John Kotarski Email & Phone Number

Storytelling has been a common thread through many of my professional endeavors – from civil servant to art maker to educator. The master’s thesis below sums up my passion for civic activism and multimedia storytelling. I try to offer a new model for teaching media literacy through school-based community television. It was written to satisfy a requirement for a interdisciplinary master’s degree in civic media from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.The thesis traces the history of television from its use as a military and commercial vehicle intended for control of many by a few, to Internet enabled television produced by individuals for personal expression or amusement. In addition, it traces the criticism of commercial media from post-World War II to the present through writings of philosophers like Martin Heidegger and Herbert Marcuse as well as social critics Noam Chomsky, Neil Postman, Todd Gitlin, and Susan Jacoby. Finally, the thesis details my personal experience adapting high school television curriculum for civic use.I come from Flint, Michigan - stories matter.

Listed skills include Public Speaking, Leadership, Teaching, Research, and 46 others.