EMERGE: Developing an Anti-Symbolic Annihilation Framework for Media Production Education - An Autoethnographic Study with Student and Faculty Perspectives

Abstract

This autoethnographic study examines symbolic annihilation in media production education through the lived experience of a Black female professor navigating predominantly white institutions. Drawing on Tuchman’s (1978) concept of omission, trivialization, and condemnation, extended through Ortega’s (2024) application to educational contexts, this research investigates how these patterns manifest in creative media classrooms, perpetuating systemic inequities that mirror industry disparities documented by Smith and Pieper (2023). The study weaves together personal narratives and scholarly analysis through multiple theoretical lenses: intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1991), epistemology of ignorance (Mills, 1997), stereotype threat (Steele & Aronson, 1995), and hidden curriculum (Giroux & Penna, 1979) to examine how overlapping systems of exclusion operate in media education. Through student questionnaires at the University of Oklahoma, questionnaires and interviews with women media educators nationally and internationally, and autoethnographic critical incidents, the research reveals how symbolic annihilation operates through curriculum design, production dynamics, and institutional structures. This study develops EMERGE (Empowering Media Education through Responsive Growth Experiences) a theoretically grounded pedagogical framework and the first Anti-Symbolic Annihilation Framework specifically designed for media production education. Synthesizing eight theoretical perspectives into actionable strategies, EMERGE provides educators with both critical understanding of how exclusion operates and concrete tools for countering it. Ultimately, this framework prepares students to not only succeed in the entertainment industry but to transform it.