Voices of Media Literacy: International Pioneers Speak : Renee Hobbs Interview Transcript

 

 

RENEE HOBBS

DATE OF INTERVIEW: THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2011

INTERVIEWED BY: TESSA JOLLS

 

(Quote)

 

A young scholar who is really interested in media literacy -- the big question for them is, what discipline do they enter in: is it communication, education, public health, sociology, writing/rhetoric or some other field? We don’t have an answer for that, because none of those shoes exactly fit. Some part of all those shoes fit. I hope to solve that problem in my lifetime: I would really love to have an opportunity to create a cross-disciplinary, or interdisciplinary program where the disciplinary silos don’t have to interfere with the quality of scholarship for media literacy. Until we can have truly interdisciplinary programs that connect English education to education to literary studies to sociology to media and communication, until you can actually study that all of a piece, then the scholarship of media literacy is going to continue to be at the margins. I hope I can get to develop this new kind of program someday…

 

BIOGRAPHY OF RENEE HOBBS

Renee Hobbs is an American educator, scholar and advocate for media literacy education. She is Professor in the Department of Broadcasting, Telecommunications and Mass Media at Temple University School of Communications and Theater, where she founded the Media Education Lab. She is co-editor with Amy Jensen of the Journal of Media Literacy Education.