RMIG report

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The AEJMC-RMIG Newsletter--Summer 2007

An RMIG Progress Report

Amanda Sturgill
RMIG Division Head
Assistant Professor
Baylor University

One of the gratifying tasks that the head of the interest group has is making the annual report of the division's activities to the larger AEJMC. Writing this year's report, I was struck by the progress we have made as a division. It is clear we continue to provide a home for serious scholarship and reflection on the very important topic of religion and the media.
We started with improving communication. You can see for yourself the great efforts of newsletter co-editors Jim Trammell and Crystal Lumpkins in organizing, formatting and maintaining our newsletter. Their work joins the continued work of Debra Mason, who hosts maintains our official site and newsletter archives. In an effort to provide more useful content, we also started the RMIG blog. Please come and participate in the discussion.
Your teaching chair, Paola Banchero, has done an amazing job covering media and religion topics through her teachable moments series. Some of these were sent by e-mail to all our members, others were posted on our blog or covered in our newsletter. I hope that many of you were able to use these to inform your classroom discussion of important topics.
On the topic of teaching moments, we have two exciting, co-sponsored teaching panels at the Washington, DC convention. The first, on Teaching Students to Recognize the Voices of the Silenced, will involve ideas on making students aware of those who do not get covered. The panel should include ideas for course content and curriculum, and attendees will get specific ideas on how they can include this content in what they teach to students. The second, on The Religious Foundation of Media Ethics and Practice, will offer a background for teachers on where media ethics come from, and how to get students to think critically of media issues.
PF & R chair Mike Longinow spearheaded many efforts both in and out of the convention. RMIG will co-sponsor a panel on How to Publish Scholarly Research in Specialized areas. The Small Programs Interest Group is the lead sponsor, but RMIG vice-head Ralph Frasca helped negotiate the panel, and provided two panelists and the moderator. We feel that that having research in less mainstream areas are matters of both ethics and inclusiveness.
Outside of the convention, but still within the convention meeting times, you do not want to miss the very special opportunity we have at our RMIG business meeting this year! During our business meeting in Washington, we are sponsoring speakers on the legacy of Neil Postman and his ideas on media and religion. Postman’s son Andrew will speak, as well as authorities Lance Strate and Dan Stout. This session will promote the area of media criticism and accountability, and I sincerely appreciate Dan's efforts to put this together. During the meeting, we will have a brief presentation from Taylor and Francis, the new publishers of the Journal of Religion and Media and conduct our regular interest group business.
That's where you come in. If you have ideas that could improve the running of the division, ideas about the interface of media and religion or if you just feel like you want to help out, maybe this could be your year. We will have our annual officer elections at the business meeting and if you think you might be able to help in teaching, research, PR & R, program planning, communication or membership, please drop me a line at Amanda_Sturgill@baylor.edu.
It has been my honor to serve you as division head this year.