The role of media and information literacy (MIL) education in promoting participatory politics among college students with immigrant backgrounds

This dissertation explores how creating a Media and Information Literacy (MIL) curriculum for general education courses in higher education can encourage civic participation and informed political engagement among college students with immigrant backgrounds attending a large, urban public university. Three questions guided this study: How do college students with immigrant backgrounds reflect on their previous experiences in K-12 education, particularly in relation to the curriculum? What are college students with immigrant backgrounds' perspectives on MIL and participatory politics? How does their involvement in creating the MIL course curriculum shape their perspectives on participatory politics and higher education curricula? The study results indicate that in a K-12 setting, these students experienced a lack of representation in the curriculum, the conflict between home and school learning, and treatment as monolith groups without acknowledging the intricacies of their cultures and internal diversity. These experiences, as well as daily media consumption habits, influenced their choice of participatory politics topics. These topics included a) appropriation and misappropriation, b) stereotypes and discrimination, c) challenging Eurocentrism, and d) electoral politics, social activism, and civic engagement. I conclude this study by offering implications for theory, practice, and future research in the area of MIL education.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2023

Author dc:creator

• Kozlowska, Anna

Contributors dc:contributor

• Davila, Liv
• Dhillon, Pradeep
• Goodnight, Melissa
• Friesem , Yonty

• Mil
• Participatory Politics

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2023 Anna Kozlowska

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/122161

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F122161