HENDERSON, Nev. – Nevada State College will host a provost lecture on Thursday, Feb. 14 to address the blurring of categories between popular culture and political communication. Henry Jenkins, an American media scholar and provost professor of communication, journalism, cinematic arts and education at the University of Southern California (USC), will evoke discussion on what kinds of media literacies we need to navigate the ever-changing mass media content today.
The lecture, “Popular Culture as Politics, Politics as Popular Culture,” will take place in the auditorium of Nevada State College’s Nursing, Science and Education building. Refreshments will begin at 3:30 p.m. and the presentation will be from 4 to 6 p.m. Student groups, entire classes, and the public are encouraged to attend.
“This is our second year hosting the provost lecture series and they have been well-received from students, staff and community members alike,” said Bart Patterson, president of Nevada State College. “These discussions give our students an opportunity to be exposed to critical topics in our society today and gain valuable knowledge from fellow education scholars. We are pleased to welcome Henry to our campus this week to speak on subjects that are becoming increasingly more important in our complex media landscape.”
Jenkins has been recognized as a leading thinker in the effort to redefine the role of journalism in the digital age. Before his position at USC, he spent more than a decade as the director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) comparative media studies program and the Peter de Florez Professor in the humanities. Jenkins’ research has given insight into the success of social-networking websites, networked computer games, online fan communities and other advocacy organizations, and emerging news media outlets.
Jenkins has published more than 17 books on media, culture and communications, and regularly engages in speaking engagements on participatory media effects on young people.
“I believe our shared literacy in popular culture provides resources we can use to foster the civic imagination and communicate our visions of a better world to each other through networked communication,” said Jenkins. “My hope for this lecture is to stimulate social thought around these topics and inform the younger generation on how to bridge the gap between popular culture and political communication.”
The lecture is co-sponsored by the Nepantla Program and the Nevada State Student Alliance. For more information, please visit https://nsc.edu/events/provost-lecture-series-2019/.
About Nevada State College
Nevada State College, a four-year public institution, is a member of the Nevada System of Higher Education. Nevada State places a special emphasis on the advancement of a diverse and largely under-served student population. Located on a developing 512-acre campus in the foothills of Henderson, Nevada, the college was established in 2002 as a new tier in the state system between the research universities and the two-year colleges and, as such, is Nevada’s only state college. Nevada State College is the second fastest-growing college in the country and the fastest growing in Nevada. It currently has nearly 5,000 students and more than 600 full- and part-time employees. For more information, visit https://nsc.edu.
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