Allison Butler
Senior Lecturer of Communication
Contact details
Location
Integrative Learning Center
650 N Pleasant Street
Amherst, MA 01003
United States
About
My research interests are focused on critical media literacy, especially teacher education in media literacy, integrating media literacy into K-12 and higher education classrooms, and combatting surveillance technologies in education. I serve as the Vice President on the Media Freedom Foundation and co-run Mass Media Literacy, a grassroots organization that builds curriculum and trains teachers in critical media literacy across K-12 schools.
My upper-level Communication classes all include a civic engagement component where students have the opportunity to work in the community on behalf of young people and their media learning. I have published multiple books and articles on the need for, and implementation of, critical media literacy in the classroom, including Educating media literacy: The need for critical media literacy in teacher education (Brill, 2020) and Key scholarship in media literacy: David Buckingham (Brill, 2021).
I am a co-author of multiple practical resources for media literacy education, including the open-source text Critical media literacy and civic learning: Interactive explorations for students and teachers (EdTech Books, 2021) and The media and media: A guide to critical media literacy for young people (Seven Stories Press, 2022).