Digital Literacy Expert to Speak at the University of Arkansas (Rescheduled from February)

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Margaret Hagood

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Margaret Hagood, an innovative scholar of literacy teaching and learning among pre-teens and adolescents, will speak on “A Shot in the Arm:  Middle School Teachers’ Instructional Practices Influenced by Participatory Culture, Liberatory Education, and Digital Literacies” at 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 10, in the J.B. Hunt building, room 216.

“As we prepare students and their teachers for the literacy they will encounter in the 21^st Century, we welcome the perspectives of a leading scholar in the field of digital literacies,” said David A. Jolliffe, Brown Chair in English Literacy professor of English. “As the co-editor of a major journal in literacy and a cutting-edge scholar in new literacy practices, Margaret Hagood provides a well-informed view on these issues.”

Hagood is the co-editor of The Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, a flagship journal in literacy studies. Her most recent publication is Bring It to Class: Unpacking Pop Culture in Literacy Learning, which she co-authored with two former colleagues.

“The book speaks both to skeptical instructors who favor traditional canonical literature and to technology enthusiasts who already use popular music and video in their classrooms,” said Hagood. 

Hagood is an associate professor at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in early childhood, elementary and middle grade literacies, focusing on digital literacies and pop culture. She also conducts professional development and research with middle school teachers and students, studying how they understand new literacies and utilize out-of-school literacies to improve performance in teaching and learning with literacies in schools.  

The lecture is free and open to the public, and teachers from area schools are particularly welcome to attend. Hagood’s visit is made sponsored by the Brown Chair in English Literacy in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.