Abstract In 1954, Jacques Ellul, a French philosopher, wrote a book called The Technological Society which posited that once new technologies are developed their application becomes almost inevitable. Ellul warned that personal transformation is necessary to retain one’s humanity in the face of technological imperatives. “Technique,” as he called expanding technology, needed … [Read more...] about The metaphysics of Marshall Mcluhan: Technology, Ethics and Human purpose
Scholarly Features
Contextualizing Marshall McLuhan
Abstract My thesis is that the Canadian Renaissance specialist and media ecology theorist and Catholic convert Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980; Ph.D. in English, Cambridge University, 1943) is an analogist. McLuhan himself developed the thesis that the Victorian Jesuit poet and Catholic convert Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889) is an analogist in his 1944 article “The Analogical … [Read more...] about Contextualizing Marshall McLuhan
The Medium Matters More Than Ever
Abstract The theoretical domain of communication and media studies, encompassing the scholarship of Marshall McLuhan, Harold Innis, and Stuart Hall, among others, has provided valuable insights for navigating the multiple, complex media-rich landscapes in which users find themselves immersed. In Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (1964), McLuhan cautioned that the … [Read more...] about The Medium Matters More Than Ever
At the Digital Frontiers: Extending Media Literacy through Media Ecology
Abstract Media literacy is considered to be an integral skill for personal, professional, social, and political action in the 21st century. However, what constitutes media literacy itself and the manner by which media literacy education is taught, received, and measured continues to be ardently debated amongst scholars and practitioners. Moreover, the new educational … [Read more...] about At the Digital Frontiers: Extending Media Literacy through Media Ecology
Media Literacy in the Ecosystem: After McLuhan
Abstract This essay makes the case for media literacy as an essential element in the health of the communication ecosystem and reappraises McLuhan's contribution for the post-digital media literacy field. In motivating a global media literacy mapping with a theory of change (McDougall, 2025), for this special issue, the essay shows how media literacy makes a difference … [Read more...] about Media Literacy in the Ecosystem: After McLuhan
“Making the familiar strange again”: media effects, knowledge construction, and media literacy in the age of artificial intelligence.
Abstract In an era where media technologies, from legacy broadcast to social networks and generative AI, pervade everyday life, the once-invisible media environment demands renewed scrutiny. This article re-examines media effects and knowledge construction through a critical lens that “makes the familiar strange again.” Drawing on media ecology, constructivist epistemology, … [Read more...] about “Making the familiar strange again”: media effects, knowledge construction, and media literacy in the age of artificial intelligence.
Critical Media Literacy and the Importance of Critical Self-Reflexivity
Abstract This essay examines critical self-reflexivity as an essential, yet overlooked dimension of critical media literacy. While media education emphasizes the analysis of media, messages, and audiences, it often neglects self-reflection about how one’s own identity, positionality, and lived experience shape meaning-making. Drawing on feminist standpoint theory, … [Read more...] about Critical Media Literacy and the Importance of Critical Self-Reflexivity
The Message Is Multimodal: Acoustic Space, Disability, and the Present Future
Abstract Disability communities have enacted McLuhan’s media theories for decades, revealing communication as inherently multimodal, mediated, and distributed. Through assistive technologies that routinely become universal infrastructure, the essay shows how disability both confirms and unsettles McLuhan’s framework, and why the future of media is already being prototyped at … [Read more...] about The Message Is Multimodal: Acoustic Space, Disability, and the Present Future
McLuhan, Media Ecology, and Machine Learning: Rethinking Media Literacy in K–12 Education
Abstract This article reframes K–12 media literacy through a media ecology lens to address the realities of algorithmic and AI-driven media environments. Drawing on McLuhan, Postman, Strate, and critical media literacy scholarship, it argues that media operate as environments that shape perception, attention, and meaning rather than neutral tools. Integrating media ecology … [Read more...] about McLuhan, Media Ecology, and Machine Learning: Rethinking Media Literacy in K–12 Education
Media Literacy Education For Survival In An Algorithmic Age
Abstract Over the last decade, we have entered a new technological epoch characterised by social media platforms, algorithmic curation, and artificial intelligence. Media literacy has become a prerequisite for survival rather than an optional educational enrichment. Drawing on Marshall McLuhan’s foundational insights, this article argues that while McLuhan’s broadcast-era … [Read more...] about Media Literacy Education For Survival In An Algorithmic Age
When the Algorithm is the Message: GenAI as Educational Environment
Abstract This article addresses the impact of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) on education from a media ecology perspective. GenAI configures a new linguistic environment that alters the conditions under which knowledge is produced, circulated, and validated. Far from being limited to the automated generation of content, these systems reorganize attention, … [Read more...] about When the Algorithm is the Message: GenAI as Educational Environment
Hot Knowledge, Cool Action? Designing Digital Knowledge Platforms in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Abstract Digital knowledge platforms have become central instruments in sustainable development, yet their effectiveness in translating information into action remains limited. Despite substantial investment, many platforms function as static repositories rather than participatory systems that support learning, interpretation, and behavioural change. Drawing on empirical … [Read more...] about Hot Knowledge, Cool Action? Designing Digital Knowledge Platforms in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Deconstructing Free Enterprise and Reconstructing for Sustainability: Cultural-Ecological Propaganda Analysis for Educators
Abstract: In the spring of 2017, a conservative think tank mailed 300,000 copies of a book to US teachers and college faculty to encourage widespread uncertainty about climate change and promote neoliberal, free enterprise discourse in US schools. Teachers have been targets of free enterprise propaganda campaigns throughout the last century. This most recent event stresses the … [Read more...] about Deconstructing Free Enterprise and Reconstructing for Sustainability: Cultural-Ecological Propaganda Analysis for Educators
Engaging with Things: Speculative Realism and Ecomedia Literacy Education
Abstract: In recent years, media scholars and educators have made an effort to address ecological issues in their work. Ecomedia literacy adapts the principles and practices of the media literacy movement in order to prepare the public to critically engage with the relationship between media and the environment. However, this article argues that the philosophical frameworks, on … [Read more...] about Engaging with Things: Speculative Realism and Ecomedia Literacy Education
For the Love of Nature: Bringing Environmental Justice to Urban Elementary Students
Abstract: This essay explores the role of critical pedagogy in environmental justice education. We discuss the need for teaching a love of nature (biophilia) as an entry point for developing a caring relationship and sense of stewardship with the natural world. Place-based education and ecopedagogy offer liberatory potential to make education more transformative and … [Read more...] about For the Love of Nature: Bringing Environmental Justice to Urban Elementary Students
The Origin of Resources: Sustainable and Experiential Learning in Italy
Abstract: Held near Siena, Italy, our 3-week summer abroad program, The Mindful Palette of Stonehill College, combines art, gastronomy, and agricultural studies that strive for cultural mindfulness through holistic and experiential learning processes. A strong belief in sustainability, both philosophically and praxis, underlie these unique experiences. We share the complexities … [Read more...] about The Origin of Resources: Sustainable and Experiential Learning in Italy
“Solarpunk” & the Pedagogical Value of Utopia
Abstract: This paper examines the ecologically oriented speculative fiction genre known as “solarpunk” and its value for the cause of environmental justice. This article argues that the status quo is characterized by relative inaction on the issue of fighting climate change and that this inaction is the result of an inability to imagine a “green” future. As a form of … [Read more...] about “Solarpunk” & the Pedagogical Value of Utopia
