The purpose of this study was to investigate ensemble members' perceptions of their studio orchestra experiences. Survey data were collected from participants (N = 50) enrolled in a studio orchestra at a major collegiate institution in the Southeastern United States. A studio orchestra is a group of musicians who collaborate, compose, arrange,…

Many of Disney movies have been criticized for perpetuating traditional gender stereotypes which constrain opportunities for children at large. Its recent characters have also incurred heated discussions on gender portrayal. Moreover, stereotypes of gender roles, developed early on, can exert an immediate impact on individuals' behaviors and…

Being "in" curriculum is the cry of the "damné" to call for attention to one's existence against the antiblack and antibrown 'weather' in schools. This paper draws from the cry of young people, particularly Black girls to say 'I am here' in curriculum. Drawing from two years of primary/elementary classroom research in the…

Hollywood film has been positioned as a form of public pedagogy -- a site of efficacious informal learning. Acknowledging this educative potential, this article examines the ways in which faculty and students perceive and respond to representations of higher education offered by popular film. Drawing on focus groups and interviews with 22…

Black consumers watch and stream television at a higher percentage than any other demographic. Research has shown that presence of Black teachers, administrators, and school officials has positively influenced Black students' academic success. Research on how Black students understand and connect to portrayals of Blackness is needed in order to…

Media play an important role in young people's lives as an agent of socialization, both generally and with regard to mathematics. To understand the mathematics-related messages disseminated to young people via popular media, we analyzed portrayals of mathematics and mathematicians in over 40 media examples (television shows, movies, websites,…

Based on virtual conversations drawn from two separate intensive ethnographic studies in Bangladesh and Mongolia, we show that popular cultural texts play a significant role in young adults' heteroglossic language practices. On the one hand, they borrow voices from cultural texts and cross the boundaries of language, i.e., codes, modes, and…

Academic integrity is a quality that all university students must understand and practice. Despite it being a compulsory part of the curriculum in any discipline, cases of violation still arise, suggesting an ineffective learning experience. The author addresses two issues in the teaching of academic integrity--content materials and modes of…

In the majority of public schools across the nation, Black male youth are undergoing what can be deemed as "educational genocide"--the killing off of any chances for an equitable education. This dramatically decreases opportunities for Black male youth to develop into fully participating citizens in a democratic society. In many ways,…

This qualitative study explored diverse college students' perspectives on the portrayal of college life in recent popular films. Results from this study suggest that White college students dismiss stereotypes as comedic satire whereas their non-White peers readily identify the influence of negative media representations upon their academic and…

Can race and assimilation be taught? Interdisciplinary pedagogy provides a methodology, context, and use of nontraditional texts culled from American cultural history such as from, theater and historical texts. This approach and these texts prove useful for an examination of race and assimilation in America. The paper describes a course that while…

As technology and media become more popular pedagogical tools for instructors, the discussion of using films as a way to help students understand criminological concepts is also growing. Using a conceptual framework of popular criminology, the author set out to explore the ways in which films can be incorporated into a unique course aimed at…

In an online graduate-level early childhood education course, the authors sought to playfully disrupt and transform educators' conceptions of children's "dark play," as provoked by contemporary popular culture. Embracing the imaginative potential of darkness and liminality, the course participants problematized and expanded their…

This paper reports on how and why proficient learners of English in Hong Kong participated in popular culture, out-of-class activities, with an emphasis on their development of learner autonomy. Autonomy in language learning is defined as an individual's ability and responsibility to take charge of his or her own learning [1]. Out-of-class…

Academic dishonesty, including plagiarism, is a chronic problem. This paper reports the results of a project undertaken at a public funded university in Melbourne, Australia, in partnership with colleagues from a public funded university in Beijing, China, to combat this and other problems associated with academic literacy. The prime focus of the…