ICA Past President Sonia Livingstone, London School of Economics, has just published Children and the Internet: Great Expectations, Challenging Realities (Polity). The book addresses the questions Is the internet really transforming children and young people’s lives? Is the so-called ‘digital generation’ genuinely benefiting from exciting new opportunities? And, worryingly, facing new risks? It deliberately avoids a techno-celebratory approach and, instead, interprets children’s everyday practices of internet use in relation to the complex and changing historical and cultural conditions of childhood in late modernity. Drawing on current theories of identity, development, education and participation, this book includes a refreshingly critical account of the challenging realities undermining the great expectations held out for the internet - from governments, teachers, parents and children themselves. It concludes with a forward-looking framework for policy and regulation designed to advance children’s rights to expression, connection and play online as well as offline.
Ted Zorn and Mary Simpson, U of Waikato, Department of Management Communication received a 3-year grant from the New Zealand Foundation for Research, Science, and Technology for a project entitled "Engaging Senior Stakeholders: Positive Ageing at the Elder-Organisation Interface" for NZ$1,050,000. The research focuses on elders’ interactions with organisations and investigates the extent to which those interactions might be impacted by ageism, as well as practices that can mitigate the negative effects of ageism.
Pamela Kalbfleish has been named an ACE Fellow for the 2009-10 academic year. Established in 1965, the ACE Fellows Program – the premier leadership development program in US higher education – focuses on identifying and preparing senior leadership for the nation’s colleges and universities.
Pamela Whitten, a professor and associate dean in Michigan State U's College of Communication Arts and Sciences, has been recommended to serve as dean of the college. The appointment is subject to approval by the MSU Board of Trustees.