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Gianfranco Polizzi

PhD Reseacher
Department of Media and Communications

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About

About

Research topic

Digital literacy in theory and practice: Learning from how experts and advocates engage in civic life

Gianfranco’s academic interests include digital literacy and resilience, citizenship and education, participation and democratic theory. His interest in digital literacy encompasses not only a focus on education and the learning of how to be literate in the digital age, but also a focus on the civic opportunities that digital literacy entails for citizens of all ages. In addition, Gianfranco is interested in the phenomenon of misinformation and in the practical policy implications related to the promotion of digital literacy in the context of education, civic engagement and democracy.

Employing a mixed qualitative methodology, Gianfranco’s doctoral project looks at the intersection of digital literacy with civic engagement. It focuses on two social categories in the United Kingdom: digital experts (e.g. information, IT, media professionals) and civic advocates (e.g. community councillors, political party candidates, activists). By drawing on a dialectical understanding of utopian thinking as relying on both utopianism and dystopianism, Gianfranco approaches the notion of critical digital literacy as incorporating users’ utopian/dystopian imaginaries of society in the digital age. Such an approach suggests that as utopian thinking projects utopian possibilities in synergy with awareness of dystopian limitations, critical digital literacy is essential for users to pursue civic opportunities online provided they understand the internet’s democratising potentials and structural constraints.

Supervisors: Professor Sonia Livingstone and Dr Ellen Helsper

Biography

Gianfranco’s research at LSE is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. His academic background is in international communications studies, in which he has both bachelor's and master's degrees, with a focus on media studies and foreign languages. In addition to Italian, Gianfranco is fluent in English and French and has intermediate-level Mandarin Chinese. In 2008, he obtained his bachelor's degree in Italy, final mark 110/110 cum laude. Before doing his master’s, he worked in Gaziantep, Turkey, as an assistant to the Honorary Italian Consul and Italian teacher for the Italian Institute of Culture. After a couple of years, Gianfranco moved to Ningbo, China, to teach English as a second language and study Chinese. He then established an import/export company in Brussels, Belgium, for which he worked as a co-manager. After returning to university to focus on his academic career, in 2014 he was awarded his master’s degree with distinction from the University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China, with the support of a Category A scholarship provided by the Chinese government. Gianfranco is now in the final stage of his doctoral research in the Media and Communications Department at LSE. He has worked in this department as a Research Assistant on the Toddlers and Tablets project, as a Graduate Teaching Assistant leading the Dissertation Study Skills course for MSc students, and as a Classroom Assistant for Professor Bart Cammaerts on MC401 Mediated Resistance and Activism. Currently, besides writing his PhD thesis, Gianfranco is working as a Research Associate on the EXPloRing undeErStandingS for a Digital Resilience Scale for pre-teens (EXPRESS DRS) project, led by Dr Simon Hammond from the School of Education and Lifelong Learning at the University of East Anglia.

Expertise

Media Literacy; Digital Literacy; Digital Resilience; Citizenship and Education; Participation and Democratic theory

Keynotes

Polizzi, G. (20 September 2019). La tecnologia digitale e il dark web: Immaginando internet ai confini tra l’utopia e la distopia. Keynote delivered at the 11th International Short Film Festival "Corti in Cortile" (11esimo Festival Internazionale del Cortometraggio), held at Palazzo della Cultura, Catania, and organised by Visione Arte and Catania City Council, Italy.

Polizzi, G. (31 October 2018). What critical digital literacy entails and why it matters: Discussing educational implications based on the UK as an example. Keynote delivered at the International Reading Education Forum 2018, held at the National Taiwan Library, Taipei, and organised by the CommonWealth Magazine Education Foundation, Taipei, Taiwan.

Conference Papers

Polizzi, G. (12 February 2020). How to promote digital literacy: Challenges and recommendations based on the UK as an example. Paper presented at the digital literacy session of the International Conference on Media & Conflict (ICMC), Islamabad, Pakistan.

Polizzi, G. (10 July 2019). How digital experts engage with and evaluate online content: What digital literacy entails and how it should be promoted through the UK school curriculum. Paper presented at the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), Media Education Research Section. Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain.

Polizzi, G. (20 September 2018). Critical digital literacy in the context of education and civic, political engagement: Reflecting on practical policy implications. Paper presented at the Research Conference on Communications, Information and Internet Policy (TPRC) Graduate Student Consortium. American University, Washington DC, United States.

Polizzi, G. (23 June 2018). Citizen competence in the digital age: Towards a holistic approach to critical digital literacy in relation to civic, political engagement. Paper presented at the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), Political Communication Research Section. University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, United States.

Polizzi, G. (20 April 2018). Critical digital literacy: Reflecting on its importance for democracy and civic, political engagement. Paper presented at the 2nd International Media Literacy Research Symposium. Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon, Portugal.

Polizzi, G. (10 October 2017). Democracy, citizenship and critical digital literacy. Paper presented at the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Conference: Ways of Being in a Digital Age. Liverpool Foresight Centre, Liverpool, United Kingdom.

Polizzi, G. (16 June 2017). Digital citizenship and critical digital literacy: A few policy recommendations. Paper presented at the International Conference for Education and Democratic Citizenship (ICEDC). UCL Institute of Education, London, United Kingdom.

Polizzi, G. (9 June 2017). Critical digital media literacy and political engagement. Paper presented at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Symposium. London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom.