Dr. Doug Tewksbury, associate professor of communication studies at Niagara University, recently published an article in the Canadian Journal of Communication, an independent journal that is produced quarterly to advance the development of communication and journalism education in Canada.
Tewksbury’s article, “Digital Solidarity, Analogue Mobilization: An Ethnography of the Technology-Embedded Protest Networks of the Québec Student Strike,” presents the results of an ethnographic study of the online and offline communities participating in the “Maple Spring” student strike in Québec as a case study for theorizing the trajectory of the technology-embedded social movement.
Analyzing data collected during field visits that include more than 50 interviews with participants, community organizers, union representatives, community-media producers and activists, the study suggests that the strategy of using mediated exchanges in order to both build community belonging and share information/knowledge can be effective in mobilizing boots-on-the-ground actions as a means of democratic participation and social change for today’s hybridized social movements and direct actions.
Dr. Tewksbury possesses a B.A. from Vanderbilt University, an M.A. from Suffolk University, and a Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University, College of Communications. He has been a member of the faculty at Niagara University since 2009. In 2013-2014, he was awarded the Fulbright Research Chair in Globalization and Cultural Studies at the Institute for Globalization and the Human Condition at McMaster University. Dr. Tewksbury’s research uses a critical cultural studies approach to theorize emerging participatory media technologies, particularly the way that social movements are using social and mobile media. His work centers on the democratic possibilities of collaborative media technologies, exploring the ways that the cultural practices of online-offline communities can lead to democracy, citizenship, creativity, and human rights.
Niagara University
Founded by the Vincentian community in 1856, Niagara University is a comprehensive institution, blending the best of a liberal arts and professional education, grounded in our values-based Catholic tradition. Its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, Education, and Hospitality and Tourism Management offer programs at the baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral level.
As the first Vincentian university established in the United States, Niagara prepares students for personal and professional success while emphasizing service to the community in honor of St. Vincent de Paul. Niagara’s institutional commitment to service learning has led to its inclusion on the President’s Honor Roll for Community Service every year since its inception in 2006, and its recognition with the Carnegie Foundation’s Classification for Community Engagement.