Ellen Middaugh’s research is guided by the question, “How do youth become effective advocates for themselves and their communities in the digital age?” She is interested in how the internet and participatory media enable and constrain civic participation. Dr. Middaugh conducts research on how youth use social media to express public voice and build community, youth practices as they encounter misinformation and hostility online, and educational interventions designed to help support informed, ethical and empowered civic engagement. Her research focuses on youth broadly but with special interest in the experiences of those who may be excluded or misrepresented by powerful civic institutions. Read more below and listen to Ellen’s personality playlist on the Lurie College Spotify account!
EDUCATION
- Ph.D., Human Development and Education, UC Berkeley
- B.A., Psychology, George Washington University
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
- Middaugh, E. (2019). More than just facts: Promoting civic media literacy in the era of outrage. Peabody Journal of Education. Published online before print. Doi:
10.1080/0161956X.2019.1553582. - Middaugh, E. (2018). Civic media literacy in a transmedia world: Balancing personal experience, factual accuracy and emotional appeal as media consumers and circulators. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 10(2), 33-52. https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/jmle/vol10/iss2/3
- Middaugh, E. & Evans, C. (2018). Did you know?!…Cultivating online public voice in youth. Theory and Research in Social Education, 46, 574-602. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2018.1474059
- Middaugh, E., Schofield-Clark, L. & Ballard, P. (2017). Digital Media, Participatory Politics & Positive Youth Development. Pediatrics, vol. 140, issue supplement 2. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/140/Supplement_2/S127
- Middaugh, E., Bowyer B. & Kahne, J. (2017). U Suk! Norms of online political discourse and the implications for adolescent civic development and engagement. Youth & Society, 49(7), 902–922. DOI: 10.1177/0044118X16655246
RECENT PRESENTATIONS
- Middaugh, E. (2019, February). Transformative engagement: Youth remaking their worlds. Report commissioned for and presented at the UNESCO Global Citizenship Education Division’s February, 2019 Experts’ Meeting on Teaching and Learning for Responsible Transformative Engagement in Seoul, Korea.
- Middaugh, E. (2019, April). Youth Civic Development in an Era of Outrage: Implications for Civic Education. Annual Meeting of the American Education Research Association. Toronto, CA.
- Middaugh, E. (2019, April) Coming of Age in the Era of Outrage: Digital Media and Youth Civic Development. University Scholars Series.
ONLINE RESOURCES
- Civic Engagement Research Group profile
- Research Gate profile
- SJSU People profile
- Twitter account – @emiddaugh
AREAS OF RESEARCH INTEREST
- Adolescent
- Civic education
- Civic engagement, youth
- Community
- Critical consciousness
- Digital media
- Participatory media
- Social media
RECOMMENDED READING
- Beyond Resistance! Youth Activism and Community Change: New Democratic Possibilities for Practice and Policy for America’s Youth by Shawn Ginwright
- Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
- Young People and the Future of News by Lynn Schofield Clark and Regina Marchi