Nolan Higdon Faculty Profile

Not teaching this semester.

Published Books

• The Media and Me: A Guide to Critical Media Literacy for Young People, co-authored with Andy Lee Roth, Allison Butler, Mickey Huff, Nicholas Baham III, Ben Boyington, Avram Anderson, Reina Robinson, Maria Cecilia Soto, Kate Horgan, Peter Glanting, Censored Press, 2022.
• Let’s Agree to Disagree: A Critical Thinking Guide to Communication, Conflict Management, and Critical Media Literacy, co-authored with Mickey Huff, Routledge Press, 2022.
• The Podcasters’ Dilemma: Decolonizing Podcasters in the Era of Surveillance Capitalism co-authored with Nicholas Baham III, Wiley Press, 2022.
• The Anatomy of Fake News: Critical News Literacy Education, University of California Press, 2020.
• United States of Distraction Media Manipulation in Post-Truth America (And What We Can Do About It). City Lights Publishing, 2019.

Published Book Chapters

• ‘Returning to Neoliberal Normalcy: Analysis of Legacy News Media’s Coverage of the Biden Presidency’s First 100 Days,” co-authored with Emil Marmol and Mickey Huff, In Robert Gutsche Jr. (ed), The Future of the Presidency, Journalism, and Democracy: After Trump, (London: Routledge, 2022).
• “The New American Authoritarianism: How the Corporate Media Normalized Racism in 2016,” co-author with Nicholas Baham, Censored 2018. Huff, Mickey, and Andy Lee Roth, eds. New York, NY: Seven Stories Press, 2017.
• “Post-Truth Dystopia: Fake News, Alternative Facts, and Russian Hackers,” Huff, Mickey, and Andy Lee Roth, eds. Censored 2018. New York, NY: Seven Stories Press, 2017.
• “Millennial DeMockracy: The Corporate Media’s War on Social Justice,” The Global Critical Media Literacy Project, GCML.org, 2016.
• “Junk Elections and The Façade of Democracy: The Corporate Media’s 2016 War on Social Justice,” Huff, Mickey, and Andy Lee Roth, eds. Censored 2017: Fortieth Anniversary Edition. New York, NY: Seven Stories Press, 2016.
• “A Vision for Transformative Civic Engagement: The Global Critical Media Literacy Project,” Huff, Mickey, and Andy Lee Roth, eds. Censored 2016: The Top Censored Stories and Media Analysis of 2014-15. New York, NY: Seven Stories Press, 2015.
• “A Vast Wasteland: The Ongoing Reign of Junk Food News and News Abuse,” Huff, Mickey, and Andy Lee Roth, eds. Censored 2016: The Top Censored Stories and Media Analysis of 2014-15. New York, NY: Seven Stories Press, 2015.
• “Ukraine: Another Step in Capitalism’s Global Dominance Strategies and Power Inside the Transnational Global Corporate Class and US-NATO Global Empire,” Stephen Lendman, ed., Flashpoint In Ukraine: How The US Drive For Hegemony Risks World War III.” Clarity Press, 2014.
• “Mea Culpa, Mi Amore: Sorry for all the Junk Food News and News Abuse,” Huff, M. and Roth, A.L. eds., Censored 2015: Inspiring We the People; The Top Censored Stories and Media Analysis of 2013-2014. Seven Stories Press, 2014.
• “Can’t Touch This: Junk Food and News Abuse” Huff, M. and Roth, A.L. eds., Censored 2014: Fearless Speech in Fateful Times; The Top Censored Stories and Media Analysis of 2012-13. New York, NY: Seven Stories Press, 2013.

Edited Volumes In Press

• Robin Andersen, Nolan Higdon, & Steve Macek, Censorship, Digital Media and the Global Crackdown on Freedom of Expression, Peter Lang, 2023.
• SteveGennaro, Nolan Higdon, & Michael Hoechsmann, Transformative Practice in Critical Media Literacy: Radical Democracy and Decolonized Pedagogy in Higher Education . Routledge, 2023.

• “If You Build It, They Will Come: Envisioning Critical Media Literacy Programs in U.S. Higher Education” in Roberto Feltrero and Sara Osuna Acedo (eds), Critical Media Literacy, McGraw Hill-Aula Magna.
• “Preparing Students for an Orwellian Education: Integrating A Critique of School Surveillance into Critical Digital Literacy Education” co-authored with Allison Butler, in Roberto Feltrero and Sara Osuna Acedo (eds), Critical Media Literacy, McGraw Hill-Aula Magna.
• “The Fake News Crusaders: Exploring The People and Practices That Spread Fake News While Working To Fight It,” in Robin Andersen, Nolan Higdon, & Steve Macek (eds), Censorship, Digital Media and the Global Crackdown on Freedom of Expression, Peter Lang, 2023.
• “The Delusion of Power: Investigating The Myth Of Social Media User Power In The Age Of Big-Tech Censorship,” in Robin Andersen, Nolan Higdon, & Steve Macek (eds), Censorship, Digital Media and the Global Crackdown on Freedom of Expression, Peter Lang, 2023.
• “Critical media literacy in higher education: What mattered then & what matters now,” in SteveGennaro, Nolan Higdon, & Michael Hoechsmann (eds), Transformative Practice in Critical Media Literacy: Radical Democracy and Decolonized Pedagogy in Higher Education . Routledge, 2023.

• Co-editor with Sara Osuna Acedo and Michael Hoechsmann for a special issue on e-learning and critical media literacy of American Journal of Distance Education (2023)
• Co-editor with Sara Osuna Acedo and Michael Hoechsmann for a special issue of Revista Mediterránea de Comunicación 14 Núm. 2 (2023).

• “Fake News is Racist: Mapping Culturally Relevant Approaches to Critical News Literacy Pedagogy.” Co-authored with Allison Butler, Critical Education, 2023
• “Being on The Outside Of The Ivory Tower: Contingent Faculty Attitudes Toward Credentialed Elites in Higher Education,” Journal of Education Human Resources, 2023
• The Other Populist Media: Examining Prog-Left Media,” Co-authored with Jen Lyons, Democratic Communique. 31 : Iss. 1 , Article 3. 2022.
• “The Critical Effect: Exploring The Influence Of Critical Media Literacy Pedagogy On College Students’ Social Media Behaviors and Attitudes,” The Journal of Media Literacy Education. 14: Iss. 1, 2022.
• “Curricular similarities and differences between critical and acritical media literacy: Supporting teachers’ classroom inclusion,” co-authored with Allison Butler and D. Swerzenski, Democratic Communique, 2021.
• “Time to put your marketing cap on: Mapping digital corporate media curriculum in the age of surveillance capitalism,” co-authored with Allison Butler, Review of Education Pedagogy and Cultural Studies,  
• “Today’s Fake News is Tomorrow’s Fake History,” co-author Mickey Huff, Secrecy and Society Journal, 2, No. 2, 2021.
• “What is Fake News?: A Foundational Question for Developing Effective Critical News Literacy Education.” Democratic Communiqué, 29, No. 1, April 2020.
• "Rallying Over Balloting: The Origins of Millennial Activism." Journal of Critical Thought and Praxis8, no. 1 (2019): 3.

• Untitled piece examining anarchist pedagogy and critical media literacy
• Untitled piece looking at media literacy content developed by NATO

• “Book Review: Renee Hobbs’ Mind Over Media, Propaganda Education for a Digital Age (New York, New York: W.W. Norton and Company.). Education Review,
• “Book Review: Matt Potolsky, The National Security Sublime: On the Aesthetics of Government Secrecy, (Routledge, 2019),” Journal Of Secrecy And Society, 2, No. 2, 2021.
• “Book Review: Cindy Otis, True or False: A CIA Analyst’s Guide to Spotting Fake News, (New York, New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2020). Democratic Communiqué, 29, No. 2, 2021.

• “The firings of Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson doesn’t mean the end of hyperpartisan cable news networks,” Conversation, May 4, 2023
• “No Turning Back We Cannot Reverse the Damage Done By Poor Pandemic Reporting, But The Fourth Estate Must Do Better,” Project Censored, April 10, 2023.
• “Why the Dominion Lawsuit May Make It Easier to Restrict the Press The defamation case against Fox News might end up as a blessing in disguise for conservatives,” The Progressive, March 16, 2023
• “Journalistic Malpractice on Trial: What the Dominion Voting System Tells Us About How the Media Sacrificed Their Credibility to Partisan Falsehoods,” Project Censored, March 7, 2023
• “Is Your Teacher Spying on You? Your technology is surveilling you, and your teacher may be too,” Co-authored with Allison Butler, Project Censored, March 2, 2023
• “From Russiagate with Love: Corporate Media Spin and Revisionist Reporting on Russia’s Alleged Meddling in the 2016 Election Continue,” Co-authored with Mickey Huff, Project Censored, February 23, 2023
• “STFU about ChatGPT Educators Always Have and Always Will Confront Academic Dishonesty co-authored with Allison Butler,” Project Censored, February 14, 2023
• “The Professional Managerial Class Strikes Back! The Return to In-Person Education,” Project Censored, February 14, 2023
• “Promoting Falsehoods and Marginalizing Truth-Tellers WaPo’s Revelations About Russiagate Reporting Failures Typify Legacy Media Failures,” Co-authored with Mickey Huff, Scheer Post, January 2023.
• “Election denial and the Big Lie: Sure, Trump made it worse — but both sides do it ,” Salon, October 31, 2022.
• “Zuckerberg interview with Joe Rogan was public relations propaganda” San Francisco Chronicle, September 2, 2022
• “The Alex Jones Playbook,” Scheer Post, August 30, 2022.
• “Strangers are spying on your child. And schools are paying them to do it,” USA Today, August 24, 2022.
• “Defund the Democrats: Stop giving money to the party of surrender and inaction After their disastrous failure on abortion rights, Democrats want us to give more money and vote harder. Forget it,” Salon, July 3, 2022.
• “Teaching Media Literacy Is the Only Real Answer to Fake News We can’t stop disinformation, but we can teach students to think more critically, The Progressive, May 14, 2022
• “CNN+ was just the latest failed attempt of the cable news trailblazer to remain relevant,” The Conversation, May 3, 2022.
• “Media gets it wrong on Elon Musk and Twitter: The issue is oligarchy, not "free speech" Mainstream media largely parrots Musk's mendacious framing — but this fight is about monopoly power, not speech,” April 23, 2022.

• “Effective Critical Media Literacy Pedagogy in Higher Education: Turning Social Justice Theory into Practice,” doctoral dissertation, San Francisco State University, 2017

• "The Politics of Desertion," master’s thesis, San Diego State University, 2012.

• "Let’s Agree to Disagree : A Critical Thinking Guide to Communication, Conflict Management, and Critical Media Literacy" Seventh International Conference on Communication & Media Studies, 2022.
• "Back To School?: Contingent Faculty Members Attitudes Toward Their Employment During The COVID-19 Pandemic" Peralta Online Equity Conference, 2022.
• “#MediaLiteracySoWhite: Using critical race theory to fill the gaps in (critical) media literacy,” Critical Media Literacy of the Americas, 2021
• “A Historical Analysis and a Snapshot of Attitudes and Behaviors in the United States” American Psychological Association, 2021
• “The Other Populist Media,” Union for Democratic Communication,
• “Fake News Is Only the Beginning: Critical Media Literacy in Your Classroom,” National Council of Teachers of English, Denver, CO, 2020.  
• “Time to Put Your Marketing Cap On: Mapping Corporate Media Literacy,” Critical Media Literacy Conference of the Americas, Virtual, 2020.
• “Fake News Is Only the Beginning: Critical Media Literacy in Your Classroom,” National Council of Teachers of English, Baltimore, MD, 2019
• “United States of Distraction,” Union for Democratic Communication, Hayward, CA, 2019.
• “Critical Versus Acritical Media Literacy Curriculum: The Ideological Debate Over Corporate Influence in The Classroom—,” Union for Democratic Communication, Hayward, CA, 2019.
• “In Pod We Trust: The Podcaster Predicament (Decolonization and Digital Colonization),” Union for Democratic Communication, Hayward, CA, 2019.
• “The Anatomy of Fake News,” Journalism Association of Community Colleges, Sacramento, CA, 2019.
• “The Anatomy of Fake News,” International Critical Media Literacy Conference, Savannah, GA, 2019.
• “Today’s Fake News is Tomorrow’s Fake History,” Howard Zinn Book Fair, San Francisco, CA, 2018.
• “Fake-News”: The Trojan Horse for Silencing Alternative News and Reestablishing Corporate News Dominance,” Media Freedom Foundation Summit 2.0, Kentfield, CA, 2018.
• “Fighting Fake News”, Third International Conference on Communication & Media Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 2018.
• “Fighting Fake News: Project Censored, Education, and Solutions for The Digital Age,” Association of Alternative News Media, San Diego California, 2018.
• “Fighting Fake News: Project Censored, Education, and Solutions for The Digital Age,” Union for Democratic Communications, Chicago, IL, 2018.
• “News and Media Censorship: Project Censored’s Top 25 Censored Stories,” Association of Alternative News Media, San Diego, CA, 2018.
• “Fighting Fake News: Critical Media Literacy in Professional Development,” Union for Democratic Communications, Chicago, IL, 2018.
• “Critical Media Literacy Pedagogy Across The Curriculum,” International Critical Media Literacy Conference, Savannah, GA, 2018.
• “Effective Critical Media Literacy Pedagogy In Higher Education: Turning Social Justice Theory Into Practice,” Critical Media Literacy Conference, Savannah, GA, 2017.
• “Power Dynamics And Problem Solving: Engaging Both To Explore Civic And Community Engagement,” Media Freedom Summit, Cotati, CA, 2016.
• “Effective Critical Media Literacy Pedagogy: Turning Social Justice Theory into Practice,” Unionfor Democratic Communications Conference: Troubled Waters, Detroit, Michigan, 2016.
• “A Teachable Moment: Social Justice Pedagogy in a Post-9/11 World,” 9/11 Film Festival, Oakland, CA, 2016
• “What Can Community Colleges and Four-Year Institutions Teach Each Other About Social Justice?,” National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE), San Francisco, CA, 2016
• “Social Justice Pedagogy in The Digital Age,” Action In Media Education Summit, Fairfield, CT,2016
• “Effective Critical Media Literacy Pedagogy in Higher Education,” Leadership in Equity, Achievement, and Praxis Colloquium, San Francisco State University, 2016
• “Global Critical Media Literacy Project,” English Council Of California Two-Year Colleges Conference, San Jose, CA 2015
• “Re-Inventing Media and Systems That Serve Communities and those who live and work thereby Creating Systems that Empower Potential,” What’s Possible Conference, San Francisco, CA, 2015
• “Media Education and News 2.0: Solutions for the Digital Generation,” Union for Democratic Communications: Circuits of Struggle Conference, University of Toronto, 2015
• “An Expert Educational Panel on The Drug War,” Students for Sensible Drug Policy Club, University of California, Davis, CA, 2015
• “Muzzling Investigative Work,” Holding Power to Account Conference, University of Winnipeg, 2014
• “Screening and Q&A of Project Censored” Law and Disorder Conference, Portland State University, 2014

Research, Scholarly and Creative Activity (RSCA), California State University East Bay, 2022