New UNI-authored OER: Media and Power

[Anne Marie Gruber]

University of Northern Iowa's Rod Library is pleased to announce the final publication of a new Open Educational Resource (OER) textbook, Media and Power, by three of our Communication and Media faculty, Bettina Fabos, Christopher R. Martin, and Catherine H. Palczewski. This project was funded by the UNI Textbook Equity Mini-Grant Program.

The book guides students through concepts, content, and exercises that help them develop media literacy by understanding media and power. The authors want students to not only gain the ability to critically analyze the languages and discourses – textual, visual, audio, and code – that people use to create and interpret media content, but also to understand the overarching context: media possess immense power in contemporary societies around the world. Included throughout are class assignment and activity prompts.

This book has already been piloted with students for several semesters, it is the focus of an upcoming international media literacy conference, and there are plans to translate the book into multiple languages. As an OER, permissions are included for translation, adaptation, and distribution, and it is free to all. In addition, the license specifies that adaptations must be shared similarly, thus ensuring more free and open resources enter the scholarly commons on this topic!

Let me know if you have questions for the authors or the publishing team. And have a fantastic holiday weekend!

Best,

AM

Anne Marie H. Gruber(she/they)
Liaison & Textbook Equity Librarian
Associate Professor of Library Services

319-273-3711

Rod Library 381
1227 W. 27th St. /
Cedar Falls, IA 50614

uni.edu /
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Students, meet with me:  https://uni.libcal.com/appointments/AMG
Free/affordable textbooks: https://guides.lib.uni.edu/oer

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