What a thrill to collaborate with Jan Boyd, Colleen Kenyon, Michelle San Miguel and others at the Rhode Island Public Broadcasting System for the Youth Media Contest Celebration! Check out some of the photos of the event ..read more

Students Are Invited to Create Original Works on Media Literacy and Violence Prevention PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Courageous RI today launched a Youth Media Contest for students from middle school, high school, and college in Rhode Island and beyond. Participants can win from a prize pool totaling $7,000, with the grand prize winner receiving $1,000. Courageous RI is a program that counters disinformation, enhances civic participation, and improves media literacy. This competition is a culminating event for this two-year, three-part initiative funded by a grant to the University of Rhode Island ..read more

Courageous RI: Teaching Us to Talk (And Listen) To One Another March 6, 2024 Pam Steager's article in the Providence Eye describes the past and present efforts of Courageous RI to reduce the hate that leads to violence through active listening and media literacy education. Read on the Providence Eye's website ..read more

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/c782f1_86d326f50ce24989bd04ffd3dd9522b6/720p/mp4/file.mp4 Welcome to Episode 14 of the Courageous RI podcast, the show that finds common ground, builds media literacy skills, and encourages curiosity, for the people of Rhode Island.  In this episode, our host Catherine Morris talks to Benjamin Thevenin and Pamela Morris about Courageous Rhode Island’s Youth Media Contest. Today, you’ll hear them talk about the purpose the youth media contest serves in the greater media literacy and violence prevention landscape and the experience of a professor engag ..read more

Participant Highlights: What was your key takeaway from today's session?  We asked people to synthesize a key idea from their participation in each of the Courageous Conversations. Here's what people said: Examine Multiple Points of View “I think these conversations actually bring people out of their social media silos where algorithms may arrange your feed so you’re only fed media that you already agree with. Very important events!” “There are the challenges of having these conversations with people from many divergent points of view and trusting that they are operating from a place of ..read more

Inspiration comes in all shapes, sizes, and colors and sometimes it can arise from a brawl outside your classroom. That is where the idea for my project “Bad or Misunderstood?” came about.  A fight between two boys broke out that took two GIANT teachers and me to break up. When we finally were able to get one of the boys into my room he proceeded to wreck it, knocking down my shelves, throwing desks, and trying to jump out the window. He kept saying to me “Mrs. Colao, I can’t stop, I can’t stop” with tears in his eyes. His anger and frustration were heartbreaking. I finally got him calmed ..read more

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/c782f1_540757fa80a34b2586673f6d5316af8b/720p/mp4/file.mp4 Welcome to Episode 13 of the Courageous RI podcast, the show that finds common ground, builds media literacy skills, and encourages curiosity, for the people of Rhode Island.  In this episode, our host Yamaya Jean talks to Carlton Solomon, otherwise known as the Great Doc P, who is the founder and co-producer of SM Enlightenment Radio Station. He talks about the impact that media consumption can have on our mindsets, the importance of being intentional with our media consumption, and char ..read more

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/c782f1_8916aee4b3f84ec4875992f52bfd952c/1080p/mp4/file.mp4 Welcome to Episode 11 of the Courageous RI podcast, the show that finds common ground, builds media literacy skills, and encourages curiosity, for the people of Rhode Island. In this episode, our host Renee Hobbs talks to Hugo Balta, who is a journalist, communications executive, and educator. Balta talks about the Latino News Network and its importance in today’s media landscape, the way that Latinx voters are targeted by propaganda, and some applicable practices for avoiding the harms of disinformati ..read more

It’s that most wonderful time of the year for movie lovers in general, with all the end-of-year awards season releases, and in particular for those feel-good holiday movies, both old and new, that we can’t seem to get enough of.  I was at a local music venue bar recently. A rhythm and blues band was on stage, a giant American flag on the wall behind them. The lead singer was doing a pretty decent Elvis voice on some of the king’s standards, and the stage lighting turned the casually dressed bandmates into a rainbow of neon.  At some point, I looked up and It’s a Wonderful Life i ..read more

Articles and videos about the newest technologies, scientific breakthroughs, and solutions to problems we might not have known existed inundate social media feeds. Artificial intelligence, vaccines, and renewable energy are some of the topics you may have encountered recently, where a writer or videographer explains the benefits and risks of science in your life. Yet, audiences face the problems of how to know whether to trust the science information they find in the media, and how to use it when making decisions. This is where science media literacy comes in. It is a form of media literacy w ..read more