[ecrea] CFP: Theme Issue for the Journal of Popular Film & Television: "Teaching Popular Film & Television: Critical Media Literacy & Narratives in (Teacher) Education"

This call for papers for a theme issue might be interesting to some of 
you. This issue in the /Journal of Popular Film and Television/ will 
broadly deal with “Teaching Popular Film & Television: Critical Media 
Literacy & Narratives in (Teacher) Education”. We welcome papers on the 
interconnection between learning and teaching, (narrative, ethical and 
rhetorical aspects of) popular film and television, and critical media 
literacy. This theme issue aims to survey new developments in the field 
of critical media education and new approaches to teaching popular 
movies and television series. See the attachment for more information.

Submissions should be 20 to 25 pages, double-spaced, and conform to the 
MLA style sheet. Please include a 50-word abstract and five to seven key 
words to facilitate online searches. Send your paper no later than *1 
March 2012* to: (Geert.Vandermeersche /at/ UGent.be) 
<mailto:(Geert.Vandermeersche /at/ UGent.be)>

Kind Regards,

Geert Vandermeersche


Educational Studies (PP06) – Research Group Culture & Education

Ghent University – Faculty of Psychology & Educational Sciences (FPPW)

Henri Dunantlaan 2 – 9000 Gent

Belgium (BE)


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Call for Submissions to a Theme Issue of the Journal of Popular Film & 
Television on
¡§Teaching Popular Film & Television: Critical Media Literacy & 
Narratives in (Teacher) Education¡¨
coedited by Geert Vandermeersche, Ronald Soetaert & Kris Rutten
If popular movies and television series were resisted in (teacher) 
education, it was said to be because of their generic and stereotypical 
elements: e.g. scholars argue that they disseminate ¡§recycled 
stereotypes¡¨ which ¡§mislead, confuse, and impoverish [teachers¡¦ and 
students¡¦] evaluations of and expectations about the nature of genuine 
education¡¨ (Gregory 2007). In this theme issue, we want to study and 
engage with -rather than reject- the narrative patterns of popular film 
and television from a number of different perspectives, focusing on 
stimulating critical media literacy. From a cognitive perspective 
(Bruner 1986), popular movies and television can be seen as narratives 
which provide and question scripts (Schank 1995, Stockwell 2002), 
function as tools for thinking (Herman 2003) or offer ways of 
understanding specific knowledge domains, such as science, languages, or 
social studies (Egan 1997). Such narrative analyses could become part of 
a ¡§conscious practice, affording each of us enhanced control over our 
interactions with the image culture¡¨ (Edgerton & Marsden 2002, p. 3) 
in/about education. Such a critical media literacy also needs to include 
¡§the ability to infer values and engage in moral discourse concerning 
the imagery we observe and experience daily¡¨ (idem). Our value-laden 
interaction with the patterns of narrative is highlighted in rhetorical 
and ethical theories of narrative. For Kenneth Burke, stories seek to 
name typical situations in life and to provide potential attitudes to 
them (Burke 1945). Likewise, popular culture could function as such an 
equipment for living (Brummett 1993, Ott 2007). Through the metaphor of 
the company we keep, Wayne Booth describes our learning from narratives 
as a conversation about the good and bad of our consumption of fiction 
(Booth 1988, Richter 2007).
This theme issue seeks to further the research of the 2002 theme issue 
of the Journal of Popular Film and Television (JPFTV) on ¡¥Media 
Literacy and Education: The Teacher-Scholar in Film and Television¡¦, 
co-edited by Gary R. Edgerton and Michael T. Marsden. We welcome new 
perspectives, beside the ones we provided, on the interconnection 
between learning and teaching, (narrative, ethical and rhetorical 
aspects of) popular film and television, and critical media literacy. 
This theme issue aims to survey new developments in the field of 
critical media education and new approaches to teaching popular movies 
and television series.
Articles could answer to¡Xbut should not be limited to¡Xthe following 
questions:
ć How is education imagined in film and television (from a social, 
cultural, and historical perspective), and (why) have these recurring 
representations been influential?
ƒá What cultural patterns (stereotypes, genres, ¡K) about education and 
society do students and teachers bring to the classroom that are 
borrowed from popular film and television?
ć How have ideas from popular film and television been influential in 
educational theory and practice?
ć How can popular movies and television be used as a tool in education: 
e.g. as ways of understanding specific subject areas of education 
(languages, sciences, social studies,¡K)?
ć How can popular movies and television be used in the classroom to 
study and question the cultural patterns and stereotypes in society and 
education?
ć How can we stimulate critical reflection on the popular myths that 
surround education? How can we interpret and evaluate these representations?
ć What can teachers and educational researchers learn from popular film 
and television?
ć What are the ideas and preconceptions that stimulate or impede the 
implementation of popular film and television in (teacher) education?
ć What kind of theoretical and empirical frameworks do we need for our 
research and teaching of popular film and television (e.g. narratology , 
discourse analysis, semiotics, media & communication studies, rhetorical 
studies, ¡K)?
We welcome a variety of theoretical, empirical, and critical approaches. 
Submissions should be 20 to 25 pages, double-spaced, and conform to the 
MLA style sheet. Please include a 50-word abstract and five to seven key 
words to facilitate online searches. Send two copies (along with SASE) 
no later than 1 March 2012 to:
Geert Vandermeersche
Department of Educational Studies / Ghent University
9000 Gent (Belgium)
Henri Dunantlaan 2
Or via e-mail: (Geert.Vandermeersche /at/ UGent.be)