Carrie Anne Platt, assistant professor of communication, has had two of her works published in professional settings.
Her article titled, "Writing in Public: Pedagogical Uses of Blogging in the Communication Course," will appear in the Electronic Journal of Communication. The article explores the pedagogical value of blogging in both undergraduate and graduate-level communication courses. Using three case studies, the article explores both the positive and negative outcomes that can result from incorporating blogging into the communication curriculum. It argues that "writing in public" has the potential to increase student engagement, improve the quality of student writing, facilitate peer-to-peer learning, make concrete the connection between theory and practice, and help students develop necessary levels of multi-media literacy. The article concludes by outlining a set of best practices for the educational use of this social media technology.
The second publication is a book chapter titled "Cullen Family Values: Gender and Sexual Politics in the Twilight Series," which will appear in the edited volume "Bitten by Twilight: Youth Culture, Media, and the Twilight Saga." The chapter explores the gender and sexual politics of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series through an in-depth thematic analysis of the narrative as it develops over the four-book saga: "Twilight," "New Moon," "Eclipse" and "Breaking Dawn." The analysis explores how Meyer employs conservative social values like the policing of female desire, the protection of female virtue from ruin, the importance of marriage and the sanctity of life as key plot devices, creating a world in which vulnerable women need to be protected at all times, both from external forces and from their own desires. The chapter also looks at how the language used connects the loss of female innocence with bodily harm or death. The chapter concludes by considering the possible social implications of these messages for the predominantly female readership.