Information and Media Ph.D. Program at Michigan State University

📣 Dissertation Defense Announcement

Join us in supporting Leilane Rodrigues as she defends her dissertation:

From Control to Liberation: A Genealogy of Images Depicting Racialized Violence in Brazilian Media

🗓 Monday, June 30, 2025
🕐 1:00PM EST
💻 Zoom: https://msu.zoom.us/j/4191372290
📍 The first part of the defense is open to the public.

Abstract:
This study examines how Brazil’s hegemonic media perpetuates racial violence by producing and naturalizing stereotypical imagery of Blackness and violence. Through a historical comparison of Black and mainstream media from the 19th to the 21st century, the study employs Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Critical Race Theory (CRT) to interrogate media representations across key periods. It pursues two central objectives: (a) to demonstrate how hegemonic media have systematically normalized anti-Black violence through recurrent dehumanizing archetypes, and (b) to illuminate counter-narratives of resistance forged by Black media as acts of communal self-defense. This study concludes by proposing frameworks for engaging with Black media through the lens of Critical Race Media Literacy (CRML). It outlines actionable pathways for CRML initiatives to center Black media consumption as both a form of self-defense and a strategy for harm reduction.

📸 See flyer below for more details!