Author Archives: Anna Campbell

The civic imagination, according to The Civic Imagination Project, is the “capacity to imagine alternatives to current cultural, social, political, or economic conditions;” it is necessary to imagine better futures to achieve them.  It’s hard to think of a more visionary future than the one depicted in the various Star Trek series.  The Original Series,Continue reading “Civic Imagination: The Final Frontier”

It’s not a revelation to learn we’re living in a society infused and inundated with media. In the articles we read, clips we watch, songs we listen to and so much more, stereotypes are pervasive. People from certain cultures are portrayed as negative or fetishized, those with non-heteronormative gender identities are commonly depicted with certainContinue reading “Stereotypes in Media: The Band Kid”

In honor or Banned Books week, we’re going to be examining the rise and continued relevance of book banning, as well as how the topic has continued to be portrayed. Origins of banned books Book bans are not a new or unusual thing– the first banned books in the United States dates back to 1637.Continue reading “Banned Books: Then to Now”

This week, we’re taking an in-depth look at how fact-checking works, using a recent example from the Reuters Fact-Checking team. More specifically, I’ll be taking you through the analysis of a recent piece of misinformation that made its way around the web in the United Kingdom. The Claim: In late August, several posts regarding COVID-19Continue reading “An Exercise in Fact-Checking”

In this digital day and age, it’s pretty easy to recognize an obvious scam. Every few weeks, I get a text message that asks me to put in some type of identifying information, whether it’s my phone number, name or even credit card information. In fact, I get so many scams I easily pulled oneContinue reading “Digital Considerations”