By Students, For Students: Building Community at the MediaEd Graduate Symposium

Case Study | MediaEd Insights | Back to School: Reflections on Teacher Education Edition | September 2026

Written by Salome Apkhazishvili and Allie Thrall

In a world dominated by social media and endless digital connections, creating a genuine sense of community doesn't happen by accident. It takes real intention—and above all, consistency and showing up for one another. The Media Education Lab (MEL) has long supported graduate students through writing groups, hands-on workshops, mentorship, and publishing opportunities. As grad students ourselves, Allie and I deeply appreciated that support, and we stepped up to help cultivate a welcoming, global network of peers.

For me (Salome), this journey started during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic with a writing accountability group. A small group of grad students and early-career researchers—many of whom are now PhDs and leaders in the field—came together online to share draft projects and offer feedback in a low-stress, supportive space. Later on, Yonty suggested expanding this group to foster more interdisciplinary research in media education. As a first-year doctoral student in communication, I was eager to connect solid theoretical grounding with real-world media education practice. Our regular meetups became a fantastic space to bounce ideas around and collaborate. To keep that energy going, we decided to create a dedicated platform where graduate students could share their work with the wider media education community while getting constructive peer feedback.

That vision became the MediaED Graduate Symposium, and Allie and I were lucky to be part of its inaugural cohort. Over several months, the program gave us a space to present our research. Presenting was incredible practice—not just for academic conferences, but for navigating job talks down the line. Inspired by the experience, Allie and I volunteered the following year to co-lead the next cohort. We brought together students from across North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, hosting six interactive workshops with leading voices in media education theory, methodology, and policy [A full list of cohort members and facilitators is available on Padlet]. The workshops offered a chance to rethink how media education research applies to today's fast-changing media landscape. 

Drs. Renee Hobbs and Yonty Friesem joined our introductory session. Our graduate cohort engaged in shared readings of two of their articles charting problem spaces in media education: Renee’s “Seven Great Debates in the Media Literacy Movement,” and Yonty’s co-authored chapter on, “Media Literacy Education in the Era of Post-Truth: Paradigm Crisis.” To get to know each other and start the conversation that would unfold throughout the symposium, we then invited each graduate student to describe a problem space they see in media education. The topics ranged from the perennial challenges of sustaining media education through policy, assessment, and teacher education, to the emerging challenges of accommodating our understandings and approaches to media education to new technologies like AI.   

Dr. Michael RobbGrieco, a longtime MEL faculty member and media literacy historian, led an engaging session where students brainstormed definitions of media education that resonate today, reimagining the classic "Big Tent" framework spanning protectionism and empowerment. The break-out group sessions emphasized the need for expanding this binary model as AI, algorithms, and multi-level regulation take up a larger space in current media ecology. Some participants even suggested introducing a new “Disempowerment” pole in the “Big Tent”. One of my favorite “Big Tent” models presented by the graduate students used a tree metaphor, in which rings on the tree represent the history of the media literacy field, starting from the roots to the branches and new sub-branches. 

Dr. Maarit Jaakkola, co-director of the Center for Nordic Media Research, shared prompt exercise strategies for shaping culturally responsive media literacy interventions. The session resonated with me (Salome) because I faced challenges translating Western definitions and concepts of media literacy to my local context when I led one of the largest media literacy initiatives in conflict-affected communities in the South Caucasus (Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia). Other graduate students shared the sentiment in small-group conversations. In a group activity, the students drafted an information and media literacy strategy for their respective organizations, contexts, or countries. Using Padlet boards, they sketched the strategy across four key areas: vision, objectives, measures, and evaluation. The participants noted that despite wider use of traditional assessment instruments (surveys, interviews, etc.), evaluating “awareness” in the context of media and information literacy remains challenging. 

Dr. Phil Nichols from Baylor University helped students ground their scholarship by creating a diagram of the key research sites, actors, and artifacts. The students emphasized the greater practicality of the parametrization technique. Amidst the rapid multiplication of current media ecologies, locating parameters and staying close to those data points helps to avoid getting lost. Among many other learning points, Dr. Nichols’s workshop reflected the symposium nature the best way possible. It gave us - graduate students - more confidence in our research pursuits as we strive towards nuanced inquiry into our respective areas.

Dr. Dominique McDaniel from Kennesaw State University led an interactive session where participants critically examined modern media practices. I was particularly struck by the discussion on parasocial relationships with AI and influencers. Some of the thought-provoking questions that emerged in the Padlet board emphasized the need for further inquiry into multiple forms of parasocial relationships and for seeking ways to know when and how it becomes an unhealthy digital practice. When mainstream discussion tends to highlight media’s negative impact on youth, Dr. McDaniel’s culturally digitized pedagogy helps see young people as knowledge producers. 
As of writing this blog, the symposium members are reminded to attend the final workshop led by Dr. Brad Robinson, who will focus on the future of media education. More specifically, the session aims to contribute to the conversations about the relationship between AI technologies, writing, and power in education.  

In addition to workshops, participants took advantage of the fellowship track, creating individual and collaborative pieces for MEL digital platforms and joining as MEL affiliates to stay connected.

Although Allie and I stepped into leadership roles for this year’s symposium, we remain graduate scholars at heart. Co-leading these workshops further sharpened our ability to navigate a rapidly evolving media ecosystem—one that continually demands updated definitions, research sites, and analytical tools. Most importantly, the dialogic nature of these small-group discussions provided a vibrant space to exchange ideas with peers across disciplines, validating our shared work and bringing fresh clarity to our research.

As our second symposium wraps up, two new cohort members are stepping up to lead future planning, keeping the momentum alive. If you're interested in joining next year's cohort, keep an eye on MEL's digital channels—and stay tuned to read the fantastic work our fellows will be sharing soon!

MediaEd Insights | Back to School: Reflections on Teacher Education Edition | September 2026

Opening Essay: Courage Is Learned Together: Why Professional Development Is the Heart of Media Literacy Education by Yonty Friesem

Review: Collaborative, Responsive, and Future-Focused: Reflections on the Media Literacy Institute by Michele Johnsen, Monika Hanley, and Catherine Morris  

Case Study: By Students, For Students: Building Community at the MediaEd Graduate Symposium by Allie Thrall and Salome Apkhazishvili

Research Brief: What's Going on with Media Literacy in Massachusetts: A Landscape Scan by Media Literacy Now and the Media Education Lab