[Commlist] Research on Digital, Media and Information Literacy (ReDMIL) summer school

ReDMIL 2022 - Research on Digital, Media and Information Literacy
DOCTORAL SUMMER SCHOOL – 2022 edition
https://www.redmil.info/

EXTENDED CALL FOR APPLICATIONS - New deadline: June 24th, 2022


*Context*

Digital technology pervades every aspect of our lives and leads us to 
receive, relay, ratify and produce media and information every day. As a 
result, the term “literacy” has been increasingly used to point to 
practices or competences that exceed the mastery of the written text (in 
reading and writing) and include the use of all symbols systems to 
participate in society in critical, creative, and reflexive ways.

Over the last decades, a multitude of labels have appeared to designate 
new forms of literacy, which are now the subject of an abundant body of 
research from a variety of disciplines. Among these, media literacy, 
information literacy, and more recently digital literacy have gradually 
emerged as major fields of inquiry, each corresponding to a research 
tradition with its own objects of study, conceptual apparatuses, 
methods, and arenas for dissemination and societal valorization.

The development of these traditions can be interpreted as a sign of 
scientific vitality. However, it does not come without a number of 
pitfalls. The proliferation of “literacy” concepts has been accompanied 
by a lack of shared conceptual definitions, and a multiplicity of 
disciplinary postures that are most often left implicit in publications 
and communications, leading to potential confusion.

Inasmuch as one might wish to see media, information and digital 
literacy research converge, or at least develop in mutual awareness of 
one another, such a convergence between these traditions calls for 
interdisciplinary dialogue and a systematic discussion of their 
concepts, theories, methods and disciplinary backgrounds.

The ReDMIL doctoral summer school sets out to advance the 
interdisciplinary scientific dialogue between these traditions, by 
putting PhD students from these three areas to work together, with their 
more experienced peers.


*Literacies to revamp, repair, rekindle our world*

Following the 2018 edition entitled “Defining digital/media/information 
literacy as culture, practices, or competences”, the theme for this 
year’s edition of ReDMIL is: “Literacies to revamp, repair, rekindle our 
world”.

New (media, information, digital) literacies1 have long been described 
as potential positive forces able to empower individuals and contribute 
to the development of societies. We may think about literacies as means 
to foster critical thinking, encourage active citizenship and social 
participation, reduce socioeconomic inequalities, stimulate creative 
expression, or facilitate lifelong learning, for example. Yet new 
literacies are all too often thought of only as means to counter a 
variety of ills (fake news, conspiracy theories, radicalization, 
cyber-bullying, information overload, online sexual predation, media 
violence, passivity of screen users…), occulting their broader societal 
outcomes.

Between the pursuit of society’s grand ideals and the narrow response to 
the symptoms of its dysfunctions, it seems necessary to think about new 
literacies, and new literacies research, in a third way. As we 
contemplate the bruises with which our postmodern (post-truth, 
post-pandemic, post-colonial, anthropocenic) society lives, we want to 
ask: instead of seeking to fight, counter, or eradicate, how can new 
literacies contribute to revamp, repair or rekindle the world we live 
in? How can media, information or digital literacy help (re)weaving 
threads in the social fabric? How can they be used by individuals to 
further shared goals, foster mutual understanding, intercultural 
dialogue, or collective knowledge building?

These questions seem all the more relevant in times when political and 
economic forces increasingly seek to redefine the meaning and the 
normative scope of new literacies to align them with objectives of 
deregulation, competitiveness and workforce training. In such a context, 
it only becomes more relevant to reappropriate what new literacies mean 
and what they serve. As new literacies can be supported by an array of 
political agendas, and be aligned with a variety of economic, social, 
strategic, and environmental stakes (digital inclusion, (de)growth, 
employability, societal resilience, intercultural dialogue, 
sustainability, individual and collective empowerment…), what kind of 
common good and common ground do (and should) new literacies contribute 
to? Specifically, how are visions for the societal role of new 
literacies articulated with notions of care, benevolence, and 
responsibility towards society?


*The axiologies of digital, media and information literacy research*

Due to their prospective and evaluative nature, these questions may seem 
not to be of concern for researchers, but rather for teachers, educators 
or policy makers, and other field actors supporting the development of 
new literacies. We believe, however, that they have important 
implications for research as well.

To start answering these questions as researchers, we need to 
interrogate our own goals, theoretical apparatus, practices... to assess 
their relationship to the values and principles we, as citizens, would 
like to see flourish in the social space. This involves a critical 
appraisal of our own axiological positions, be they implicit or 
explicit. This could also lead to challenge some core concepts (e.g., 
knowledge, skills, competencies) frequently used in the field of new 
literacies to understand their ethical and normative implications.

We start from the premise that research in new literacies cannot avoid 
being a form of engaged science. It is a social practice which, like all 
social practices, contributes to the 'performance' of society. The ties 
between research in new literacies and society go both ways. On the one 
hand, the social relevance of such research depends on the understanding 
it has of the “state of the field”, for example the media and technology 
landscape, the educational initiatives supporting the development of 
literacies, and the public policies that shape them. On the other hand, 
research may also influence media and technology development, 
educational programs (whether in or beyond the formal education systems) 
and public policies. This praxeological dimension of new literacies goes 
hand in hand with a political dimension as literacies can be considered 
as a factor of cultural or economical inclusion and as a facilitator of 
democratic participation.

These effects of new literacy research should encourage us to carefully 
question its influence on the practices of social actors, on 
institutional policies and on the social world in general. This 
reflection involves to carefully think about the ethical choices and 
axiological assumptions underlying any research project to highlight how 
they impact the whole research process, from the choice of a research 
object (what do we decide to look at?) to the dissemination of findings 
and interpretations towards a variety of academic and societal actors 
(what do we make visible, and to whom?).

This summer school aims to offer young researchers a space to reflect on 
these issues to become aware of axiological questions raised by their 
research to then make them explicit in the social space so that they can 
be discussed and debated.


*Scope and goal of ReDMIL 2022 Literacy Doctoral Summer School*

In this context, the ReDMIL 2022 doctoral summer school aims at 
contributing to the convergence between digital, media and information 
literacy research by bringing together researchers from all three 
communities, to foster the scientific debate and explore connections 
between them.

The summer school is an international training program that will 
alternate between framing presentations by senior researchers and the 
in-depth discussion of emerging research by participating PhD students.

Six keynotes speakers have confirmed their participation to the 2022 
edition :

    * Donna E. Alvermann (University of Georgia, USA)
    * Pierre Fastrez (ULouvain, Belgium)
    * Jerry Jacques (UCLouvain, Belgium)
    * Anne Lehmans (Université de Bordeaux, France)
    * Shin Mizukoshi (University of Osaka, Japan)
    * Manisha Pathak-Shelat (MICA, India)

The summer school is organized on September 6th-9th, 2022 by the Groupe 
de Recherche en Médiation des Savoirs (Knowledge Mediation Research 
Group) at the Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium, in partnership 
with the Canada Research Chair in Media Education and Human Rights 
(Université TELUQ).

The goal of this summer school is to allow PhD students engaged in the 
field of digital literacy, media literacy or information literacy:

    * to benefit from the expertise of renowned researchers in their 
field, though theoretical and methodological presentations;
    * to present their own research to an audience composed of these 
experts, as well as other PhD students and researchers;
    * to work collectively to the enhancement of their research work 
with other participants;
    * to improve their knowledge of the research undertaken by their peers.

The Summer School will start with a poster session (Sept. 6th), followed 
by six half-day workshops (Sept. 7th-9th) on the following topics:
    * theoretical frameworks in the study of digital, media and 
information literacies;
    * epistemological issues in new literacies research;
    * methods for observing, documenting, and assessing literacies and 
their associated educational practices and policies;
    * designing research with social relevance and valorizing research 
results in society.

Each half-day workshop will open with one plenary talk by renowned 
experts, followed by a session focused on the research work of the 
participating PhD students, exploring them from the perspectives 
developed in the plenary talks. In addition to presenting an outline of 
their work at the opening poster session, each participating PhD student 
will have the opportunity to present their work in two sessions, on two 
different topics. In relation to the theme of the 2022’ edition 
"Literacies to revamp, repair, rekindle our world", participants will be 
invited to question the axiological positions that underly their research.

The Summer School will also allow for numerous informal interactions 
(including a networking dinner) between experts, researchers and PhD 
students.

Participation and presentation from PhD students at the ReDMIL Summer 
School will be rewarded by 5 ECTS (or equivalent) for their doctoral 
training.

More information on https://www.redmil.info/


*Submission of applications*

The summer school is targeted at PhD students who develop their research 
in the following areas :

    * the study of new literacies: observing, documenting and/or 
assessing new literacies;
    * the study of educational initiatives in media literacy, 
information literacy or digital literacy practiced by a variety of 
actors (teachers and educators, employers, associations, parents, media 
and tech companies, …);
    * the study of public policies in the fields of digital, media and 
information literacies at any geographical level;
    * or any other topic related to digital literacy, media literacy, 
or information literacy.

PhD students wishing to present and discuss their doctoral research at 
the summer school are invited to submit an application, including the 
following:

    * A brief curriculum vitae (one to two pages);
    * A presentation of their doctoral research in a maximum of 1500 
words (references not included), including the following four sections:
            o Problem or societal issue that their thesis intends to 
answer;
            o Research question, hypotheses (in the case of a 
hypothetico-deductive approach) and theoretical framework of their thesis;
            o Data collection and analysis method;
            o Expected results: the usefulness of their research, from 
an academic and/or societal point of view (e.g. for the world of 
education, for the political world, for the media industry).
    * An abstract of this presentation in a maximum of 300 words.

Applications must be sent in the form of a single file (word or pdf) 
including CV and presentation to this address 
(info-redmil /at/ uclouvain.be) by June 1st, 2022 at the latest.

Candidates will be personally notified of the acceptance of their 
participation on July 1st (candidates who applied before June 1st will 
be notified by June 22nd, 2022).


*Registration*

Students whose application has been accepted and researchers (whether 
doctoral or not) wishing to attend the summer school without presenting 
their work will have to pay a participation fee of 100€ to partially 
cover the organizing costs of the events.

The participation fee includes lunches, coffee breaks, and the 
mid-summer school dinner.

Participants will have to cover their own travel and accommodation costs.

For the participants affiliated with institutions based in the European 
Union, this summer school should fall withing the conditions to obtain 
an ERASMUS+ travel funding. Participants are invited to get in touch 
with the ERAMUS+ coordinator of their home institution.

Doctoral students for whom these costs would be an obstacle to 
participation can contact the organization team directly to try to find 
a solution.
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