Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2010 Ephemeral media, persistent action: public pedagogies of collective resistance Jessica Ketcham Weber Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Weber, Jessica Ketcham, "Ephemeral media, persistent action: public pedagogies of collective resistance" (2010). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 2404. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/2404 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. EPHEMERAL MEDIA, PERSISTENT ACTION: PUBLIC PEDAGOGIES OF COLLECTIVE RESISTANCE A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of English by Jessica Ketcham Weber B.S., Louisiana State University, 2003 August 2010 Dedication In memory of my sister Elise, who taught me the power of laughter and the simplicity of compassion in the face of injustices, big and small. For my best friend and husband Andy, who continues to inspire me to act and create for progressive social change, who challenges me to envision a gentler world, and who reminds me every day that partnership can be radically beautiful. For my daughter Aloe Elise, for whom I will continue to imagine a more humane world. ii Acknowledgements I have been so fortunate to be surrounded by supportive and inspiring teachers, friends, and family throughout my journey through graduate school—many of whom fit within at least two of those categories. My dissertation director Sue Weinstein has been a tremendous mentor, a critical editor, a thoughtful reader, and a wonderful friend. Her trust and patience with me as I created and recreated my project has truly meant so much. Her fantastic work with future teachers and her attention to the educational practices of youth inside and outside of schools is inspiring. Over the years, Irv Peckham has been as generous with his time as with his faith in my ever‐evolving teaching and research projects. His monthly letters to the editor and the musical stylings of the Musicians of Mass Destruction are just some of the examples of his activist cultural production that I will remember fondly. Michael Bowman’s classes were two of the most critically and creatively challenging in my graduate career and I have taken great pleasure in revisiting our conversations as they have resurfaced while writing my dissertation. I thank him in particular for reminding me of the textual promiscuity that performative writing offers. I am also so appreciate of Jackie Bach, whose brilliant ability to hear what you are trying to say and then say it back to you in a much more articulate manner was tremendously helpful at different stages of this project. I am particularly grateful to Elsie Michie and Rick Moreland. They both encouraged me to go to graduate school and it was in their classes that I first encountered some of the theoretical ideas that were germane to this project. Indeed, their support throughout my graduate program has meant a lot. My thanks also to Michelle Massé, whose persistent work has created spaces for activism within higher education and to Kris Hogan, whose iii ephemeral presence indicates how much work we have left to do to make academia a more equitable place. I also genuinely thank Dan Novak for his help and general support on the job market—a beer and a laugh can go a long, long way. I would also like to thank Stacy Sauce, William Winters, David Brown, Jeff Shoji, Andy Weber, and other members of the Baton Rouge Progressive Network—for having hard but necessary conversations about working for city‐wide change and for having the creative prowess to imagine a city where diverse voices are amplified through alternative media and collaborative programming. Our tactics varied widely, but we built (and continue to build!) a community of people who dare to demand more of Baton Rouge. To Erika Katayama, you will never know how much it meant to my writing to know that Aloe was with a babysitter she loved and learned from—thank you so much. Thank you Kate Suchanek for being the most loving yoga teacher and generous friend, creating beautiful sequences in person and even through text messages. I want to thank Clarke Cadzow and the Highland Coffees night crews for allowing me to stay well after closing night after night for the last few months; it will be hard to find a replacement, even in Seattle! Thank you also to Jeremy for helping me negotiate the particularities of library bureaucracy. I can say with utmost certainty that this dissertation would not exist without my dear friends Jennifer Ellis West and Kristi Richard Melancon. Our writing group has been invaluable and their suggestions nothing short of brilliant, critical, and helpful, but the friendships that we developed mean more than I ever could have dreamed. We supported each other through coursework, general exams, and defenses; between the three of us, we celebrated two marriages and two babies; and we ultimately encouraged each other to balance life and work, action and rest. I thank them both more than I can ever express in iv words and I know that we will continue to support each other in our personal and work lives for decades to come. I owe so much to many of my wonderful friends, including Lisa Costello, Karin deGravelles, Elizabeth Domangue, Marla Grupe Williams, Casey Kayser, and Scott Whiddon, for their love and advice, collaboration and encouragement. I am forever indebted to my parents, Steve and Janet Ketcham. Their support and love; their intelligence and wisdom; their brilliant balance between work and play; their work for peace and social justice; their commitment to a better political and ecological landscape—these are just some of the reasons that I am inspired by them. I thank them for so many things, but specifically for sharing their love of books, for modeling the power of speaking out as well as civil disobedience (No bikes allowed on the bridge? Ha!), and for supporting me wholeheartedly in everything I have ever done. They are my best friends and they inspire me with their creativity, strength, and stamina. Finally, my deepest gratitude goes to my husband Andy. His support came in the form of time, space, and words, and his belief in my project and in me never wavered. I am constantly amazed and inspired by his philosophy of how to live for the day and I often needed to be reminded of this to realign myself with the world outside of graduate school. He wore many hats throughout this project—consultant and critic, cheerleader and caretaker—and seemed to always anticipate which hat I needed him to wear at any given moment. Particularly in these last months as we continued to adjust to life as a new family of three, he put everything aside so that I could write every night, and for that I thank him with all my heart. We’ve had an amazing journey since we met the week before we started graduate school seven years ago and I cannot wait for my next adventure with him and our sweet little daughter, Aloe. v Table of Contents Dedication. ii Acknowledgements. .iii List of Figures. .vii Abstract. .viii Chapter One Mapping Public Pedagogy through Neoliberalism, Tactics, and Media Interventions . .1 Chapter Two Making the News: Mainstream Print News Media as Public Pedagogy.. .33 Chapter Three Commercial Films, Activist Intentions? Public Pedagogy as Reproduction and Resistance . 62 Chapter Four Learning from Convergence Culture: Digital Sites of Public Pedagogy. 98 Chapter Five Media Interventions: Kairotic Moments and Ephemeral Texts in the Composition Classroom. .136 Conclusion. 162 Works Cited. .166 Appendix A: Syllabi. .181 Appendix B: Permissions . .187 Vita. 188 vi List of Figures Figure 1: The old Seattle Independent Media Center..........................................................................58 Figure 2: The new Seattle Independent Media Center .......................................................................58 Figure 3: Banner Drop ......................................................................................................................................74 Figure 4: A Black Bloc member smashes a store window.................................................................85 Figure 5: Activists and Police.........................................................................................................................87 Figure 6: Police violence ..................................................................................................................................90 Figure 7: The Homeland Security database.............................................................................................91 Figure 8: Jean in solidarity with protesters.............................................................................................95 Figure 9: www.gnn.tv, 2002........................................................................................................................ 111 Figure 10: www.gnn.tv, 2004 ....................................................................................................................