New York, NY (May 10, 2022) — NAMLE is pleased to announce the newest editorial team members of the Journal of Media Literacy Education, who have been appointed to serve a three-year term. They include:
Maria Ranieri (Co-Editor, JMLE) is Professor of Education, Media and Technology at the University of Florence, Italy, specializing in the theory and methodology of media and technology in education. She has worked on and coordinated a number of European research projects on media, learning, technology and social inclusion, including e-Engagement against Violence (2012-14) and Media Education for Equity and Tolerance (2016- 2019). She has published more than two hundred papers and chapters, and ten volumes. She has edited Populism, Media and Education: Challenging Discrimination in Contemporary Digital Societies (Routledge, 2016) and La media education nella scuola multiculturale (Media education in multicultural school, with F. Fabbro & A. Nardi, ETS, 2019). She has also co-edited the Proceedings of the European Conference on “Social Justice, Media & Technology in Teacher Education”, ATEE (Association of Teacher Education in Europe), Florence (IT), 28-29 October, 2021 (Springer, in press). Maria is the Vice-President of the Italian Association of Media Education (MED) and a member of the Executive Committee of the Italian Society of Research on Media and Education (SIREM). She is also Associate Editor of The International Encyclopedia of Media Literacy (John Wiley & Sons, 2019).
Julian McDougall (Co-Editor, JMLE) is Professor in Media and Education, Head of the Centre for Excellence in Media Practice and runs the Professional Doctorate (EdD) in Creative and Media Education at Bournemouth University. He convenes the annual Global Media Education Summit and has published an extensive range of books, articles, chapters and reports. He has conducted media literacy research for the European Union and European Commission, British Council, Arts and Humanities Research Council, ESRC and EPSRC, Samsung, the United Kingdom Literacy Association, and other organizations. Julian was a founding editor of the Media Education Research Journal and is the co-editor of the Routledge book series on Research in Media Literacy and Education.
Lucas Jacob (Co-Editor, JMLE) is the Director of Writing, Communication, and Media Literacy at La Jolla Country Day School, in San Diego, California, USA. For over 25 years, he has worked as a teacher, administrator, and advisor in PK-12 schools across the United States, as well as in Budapest, Hungary, where he served as a Fulbright Fellow. His writings have appeared in 70+ literary, academic and trade journals and anthologies. Media literacy became a central part of his career when he taught his first middle- and high-school courses in pop culture/mass media semiotics in the 1990s.
Helen Liu (Managing Editor, JMLE) is a doctoral student in the Faculty of Education at York University and a secondary teacher on the York Region District School Board (YRDSB). Her research interests include the critical examination of media, adolescent development, and the study of international students. She is passionate about exploring the gaps and discrepancies within media literacy curriculum. In doing so, she hopes to implement more relevant and focused education for adolescents, promoting responsible and successful navigation of these online spaces.
Elena Gabbi (Production Editor, JMLE) is a social psychologist and has been a research fellow and instructional designer at the University of Florence. She is currently earning her Ph.D. in Education and Training Sciences developing the topic of Learning Analytics applied to teachers’ professional development. Her interests include lifelong learning, e-learning design, and educational big data.
Renee Hobbs (Founding Co-Editor, JMLE) is Professor of Communication Studies at the Harrington School of Communication and Media, University of Rhode Island USA, where she co-directs the Graduate Certificate in Digital Literacy. At the Media Education Lab, Hobbs advances media literacy education through research and community service, developing an online interdisciplinary community of practice with educators, researchers, and activists from around the world. Hobbs is the author of hundreds of scholarly articles and a dozen books, including Mind Over Media: Propaganda Education in a Digital Age (W.W. Norton, 2020), which won the Excellence in Social Science Award from the American Association of Publishers (AAP).
The Journal of Media Literacy Education is an online, open-access, peer-reviewed interdisciplinary journal that supports the development of research, scholarship and the pedagogy of media literacy education. The publication provides a forum for the exchange of information and ideas on new developments in media literacy education. Contributions are written by academics, educators and media professionals from a variety of countries and fields. We place a strong emphasis on interdisciplinary research that reflects diverse perspectives. The Journal strives to stimulate research in a variety of educational areas, some of them traditional (media and children, critical pedagogy, education policy) and others emerging (data literacy, digital mobility, transmedia literacy).
As an extended conceptualization of literacy, media literacy education helps individuals of all ages develop habits of inquiry and skills of expression needed to become critical thinkers, effective communicators, and active citizens in a world where mass media, popular culture and digital technologies play an important role for individuals and society. The Journal of Media Literacy Education is the official journal of the National Association for Media Literacy Education.