CAMEO Report October 11, 2003

 

 

Upcoming International Media Education Conference:

 

There was a brief notice about the Australian media education conference in one of their periodicals.

 

The conference is titled: "Screen Story Image And Technology"

July 1 – 4, 2004  in Melbourne.

 

To get further information you have to just join the conference email broadcast list.

 

To join just send an email to:

damned@netspace.net.au

saying: "Subscribe me to the conference e-mail list."

 

Please pass this information on to your members.

 

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Reports from the CAMEO members:

 

1: BC: CAME – Dan Blake:

 

#1

The third annual Media Literacy Summer Institute was held at the BC

Teachers' Federation offices in Vancouver from June to July. The first

week was devoted to teachers new to media literacy, and the second was

for teachers either with some experience teaching media literacy, or who

had taken the first week's classes. Presenter John Pungente, Carolyn

Wilson and Dan Blake were very impressed with the interest and

enthusiasm of the participants. More than one teacher confided to me

that this was the best professional development that had ever taken.

Paul Sullivan, currently a columnist with the Globe and Mail, also

presented a couple of sessions. Participants in the second week's

sessions had a tour of the CityTV studios, which are a short walk from

the BCTF offices. The tour was hosted by Prem Gill, who is the local

station's Community and Public Relations Manager. Prem fielded

 questions and shard anecdotes of the station's first years of

operation. Media educators in British Columbia are very grateful to Prem

and CHUM for making this annual event possible.

 

#2

The Canadian Association for Media Education held its annual general

meeting during the Summer Institute. One of its first tasks was to

change the name of the organization to the British Columbia Association

for Media Education (BCAME). This name change was long overdue and we

are pleased to have been able to accomplish this change without any

opposition. The following officers were elected: Dan Blake, President;

Doris Baltruschat, Vice -President, Jude Coffin, Secretary/Treasurer and

Steve Naylor, member-at-large.

 

#2

BCAME and the Vancouver Public Library co-sponsored a book launch of a

new book by former MediaWatch President and BCAME founding member, Shari

Graydon. The book, "Made You Look", is intended to be read by children

from about 11 to 16 years old. The focus of the book is advertising,

particularly advertising aimed a children. The writing style is very

engaging and there are lots of clever pictures to help focus the young

people's attention on the different topics

The launch was a hugh success with standing room only. BCAME , the book

publishers, and the VPL collaborated on the publicity for the event and

this contributed to the success of the evening. BCAME recommended

holding the event in the 4:30-5:30 time slot to accommodate teachers on

their way home from work and this proved to be a good choice. Based on

the experience of this event BCAME will likely be looking to do further

co-sponsoring of events with the VPL

 

#4

Saturday, October 18, 2003 is Media Democracy Day in Vancouver. This

event is organized by the the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

and a coalition of groups including. Adbusters, SFU School of

Communications, and others. BCAME vice-president, Doris Baltruschat, is

on the organizing committee for the event ,which takes place at the

Vancouver Public Library.

 

 

2: ON: AML – Dede Sinclair:

AML  began the new school term in September full of optimism and energy.  This year is the 25th anniversary of AML so we are revisiting the past and looking ahead to the future.   Earlier this year, Scanning the Movies won two American awards: the first was the Special Jury Award for  Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets at the Houston International Film Festival and and the second award, the Gold Plaque for The Matrix Reloaded was earned at the Chicago International Film Festival, Educational Category. Congratulations to AML members, John Pungente who created the program and Neil Andersen who writes the teacher guides.    Scanning Television  Second Edition has won the Platinum Award at the Houston World Television and Film Fest as well as well as a coveted award from AMTEC.  Neil , John and Kathleen Tyner worked together with Gary Marcuse to produce this outstanding resource.

Inter provincial teaching exchanges continued as John Pungente and Carolyn Wilson returned to BC for a second summer to work with Dan Blake on Media Literacy Workshops for teachers. At the same time A contingent of AML members along with Mike Gange were welcomed with great respect  in Baltimore at the Association for a Media Literate America Conference.

We are also looking forward to explore the opportunities for Media Education in Ontario.   With the support of energetic talented new AML  Board members Heather Debus, Debbie Gordon and Don Jones we are planning an ambitious slate of activities:
    • a fall panel presentation,  Critiquing the Media: creative resistance and alternative ways of processing mainstream media
    • A February 25th Anniversary Celebration
    • a spring worksop for elementary teachers to explore the use of media literacy to expand reading and writing skills
    • a year end  Sharefest when teachers come together to share best practice, ideas and  student projects.

AML members Barry Duncan and Ian Esquivel have had meetings with the National Film Board in Toronto to explore new ways to work together. Under the leadership of Jacques BenSimon, The N.F.B. seems revitalized and is looking for new ways to be responsive to Canadian communities. We are holding our fall event for teachers at the N.F.B.  site in Toronto to give teachers an opportunity to become familiar with teaching resources avilailable there.

As well ,Barry Duncan has just returned from South Korea where he was a keynote speaker  at a conference for Asian Media Literacy scholars.  In December Neil Andersen will be making several presentations in Japan.  Barry has pointed out the strong presence that AML has in Asia through presentations by Barry, Dede Sinclair and John Pungente.  Through a book on media literacy which was a best seller in Japan by journalist Akiko Sugaya and  now translated into Korean, AML received a great deal of attention. We are minor celebrities in Hong Kong, Japan and S Korea !    In his recent trip to Seoul S Korea, Barry  was pleased to  have many inquiries.  Neil Andersen will be going to Kyoto Japan in December  and adding his contribution. Finally, Yoshimi Uesugi, a Japanese graduate student who spent  a year in Toronto in 2002, is  doing her doctoral thesis on AML and the teaching of media literacy in Ontario schools. Recently we learned that she is making presentations about our contribution in academic conferences in Japan.

 

Barry will be a keynote speaker at two different venues n 2004: the

Wisconsin  Visual Arts conference in Madison on February 27  and at the

Alberta Language Arts conference at Banff April 16.

Closer to home, Dede Sinclair is joining  the Advisory Board of SchoolNet News Network and is looking forward to joining CAMEO colleagues Mike Gange and Rene Wicks.  Debbie Gordon has been invited to Quesnel B.C. to make a series of presentations to  teachers and parents in that community.  I am beginning to have a faint glimmer of hope that leaders in Media Education across the country will soon be recognized at home as well as abroad for the contributions we can all make to the advancement of education in a multimedia Canadian society.

 

3: QC: AMEQ – Lee Rother:

Here are someof AMEQs plans; please keep in mind that these are very early

in the development stages:

 

  1) I will be teaching a Media Literacy course to Cree teachers in Northern

Quebec starting next week, for McGill. I will be there for a week, then return

in November.  In the in between , the course will be through e-mail.  The

course will be given in the winter session as well, but in  adifferent

location.  As far as I know, this is the first such course in Northern Quebec.

 

  2) As some of my high school students, along with several other schools in

Montreal, are developing two new stories for CFCF News in Montreal, we are

looking in to the possibility of developing seminars for the students;

 

  3) Also, we are hoping to provide sessions at at least two conferences, to

be held in Montreal later this year;

 

  4) I have requested that my school board hold a media conference for

teachers, students and parents, later in the year, sponsored by AMEQ.

 

 

4: ON: JCP – John Pungente, SJ

 

As you see from Dede’s report above, both Scanning the Movies and Scanning Television got the year off to a good start with each winning two awards at international and national festivals.  Both are also entered in upcoming festivals.

 

Scanning the Movies began it’s seventh season with shows on MATCHSTICK MEN and MYSTIC RIVER.  Coming up in November are shows on MATRIX: REVOLUTIONS (November 7) and LOONEY TOONS: BACK IN ACTION (November 14). That will be followed on December 12 with a show on THE LAST SAMURAI.

 

Carolyn Wilson and I both enjoyed teaching the summer sessions in Vancouver this past summer. Next summer we will do a similar session for CHUM in London, Ontario.

 

Late this spring, Scanning Television (2nd Edition) was released and has been doing very well not only in North America but also over-seas.  Gary Marcuse, the co-producer, worked with Midori Suzuki to produce a Japanese version of Scanning Television (2nd Edition) and it has become a best-seller in Japan.

 

I’ve just finished the first draft of a new book I am working on with another Jesuit, Monty Williams. It’s called Finding God in The Dark: The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Go To The Movies and will be published by Novalis in the spring.  The book is meant for people who make retreats and – as well as praying on scripture – they will be asked to pray about certain aspects of their lives using movies.  There are some 52 movies used – all available at Blockbuster and almost all released no earlier than 1995. We wanted to use only popular and accessible films – for all. Titles range from Dancer in the Dark to Igby Goes Down to Bend it Like Beckham to Mystic River to Lost in Translation and everything in between – from Punch Drunk Love to Moulin Rouge. We’d also like to do an adaptation of this for a TV series – possibly for VISION. Now, does anyone know of a rich benefactor who’s like to fund such a series?

 

A Californian production company – run by Jesuits out of Loyola/Marymount in LA – is working with VISION on a 12 part documentary series called “Hidden Treasures of the Jesuits”. They have approached me to be the Canadian “producer” to help them get tax breaks. If this works out maybe I’ll get to find out what these Hidden Treasures are and how I can get a share of them.

 

Having been listed for a number of years on the staff of Regis College, the University of Toronto, as a “sessional” lecturer, I’ve now been asked to teach a semester course in Media Literacy starting next year. In preparation, I will do a half day workshop with Regis students in January.

 

As part of a field work program, Mike Rosinski, SJ, has been seconded to the JCP for a certain number of hours a semester. He has worked with me on Scanning the Movies and has developed an excellent teaching unit on “Branding 9/11” which is posted on the AML web site.

 

Together with Neil Andersen and Gary Marcuse – and with support from CITY TV Vancouver – I’m working on a feasibility study of a media education distance education project known as “Inside Plato’s Cave”.

 

As well, I am working with another Jesuit – Monty Williams – on a feasibility study of producing DVD material for retreat houses centered around media literacy. We’ve got a small grant to do this.

 

As many of you know I have been part of a small group working with the Canadian Teachers’ Federation on a survey of students about their viewing habits. Arlene Moscovitch was the head of the project and worked with Erin Research. Both MNET and CCA were represented as well on the group. The survey was done across Canadian schools in May to some 5,700 students ages 8-15. The results – which are very interesting - will be released at a press conference on November 20 – National Child Day and will be posted on the CTF web site after that – www.ctf-fce.ca.

 

Next year is the 20th anniversary of the Jesuit Communication Project and I have begun working on a number of events to mark that date – October 2004.

 

 

Saskatchewan report:

 

We are a week away from the STELA conference.  The meeting there will include the discussion of our CAMEO rep.  We are trying to find someone more centrally located than myself who is also media fluent and active enough  to speak for the northern half of the province.  Our executive is currently southern-centric.  I remain ready to continue as CAMEO rep until we can find our new one,  Lynne will not return as CAMEO rep after her maternity leave because she is now president of STELA.  It will be a few weeks before we can give a clearer picture than that because we are experiencing a revitalizing change in our local organization.  Sorry if our timing is out of synch.

 

Bob Pace