Website Center for Advanced Media Studies
Anti-Blackness has been ingrained in most Latin American cultures which have a history of European colonization. The Afrolatino community has faced erasure in their sending countries and in the United States, the result which is oftentimes the denial or lack of acknowledgement of their African heritage and the reinforcement of negative stereotypes of the African diaspora.
Ironically, one of the roots of this continuous discrimination is hair. In the Afrolatino households attitudes toward hair texture, length and color affect the emotional, socioeconomic, and perhaps, even the political aspirations and full participation in society of many young Afro-Latinos.
Television news in the U.S. has consistently depicted anchors and reporters who are mostly white men with straight blond or brown hair. When they are not, the women all must adhere to a standard look, and the image usually embraced is straight, slicked back and or wavy hair. Would encouraging more representation of curls, coils and kinks on television news and sitcoms, magazines, movies, and fashion help to shift anti-racist perceptions of Black and Afrolatinos in society and its diaspora?
Professors Claudia Cruz and Melissa McClinton are embarking on a multimedia journey to tell the “hair tales” of Black and Afrolatina women in the broadcast news media through a CAMS research grant looking at, “Crunching the Curls: How does representation of the natural hair of Black and Afro-Latinas on social media news and entertainment accounts compare to that on broadcast and streaming news services?”
Our team is looking for one fall intern – ten hours a week for 12 weeks at $12/hour. A different intern will be invited to participate as a video editor in the spring for the same number of hours and time. Students would enroll in JOUR 416 (practicum course) in the fall and spring. Total three-credit per semester per intern.
Intern opportunity to travel to conferences, particularly the Southern Nevada Diversity Summit at Nevada State University in Las Vegas on October 4, 2024, to be discussed and considered.
APPROVED FOR JOUR 416
Application requirements:
Resume
Portfolio
A paragraph statement about why you are interested in research about natural hair in the Black, Afrolatino and/or media landscape.
Start date: August 26, 2024
To apply for this job email your details to claudiacruz@gmail.com