try to keep it real. Third, my “Minnesota Connection” (Tamara Benjamin, Tom Zirps, and Kim Wapola) contains some of my oldest friends, who’ve known and supported me since my college days at Georgia Tech. Since arriving at the University of Minnesota in 1999 the Minnesota Connection has expanded to include Jehanne Beaton, Tamara, Terry Collins, Greg and Cathy Choy, Jeffrey Di Leo, Pat James, Amy Lee, Karen Miksch, Jeff Nygaard, Mark Pedelty, Connie, Kim, Marcia Williams, Beryl Wingate, Tom, and the newest member, my wife Valerie Minor. Thank you all for helping me to complete this book and launch exciting new projects. Finally, I would like to thank all the students who have taken my classes over the years. You have provided me with a very rich experience, and inspire me to enter the classroom each day expecting wonderful possibilities . Thank you for helping me to speak the lower frequencies. viii Acknowledgments ...