Research Interests

Media Technologies

Arts, social, educational, and organizational applications; related theoretical issues.

Critical Pedagogy

Theory and applications to media education, including computer and audio / video / multimedia production education and training.

Grassroots Community-Based Electronic Media ("Alternative" Media):

Origins, operations, policies, and related theoretical questions.

Ethnographic Digital Storytelling

Use of social science methodologies for social applications within media arts.

International Communication

Alternative media, media and development, comparative systems.

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Selected Publications and Presentations

 

"`Free Speech’ and U.S. Public Access Producers.” Chapter in Community Media: International Perspectives,
Ed. Linda K. Fuller. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 185-196. 2007.    [pdf 147 KB]

 

“Bridging Ourselves: Self-reflexivity and Digital Storytelling in the Media Classroom.” Presentation at the annual conference of the International Communication Association, Non-Divisional Workshop. San Francisco. May 2007.

“A Praxis Moment for Web 2.0: New Technologies, Old Mistakes?” Presentation, Alliance for Community Media – Western States Fall Conference. San Jose. October 2006.

“Effective Storytelling: Secrets to Profit and Social Change.” Presenation, Mid Peninsula Community Media Center. Palo Alto. March, 2006.

Panelist, "Winning Hearts -- and New Audiences." Digital Storytelling Festival. KQED, San Francisco. October 2005.

"Access San Francisco Strengthens the Fabric of Community Life.” MediaFile 23.2: 3-4. Spring 2005.

“The Praxis of Access: Access and Global Activism.” Community Media Review. Summer 2001. Revised and reprinted for Community Media Review 27.3. 31-33. Winter 2004.  [pdf  470 KB]

Panelist, “Digital Delivery to the Home.” Digital Independence conference. San Francisco. January 2004.

“Bridging Practice and Theory: `White Papers’ in Public Access Cable Television.” Paper presented at annual conference of the International Communication Association. San Diego. May 2003.  [pdf  92.5 KB]

 

“Sense-Making as a Pedagogical Tool.” Presentation at the annual conference of the International Communication Association, Non-Divisional Workshop. San Diego. May 2003.

 

"Access and the First Amendment.” Presentation, conference of the Western States region of the ACM. Santa Rosa, California. November 2002.

Guest editor, Community Media Review. “Rethinking Access Philosophy.” Summer 2002.   [pdf  34.2 MB]

“Which First Amendment are You Talking About?” Community Media Review. Summer 2002.  [pdf 4.4 MB]

“A Guide to Philosophical Discussions of Community Media.” Community Media Review. Summer 2002.  [pdf 2.79 MB]

“Alternative Media and the Cult of Individualism: Experiences from U.S. Public Access Cable TV.” Paper presented at the “Our Media” pre-conference of the International Association for Media and Communication Research, Community Communication Section. Barcelona. July 2002.

"Negotiating Tolerance: Lived Practices In A Public Access Facility." Paper presented at national conference of the National Communication Association, Communication and the Future Division.  Seattle, USA.  November 9-12, 2000.

"Public Access, The Internet, and Public Space: Tales of Resistance." Paper presented at national conference of the Broadcast Education Association. Las Vegas, USA.  April 2000.

 

"Community Television and the Vision of Media Literacy, Social Action, and Empowerment." Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 43.4: 1-21. 1999.  [pdf  6.5 MB]

 

"Sense-Making and Empowerment: A Study of the `Vision' of Community Television." The Electronic Journal of Communication/La Revue Electronique de Communication 9.3. 1999..

 

"The Intersection of Sense-Making and Focus Group Research." Paper presented at International Communication Association, Non-Divisional Workshop. San Francisco, USA. May, 1999.

 

"Critical/Feminist Pedagogies in the Context of Turkish Cyprus." Paper presented at the conference of the International Association for Media and Communication Research, Participatory Communication Research Section. Glasgow, Scotland. July 26-30, 1998.

“How to Make Your Puppet Come Alive.” The Kids’ How to Do (Almost) Everything Guide. Ed. Murray Suid. Palo Alto: Monday Morning Books. 10-11. 1998.

"Paulo Freire and Social Transformation." Peace Review 9.4: 571-577. 1997.  [pdf  4.75 MB]

"The Influence of Latin American Critical/Cultural Scholarship on U.S. Communication and Media Studies." Paper presented at the conference "Hispanics: Cultural Locations," University of San Francisco, USA. October 10-12, 1997.

"Community Television: Yesterday's `Liberating Technology'?" Paper presented at the 9th Macbride Roundtable, Boulder Colorado, USA, October 1 - 2, 1997.

"Community Television as Process: A Study of Media Literacy, Social Action, and Empowerment." Paper presented at the annual conference of the International Communication Association, Mass Communication Division. Montreal, Quebec, 22-26 May 1997.

Ross, Jesikah Maria.  2007.  "Training for Empowerment: Studies by John W. Higgins." Community Media Review 20.2: 8+.     [pdf 440 KB]

"The Teaching of American Media Studies: Contributions from Latin America." Paper presented at the conference "Crossing the Boundaries: Cultural Studies in the U.K. and the U.S." Ege University, Faculty of Letters. Izmir, Turkey, May 1996.

"Empowerment: Access Visions and Producer Realities." Community Media Review 18.3 (May/June 1995): 13+.    [pdf  339 KB]

"Training Strategies That Promote Media Literacy." Panel presentation, national conference of Aliance for Community Media (ACM). Boston, July 1995.

"Does Public Access Really Empower Participants?" Paper presented at national conference of ACM. Boston, July 1995.

Tracing the Vision: A Study of Community Volunteer Producers, Public Access Cable Television, and Empowerment.   Diss. Ohio State U. Ann Arbor: UMI. 9517017. 1994.

"Beyond the Night of the Broadcast Clones: Visions of Empowerment, Media Literacy, and Demystification." Community Television Review 16.3 (May/June 1993): 17-19.    [pdf  287 KB]

"Development Communication as `Public Relations': The U.S. Army in Honduras." Paper presented at conference of International Association for Mass Communication Research (IAMCR), International Communication Section. Sao Paulo, Brazil, August 1992.

"Media as Voodoo: Broadcast and Community TV Through Jean Gebser's Interpretive Structures." Paper presented at annual conference of International Communication Association, Philosophy of Communication Division. Miami, May 1992.

"Video Pedagogy as Political Activity." Journal of Film and Video 43.3 (Fall 1991): 18-29.  [pdf  304 KB] 

"Night of the Broadcast Clones: The Politics of Video Training." Community Television Review 14.3 (August 1991): 9-12.   [pdf  416 KB] 

"Video Training as Political Act: Implications for Community Television and Higher Education." Paper presented at annual conference of UDC. San Diego, October 1990.