Renee Hobbs
About Renee Hobbs
Speech topics
Beyond Blame: Resisting the Fear and Hate that Leads to Violence
Mistrust and distrust are rising because it’s so easy to profit from conflict. Conflict compels our attention: it’s hard to look away. Movies, TV shows, news and social media all amplify (and sometimes glorify) fear, hate, and violence. In many movies, vigilantes are depicted as heroes and people working businesses and social institutions are depicted as corrupt, motivated purely by self-interest.
We live in a world of media stories that promote us-vs-them tribal thinking that limits our ability to see the value of people and ideas outside of our comfort zone. But what happens when we change the stories we tell about conflict? What happens when we humanize “the other”? When we recognize the difference between productive conflict and harmful conflict, we can activate simple but powerful communication strategies that leverage conflict and transform it into courageous conversations that connect people and build a spirit of shared humanity.
Attendee Results:
- Learn how conflict entrepreneurs exploit conflict for fun and profit and how people are attracted to conflict and the drama it produces.
- Understand how media messages offer distorted depictions of conflict in ways that can interfere with our understanding of its power and transformative potential.
- Experience the joyful surprise of recognizing and resisting forms of us-vs-them thinking that are embedded in everyday life.
- Learn to apply critical questions when encountering conflict in social media, entertainment, the news, and in our relationships.
- Be part of a courageous community of people who recognize the power of productive conflict and resist pressures to amplify the harmful conflict that leads to fear, hate, and violence.
Speaking videos
Books by Renee Hobbs
“Media Literacy in Action: Questioning the Media” (2021)
The blurring of entertainment, information, and persuasion is reshaping work, life, and citizenship. As a result, our relationship to media has never been so important nor so complex. By asking critical questions about what they watch, listen to, read, and use, students can be better prepared to be responsible communicators who can use a variety of formats and genres for self-expression and advocacy. Covering a wide range of topics including the rise of news partisanship, algorithmic personalization and social media, stereotypes and media addiction, advertising and media economics, and media influence on personal and social identity, Renee Hobbs helps students develop the lifelong learning competencies and habits of mind needed to navigate an increasingly complex media environment. Rooted in the best practices of media literacy pedagogy, Media Literacy in Action brings an interdisciplinary approach to media studies that engages students with the following features: • full-color layout • engaging questions to stimulate thoughtful dialogue and reflection • contemporary media examples designed to cultivate intellectual curiosity • suggested activities for advancing students’ confidence in oral, written, and multimedia expression.
“Mind Over Media: Propaganda Education for a Digital Age” (2020)
Propaganda is inescapable. It’s everywhere. Students need to analyze, resist, critique―and create. Media literacy educators have always insisted that we are both creators and receivers of media messages. The truth of this is even more apparent in today’s digital environment, with children and adults alike participating in a ubiquitous, nonstop stream of social media. Clearly, students need the tools to interpret news and information critically―not just for school but for life in a “post-truth” world, where the lines blur between entertainment, information, and persuasion. Renee Hobbs demonstrates how a global perspective on contemporary propaganda enables educators to stimulate both the intellectual curiosity and the cultural sensitivities of students. Replete with classroom and online learning activities and samples of student work, Mind Over Media provides a state-of-the-art look at the theory and practice of propaganda in contemporary society, and shows how to build learners’ critical thinking and communication skills on topics including computational propaganda, content marketing, fake news, and disinformation.
“Create to Learn: Introduction to Digital Literacy” (2017)
Want to learn something well? Make media to advance knowledge and gain new ideas. You don’t have to be a communication professional to create to learn. Today, with free and low-cost digital tools, everyone can compose videos, blogs and websites, remixes, podcasts, screencasts, infographics, animation, remixes and more. By creating to learn, people internalize ideas and express information creatively in ways that may inspire others. Create to Learn is a ground-breaking book that helps learners create multimedia texts as they develop both critical thinking and communication skills. Written by Renee Hobbs, one of the foremost experts in media literacy, this book introduces a wide range of conceptual principles at the heart of multimedia composition and digital pedagogy. Its approach is useful for anyone who sees the profound educational value of creating multimedia projects in an increasingly digital and connected world. Students will become skilled multimedia communicators by learning how to gather information, generate ideas, and develop media projects using contemporary digital tools and platforms. Illustrative examples from a variety of student-produced multimedia projects along with helpful online materials offer support and boost confidence. Create to Learn will help anyone make informed and strategic communication decisions as they create media for any academic, personal or professional project.
At a glanceRenee Hobbs
Recommended offer:
Get a custom quote for your event:
Get StartedBrowse Similar Speakers
Speaker Search is a marketplace of speakers designed for talent buyers. We do not represent or manage speakers; instead, we provide event planners with the most comprehensive resource to discover and book the right talent.