May 25, 2019
Undergraduate
Student Activism in the Academy cover

Tess Halpern '19, an English major pursuing a letter of specialization in the Study and Practice of Writing (SPOW), is included in the upcoming book Student Activism in the Academy: Its Struggle and Promiseedited by Joseph L. DeVitis and Pietro A. Sasso (Myers Education Press, 2019).

Halpern's chapter, "Social Media: Changing Activism for Better or for Worse" explores both the positive and the negative effects that social media is having on activism, from creating greater platforms both nationally and internationally to encouraging a culture of "slacktivism."

Halpern is one of two student contributors in the anthology and writes that she, "chose a topic relating to student activism that would be best addressed by a young voice: the role of social media in activism today." Her chapter is an invited work by the editors; Halpern's work with the Daily Collegian and her 2017 article, "Make small-scale activism sexy again" stood out among the many college newspapers with columnists that focus on student activism.

As well as her English major and SPOW specialization, Halpern is a senior in the Commonwealth Honors College with minors in both political science and sociology. In addition to being a full-time student, she also is a tutor at the UMass Writing Center and head editor of the Opinion and Editorial Section at UMass Amherst's college newspaper, the Massachusetts Daily Collegian. You can read her student profile or connect with her on LinkedIn.