Journalism and Media Studies Major Events

Resistance 2.0:   Mobilizing Social Capital Through Personal Networks in Support of Political Movements

Dr. Saman Talib

2007 Graduate of SC&I Ph.D. Program and Associate Professor, School of Media and Communication, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore, Pakistan

Tuesday, November 17

6:10 to 7:30 p.m.

SC&I Building Faculty Lounge - Room 323

November 4, 2007 was witness to a very unusual sight in Pakistan: hundreds of students marching in a political protest. The protest was launched at a small, elite university called Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and the students were protesting the arrest of faculty members in the aftermath of the Emergency declared in Pakistan the previous day. This sight of students protesting was to become increasingly familiar as the weeks of Emergency dragged on.

What makes this time particularly interesting was the media blackout imposed by the government during the Emergency. An additional source of complication was the strong response of the military government to all forms of dissent during this time. So the students were faced with many challenges: lack of mass media to approach, need for anonymity, and the need to organize and evolve rapidly.  This left these students with no other means to organize but through social networks. The most logical channel of organization turned out to be the personal new communication technologies these students had access to, particularly the World Wide Web – in the form of emails, a blog, social networking sites including YouTube – and their cell phones. 

This talk will pay special attention to the participation and leadership of women in this movement. This is an important perspective because, in a gender segregated society such as Pakistan, the visibility of females was a strong visual representation of the depth of resistance felt by the young citizens of the country.  The talk will consider how women were encouraged and challenged in the formation of this movement—especially how female participation and leadership was facilitated by the virtual nature of the movement.

Sponsored by the SC&I Ph.D. Program, the Rutgers Journalism Resources Institute, the Rutgers Center for Media Studies, and Women's and Gender Studies at Rutgers.

Rutgers University Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) presents a

Panel on Campus Media 

Editors of campus publications and the managers of campus broadcast facilities, as well as students, faculty, and administrators, will be present.  The goal is for university community to give feedback to the media.

November 18 - 7:00pm
Graduate Student Lounge of the Rutgers Student Center

School of Communication and Information Colloquium

Speaker and Topic TBA

10:00am to Noon
Scholarly Communication Center, Alexander Library

School of Communication and Information Colloquium

Speaker and Topic TBA

10:00am to Noon
Scholarly Communication Center, Alexander Library

SC&I Research Colloquiums

10 to Noon

School of Communication and Information Colloquium

Speaker and Topic TBA

10:00am to Noon
Scholarly Communication Center, Alexander Library

School of Communication and Information Colloquium

Speaker and Topic TBA

10:00am to Noon
Scholarly Communication Center, Alexander Library

School of Communication and Information Colloquium

Speaker and Topic TBA

10:00am to Noon
Scholarly Communication Center, Alexander Library

School of Communication and Information Colloquium

Speaker and Topic TBA

10:00am to Noon
Scholarly Communication Center, Alexander Library

9:30 - 11:00am
Room 212

The School of Communication and Information Graduation ceremony will be held at 7:00pm at the Rutgers Athletic Center, followed by a reception.  All undergraduate, masters, and doctoral students who are graduating should plan to participate and invite friends and relatives.  Tickets for guests are unlimited.

University Commencement will be held at 1:00pm in Voorhees Mall on the College Avenue Campus.  SC&I undergraduate and masters programs will be represented by representative students; all PhD students are welcome to attend.