Sandra Smeltzer and Amanda Grzyb
Critical Media Pedagogy in the Public Interest

Abstract

This article was born out of numerous discussions with colleagues about the challenges inherent in mounting a critical media studies program designed to integrate theory and practice in rigorous and meaningful ways.  As core faculty members in the Media and the Public Interest (MPI) program at The University of Western Ontario1, we have helped to develop an undergraduate curriculum that focuses on the intersections between political economy of communication, cultural studies, social movements, and global justice.  In this article we reflect on what we teach, how we teach, and how we work to connect this curriculum to local and international communities through experiential learning opportunities and hands-on assignments.  We also consider the relationship between academic critique and on-the-ground activism, a tension that is manifest in both the MPI curriculum and our role as educators.  In so doing, we have taken up Henry Giroux’s (2007) call to scholars to talk more openly about how we can “engage in movements for social change, while recognizing that simply invoking the relationship between theory and practice or critique and social action is not enough” (30).