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Nolan Higdon    

Author of "Let’s Agree to Disagree" and Professor of History, Education, Communication

Nolan Higdon is a Lecturer at Merrill College and the Education Department at University of California, Santa Cruz. Higdon’s areas of concentration include podcasting, digital culture, news media history, propaganda, and critical media literacy. Higdon's focuses on the political economy of news media and so-called fake news, the intersection of politics and media (especially digital culture), and the utility of critical media literacy. Higdon has a long history of developing classroom content and teacher trainings focused on expanding critical media literacy education.

All of Higdon’s work is available at Substack. He is the author of The "Anatomy of Fake News: A Critical News Literacy Education" (2020); "Let’s Agree to Disagree: A Critical Thinking Guide to Communication", "Conflict Management", and "Critical Media Literacy" (2022); "The Media And Me: A Guide To Critical Media Literacy For Young People" (2022); and the forthcoming "Surveillance Education: Navigating the conspicuous absence of privacy in schools" (Routledge). Higdon is a regular source of expertise for CBS, NBC, The New York Times, and The San Francisco Chronicle.

Speech Topics

The Anatomy of Fake News

This session discusses the history of fake news, who produces it, the themes of fake news, the outcomes of fake news, the complication of fake news in a digital era, and what we can do to mitigate the negative effects of fake news. It explores how and why current policies of censorship and techno-utopianism (or techno-chauvinism) worsen the fake news problem.

Critical Digital Literacy

The session examines the rise and current landscape of digital media. It introduces the concept of surveillance capitalism, and how this new economic order is undermining traditional notions of freedom and privacy. It explores the power inequities in media, and offers strategies for how users can mitigate some of the harm associated with using digital technologies such as false information and surveillance.

Let's Agree to Disagree

This session introduces the contemporary hyper-polarized environment before discussing how constructive dialogue, critical thinking, and critical media literacy can undo the toxic effects of hyper-partisanship. Along the way, Higdon introduces relevant examples of how false information and destructive dialogue across the ideological spectrum contribute to our hyper-polarizes environment. In addition, Higdon provides real worked examples of how groups are using constructive dialogue to mitigate falsehoods and hate.

Surveillance and Education

This session explores how the utilization of ed-tech tools and platforms in the digital age actually undermines effective education and exacerbates existing vulnerabilities for students and faculty. The session explores strategies for schools, parents, students, and faculty interested in protecting their privacy in schools.

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