Meet Graduate Student Michelle Ciccone
By Nusrah Azeez and Christine Souaiden
Michelle Ciccone is a PhD student in the Department of Communication at UMass. In her undergraduate years at Vassar, she majored in English and got certified to teach high school English. Michelle went on to get her Master’s in Education Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. For six years, Michelle worked as a technology integration specialist in K-12 schools, prior to that she worked in education related non-profit organizations.
Why did you choose Communication?
I am doing my PhD in Communication because I am exploring an interest that I have developed over the years. My interest in entering a Communication program comes through media literacy and the thread that connects it all is literacy. I wanted to be a high school English teacher, so of course I was interested in working with teenagers to develop their literacies. I remember during my college years, I was student teaching in a high school English class and we were reading The Canterbury Tales. In the very first lesson that I taught, I brought Beyonce’s ‘Upgrade You’ music video into class and we compared and contrasted the messages of the ideal place of women in society between the music video and The Canterbury Tales. I was interested in bringing popular culture into the classroom. It was only many years later that I learned that it was called media literacy. Being interested in literacies and expanding the idea of those kinds of texts belonging in the classroom, I discovered media literacy, which led me to discover media studies and a whole field of Communication that researches how people use symbols and texts to communicate with each other. I stumbled into finding names for things that I was naturally interested in. As a first year PhD student I am interested in taking classes that are exposing me to the history of this field, as well as technology, the internet and how it is used. A lot of the things that we are worried about today, in regards to technology, are not new issues, people have been talking about them for decades.
What was your journey from undergrad to higher education?
I did not know what I was interested in right out of undergrad, it has taken me a long time to home-in on a very specific interest that I want to devote years to study. I believe I have benefitted from being older and joining the program. I am able to be clear-headed and have fixed goals and ideas on what I want to get out of this and where I want to go with it. These sorts of programs can be tough. Two months in, I can say I am feeling confident. My experience and age allow me to feel more grounded and less nervous about how life is going to turn out. I recommend taking time to work, travel and figure out where your interests lie.
What would you say is the major difference between undergrad and grad school?
I was an excellent student in high school, never did anything wrong, always read all the assigned readings. Then I got to college and I kind of lost my way a little. Now that I have returned to the life of learning, I feel more grateful and I do not take this opportunity for granted. It feels like a luxury that my job is to read and write, what a privilege. Whereas in undergrad it felt like a burden, I always asked myself, “when am I going to live life?” That is all part of growing up and realizing your privileges. This is also unique to my experience but it also makes me a lot more grateful for the opportunity to learn now.
As a grad student, do you feel a sense of community at UMass?
Yes I do. My cohort is pretty small, so we have similar classes together. With my cohort, I feel a sense of community as well as with other graduate students as we all have an office so we get to know each other that way. Pandemic protocols as well as living far away make it difficult for me personally. However, it is a good balance between expectation for you to get involved and recognizing that you are going to be really overwhelmed so it is okay to not feel like you can participate in everything. To answer your question, yes and no. The ‘no’ is personal to me and the logistics of my life.
What research are you working on? What is your dissertation focused on?
I have not chosen a focus for my thesis yet. I am interested in media literacy education, as well as digital literacy, which is related but specific to the literacies of using digital technologies. I am also interested in digital citizenship, which is anti-cyberbullying and anti-sexting, basically it is about the dos and don’ts of how to use the internet. I am fascinated by the approach that schools use to teach students how to safely use the internet because I do not think they do it right, I am on a mission to disrupt that. In doing research that explains that telling someone to be kind does not mean they will adhere to it. The problem on the internet is not lack of kindness, it may be one of the problems, but is it really the biggest problem? I personally doubt it. I do not think that we should ever assume that young people, or anyone, is not already thinking deeply about their experiences online. We all think about how much time we spend online, how it is making us feel, and second guessing the content we are putting out. I believe people are already thinking about that and I resent the way that we talk to kids about it at schools, it sounds basic and unhelpful. I am interested in expanding on the idea of what is possible in terms of educational initiatives that talk more about the infrastructure of the internet and teaching students about algorithms, platforms and what goes on on the back end of the internet.
How intense would you describe your workload as a grad student?
It is really intense. There are hundreds of pages of readings. The general advice you see online is to skim, but that doesn’t really work for me because I do not retain the information. I would rather read or not read. Also, there is a lot going on at the same time, between taking three classes and being a TA in addition to other expectations with working on projects and conferences that are going to allow you to publish and get your name out there. It is definitely a lot of work, however going into a grad program of something you are really interested in makes it a lot easier. I love all of the classes I am taking which makes me motivated to do the work. I just presented at the Critical Media Literacy of the Americas, it was a bilingual event that brought together people from North and South America. I presented with a woman I collaborated with from the University of Hong Kong, Samantha Stanley. We talked about the curriculum that Google has called “Be Internet Awesome,” for 2nd to 6th graders which involves how to be a good citizen on the internet. We went through the curriculum and analyzed it. Also, we are thinking of ways to help other classroom teachers to go through the same process and not just write off any curriculum but to be able to identify the gaps, point of view, and agenda of the developer so they can get supplemental materials to counteract that. It is hard for teachers to do all that or have enough time to go through the process so we are thinking of creating evaluation materials and resources that would help classroom teachers to quickly analyze any curriculum that is handed to them.
How is your experience being a TA?
I wish I were working more with students, I think next year I am going to move into becoming a TO where I have my own class. When I worked in a middle school I was working halftime with teachers and halftime teaching a class. When I moved to a high school I did not teach my own class, I only worked with teachers, I realized how much I missed interacting everyday with students in a classroom. Coming to this program and knowing being a TA or a TO is part of the deal was part of what was appealing to me because I want to work more closely with students. Working with students advances my thinking immensely. I probably learn more from working with students by putting certain resources in front of students and seeing how they react, the questions they ask and the things that come to mind. It spurs so many ideas for me.
What are your future plans in this field?
I am not entirely certain, if this was fifty years ago, I would be like: Yeah I am going to become a professor. However, I know that is not so easy. I have seen on Twitter that this year the number of faculty jobs that schools are putting out there are more than they have ever seen. So I do think that this field is a healthier field within academia, even so I am not confident that I can put all my eggs in that basket. In an ideal world, I would love to be a research consultant. In June, I did a short term project with a non-profit in Poland, they had a curriculum that they wanted feedback on, so I met with them as well as a journalist from Eastern Europe and that was very fulfilling. I remember thinking, wouldn’t it be great if my life was centered around working with different organizations around the world to advance the field. To put it in brief, I want to be a researcher, I want to read and write as well as teach. I am unsure if that means becoming a professor or going back to a high school and doing research on the side, or even start my own research and contract with organizations. It could even be a combination of all that, but I feel confident that it will work out. This field is only growing, people are increasingly interested in media literacy and the impact of communication technology.
What do you like to do for fun?
I have two dogs, they are wonderful and cute. I enjoy going for walks with them. My partner enjoys cooking so that is something we enjoy doing. I like to travel, hopefully I will be able to do that moving forward.
What is your advice to Comm students and future grad students?
Trust the process, even though it sounds cheesy. For undergrads, truly trust the process, you will figure it out and if you feel like you have not yet, that is part of the process. My generation was told “follow your dreams” and “do what you love,” that does not always lead people to a good place. People have ended up being unhappy in their jobs, having these unrealistic expectations on how jobs should be your passion and your fulfilling and that has led to burnout. It sounds like your generation has a different take on things, but I would say, enjoy the mess and trust that you are going to look back and it is all going to make sense. For future grad students, make sure that this is what you love. Reading hundreds of pages on a topic that you are not interested in is not a good idea.