Emilia Shirin Askari 31000 Nottingham, Franklin, MI 48025 (248)
229-2990
[email protected]
EDUCATION
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY Educational Psychology and Educational
Technology Program, East Lansing, MI PhD student. Advisor: Dr.
Christine Greenhow. Graduate Certificate Program in Community Engaged
Scholarship (in progress).
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN School of Information, Ann Arbor, MI
Master of Science in Information, Tailored Specialization: The Future
of News April 2011.
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Graduate School of Journalism, New York, New York,
Master of Science.
BROWN UNIVERSITY, Providence, Rhode Island, Bachelor's degree,
Economics & Creative Writing
APPOINTMENTS
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Ann Arbor, MI. Lecturer II, 1992 –1996 and
2003- the present.
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, East Lansing, MI. Research Assistant, 2013-
the present. Teaching Assistant, 2014-2016.
PUBLICATIONS
Askari, E. (2017). Assessing the Creativity of Middle School Students:
A Case Study with Digital Information in the Public Interest. SITE
2017: Proceedings of the Society for Information Technology and
Teacher Education, Austin, TX, March 5-9, 2017.
Greenhow, C. & Askari, E. (in press). Learning and teaching with
social network sites: A decade of research in K-12 related education.
Education and Information Technologies, 1-23. Published online
November, 2015.
Greenhow, C., Chapman, A., Marich, H. & Askari, E. (2017). Social
media and social networks. In K. Peppler (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia
of Out-of-School Learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Greenhow, C. & Askari, E. (2016). Peers and social media networks:
Exploring adolescents' social functioning and academic outcomes. In K.
Wentzel & G. Ramani. (Eds.), Social influences on social-emotional,
motivation, and cognitive outcomes in school contexts. New York, NY:
Taylor & Francis Publishing.
Li, J., Greenhow, C. & Askari, E. (2016). Social scholars in the
digital age: Social scholarship and practices. For inclusion in (Eds.)
Research 2.0 and the impact of digital technologies on scholarly
inquiry. IGI Global.
Greenhow, C., Askari, E., Tsovaltzi, D., Asterhan, C., Polman, J., et
al. (2016). Teachers and professional development: New contexts,
modes, and concerns in the age of social media. ICLS 2016: Proceedings
of the International Society of the Learning Sciences Conference,
Singapore, June 20-24, 2016.
Greenhow, C. & Askari, E. (in revision). What teacher education needs
to know about Web 2.0: A Retrospective. Education and Information
Technology.
Askari, E. (2014). News Innovation: An Essential Skill for New
Journalists. SEJournal, 24:1.
Askari, E. (2002). The Press Looks at the Problem of Reconciling the
Meeting of Energy Demands with Environmental Protection: An American
Reporter's Perspective. Can.-USLJ, 28, 183.
Askari, E. (1995). Readers Thirst for More about Their
Environment. American Editor, 771, 14-16.
Askari, E. (1994). Neighborhoods stand united: Southwest Detroit,
nearby cities vow to help rebuild. Detroit Free Press. Nov. 21.
Askari, E. (1994). Great Lakes Deal Has Long Reach. Detroit Free
Press, Dec. 25, B1.
Askari, E. (1983). Battle Shaping Up on State Multinational Tax. Miami
Herald, D1.
Askari, E. (1978). Enterprising Youth on Center Stage. VocEd, 53(9),
33-39.
Plus thousands of other news stories in the Detroit Free Press and
other news outlets.
HONORS
Fellowship to Enhance Global Understanding, Michigan State University
College of Education. 2013.
Dean's Scholar, Michigan State University College of Education. 2012.
Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, inducted in 2011.
Spectrum Scholar, American Library Association.
Cecilia Anne Stiborik Dreyfuss Scholar, University of Michigan Center
for the Education of Women, 2010.
N.S. Bienstock Fellow, Radio and Television Digital News Association,
2010.
Merit Scholar, University of Michigan School of Information, 2009.
Library Fellow, American Center for Mongolian Studies. Summer 2012. As
a digital library fellow, gave presentations about digital news
preservation to more than 60 journalists and librarians in the
Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar and the provincial city of Murun.
Also surveyed Mongolian journalists to learn about news preservation
practices and journalism practices in Mongolia.
News Entrepreneurs' Bootcamp Fellow, Knight Digital Media Center,
University of Southern California. Summer 2011. Began developing the
business case for a news-based game aimed at teaching digital literacy
skills to middle schoolers.
Technology Training Fellow, Knight Digital Media Center, University of
California, Berkeley. 2009. Attended one-week seminar on database-
driven map mash-ups, use of GPS for hyperlocal news, posting to blogs,
creating audio, video and .pdf podcasts and participating in social
networking sites.
Mensa. Part of a team that won a first-place national reporting award
for a 2003 series on lead poisoning.
National Press Club. Shared the 2003 prize for Environmental
Journalism (lead series).
John Oakes Award for Environmental Journalism. Shared 2003 honors
(lead series).
Investigative Reporters and Editor. Shared honorable mention in 2003
(lead series).
Michigan Press Association. Part of a team that won second place in
local reporting in 2000 for a series on the use of bed rails in
nursing homes.
Great Lakes Journalism Fellow. Knight Center for Environmental
Journalism, Michigan State University. Summer 2000. Attended parts of
a one-week seminar on environment issues around the Great Lakes.
Knight Wallace Journalism Fellow, Wallace House, University of
Michigan. Sept.-Dec., 1996 and Sept.-Dec., 1997. Ann Arbor, MI.
Studied climate change, cars and entrepreneurship.
Executive Leadership Program Fellow, Asian American Journalists
Association. 1996 Attend a one-week seminar focused on management and
racial identity.
Asian American Journalists Association Mid-Career Fellow, National
Institute for Computer Assisted Reporting, University of Missouri.
1993. Attended one-week seminar focused on reporting with databases.
Science Writing Fellow, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole,
Massachusetts, 1993.
Spanish Language Fellow, National Press Foundation, 1991.
National Press Club, 1988 citation for consumer journalism (for an 8-
day series on water).
Hearst Newspapers, 1988 Enterprise story of the year (water series).
California Newspaper Publishers' Association, 2nd place, 1988 natural
resources reporting award.
Brookdale Institute on Aging and Adult Human Development Graduate
Fellow, Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. 1983.
Herbert Koshetz Scholars, New York Financial Writers' Association.
1983.
GRANTS
Principal Investigator on a Flint Seed Projects Grant from the
University of Michigan. Project title: Empowering Flint Youth through
Digital Storytelling: A Case Study. $5,000. March, 2016.
Advanced Doctoral Student Grant, Michigan State University College of
Education. To purchase of group ATLAS license so entire team involved
in Flint digital storytelling project can participate equally in data
analysis and writing. $1,000. January, 2017.
Doctoral Student Travel Grant. Michigan State University College of
Education. To present at the International Society of Learning
Sciences conference in Singapore. $400. June 2016.
In collaboration with a journalism faculty member at the University of
Missouri and a journalism faculty member at the University of South
Florida, submitted a $50,000 grant application to the National
Institute for Health Care Management Foundation titled No More Flints:
A National Journalism Education and Water Testing Project. Not funded.
Co-director of a journalism education demonstration project funded for
four years by the Ford Foundation and two years by the McCormick
Foundation. Although I did not write the grant proposals for The
Living Textbook project (see Nonprofit Leadership & Service section
above), I was key in executing the grants and demonstrating their
impact on the students, teacher, school and community. The project was
so successful that Ford decided to extend its original two-year grant
for another two years. 2010-2014.
PRESENTATIONS
Askari, E. (accepted). Muslim American Youth: News Innovation and
Participatory Storytelling in the Shadow of Terrorism. Roundtable
accepted for presentation at the Association for Education in
Journalism and Mass Communication Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, Aug.
9-12, 2017.
Askari, E. (accepted). Change Day: How a High School Environmental
Justice Class Transformed Student Identities & Prompted Civic Action.
Paper accepted for roundtable presentation at the American
Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Texas,
April 27-May 2, 2017.
Greenhow, C., & Askari, E. (accepted). Virtual social networks and
social media: Shaping teaching, learning and policy discourse.
Symposium accepted for presentation at the American Educational
Research Association Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Texas, April 27-May
2, 2017.
Askari, E. (2017) Assessing the Creativity of Middle School Students:
A Case Study with Digital Information in the Public Interest. Paper
presented at the Society for Information Technology and Teacher
Education International Conference, Austin, TX, March 6.
Greenhow, C., & Askari, E. (2016). Learning and teaching with social
network sites: A decade of research in K-12 related education. Paper
presented at the annual conference of the International Society of
Learning Sciences conference in Singapore, June 23.
Askari, E., Guyette, C., Fonger, R., Lanphear, B. and Devine, C.
(2016). Lessons from Flint: Environmental Journalists Explore Their
Options Following the Poisoning of a City. Organized and moderated
panel at Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference. Sept.
23. Sacramento, CA.
Askari, E. (2016). Teaching Creativity & Entrepreneurial Thinking in
Middle School: A Case Study with Digital Information in the Public
Interest, Michigan State University Educational Psychology and
Educational Technology Brownbag Session, Dec 5. East Lansing, MI.
Askari, E. (2016). Making connections: A journalist's perspective on
building trust in conversations across socio-economic and cultural
divides. Presentation and discussion, Collaborative Office Rounds,
Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics, Mott's Children's Hospital –
University of Michigan Health System. March 30. Ann Arbor, MI.
Dolan, M., Askari, E., Frontado, T., (2016). Media Training: How to
Prepare for Interviews. Erb Fellowship Program, Ross School of
Business, University of Michigan. March 17. Ann Arbor, MI.
Askari, E. (2016). Update on Proposed Society of Environmental
Journalists Conference, Flint Recovery Group Community Partners, Flint
City Hall, June 30. Flint, MI.
Macon, D. and Askari, E. (2016). Annual Report of the Diversity,
Academic Equity and Race Relations Partnership to the Bloomfield Hills
School Board, August 18. Bloomfield Hills, MI.
Greenhow, C., Robelia, B. & Askari, E. (2015). Educating Social
Scholars: Examining novice researchers' practices in social media
contexts. Presentation at American Education Research Association
annual conference, Chicago.
Askari, E. (2014). Teaching Information Entrepreneurship. Beijing
Normal University, May 12. Beijing, China.
Askari, E. and Potter, H. (2014). Cyber Entrepreneurship & Cyber
Bullying: How Students Navigate the Power of Digital Communication
Tools. Southwest University, College of Education. May 20. Chongqing,
China.
Askari, E. (2014). Cyber Bullying as the Flip Side of Digital
Citizenship: A Discussion of Two Research Paths. Michigan State
University Educational Psychology and Educational Technology Brownbag
Session, March 10. East Lansing, MI.
Askari, E., Ji, J., Shapiro, B. and Wangen, S. (2014) Game On!
Environmental Games and Journalism. Organized and moderated panel at
Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference. Oct. 5.
Chattanooga, TN.
Askari, E. (2011). Entrepreneur's Pitch Slam: Bring Your Ideas to
Investors. Organized and moderated session at Society of Environmental
Journalists annual conference. Oct. 22. Miami, FL.
Askari, E. and Bruggeman, B. (2010). Be the Change You Want to See:
Pitchfest for Journalism Entrepreneurs. Organized and moderated
session at Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference. Oct
16. Missoula, MT.
Gavin, K., Askari, E. and Mayberry, S. (2008-2016) Annual Media Panel
for Issues in Public Health Genetics, a graduate-level course at the
University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI.
Askari, E. (1994) Environmental Journalism in the US: Collaborating
with and Learning from Colleagues Around the World. International
Media Conference on Environment and Development, Seoul, S. Korea
Askari, E., Baillon, G., Trahant, M. (1992). Diversity in the
Newsroom, Panel at the annual conference of the American Newspaper
Publishers Association. March 4. New York, NY.
Askari, E., Brookes, W. and Hathaway, J. (1991). Alar on Apples:
Reporting about Risks. Organized and moderated session at the Society
of Environmental Journalists first annual conference. Oct. 4. Boulder,
CO.
Askari, E. (1991). Christian Arabs and Dr. Risk: Bringing Diverse
Viewpoints into News Meetings. A presentation to the annual meeting of
the Associated Press Managing Editors. Oct. 17. Detroit, MI.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Ann Arbor, MI. Lecturer II, 2003- the present.
Undergraduate instructor - I team with a colleague to teach an
undergraduate course called Environmental Journalism: Reporting about
Science, Policy and Public Health. The focus of Environ 320 is on
preparing students for futures as active contributors to public
conversation and innovation with information. This popular but
rigorous course had a waiting list in the double digits leading up to
the start of the winter 2017 term. The course meets the university's
Upper Level Writing requirement, a Capstone requirement for Program in
the Environment majors, and an Interdisciplinary Course requirement.
Our class blog is dissectingthenews.wordpress.com.
Student prize-winners – In 2017, the university's Sweetland
Writing Center will honor 12 students for work done in Upper Level
Writing courses offered throughout the College of Literature, Science
& Arts. Two of those 12 awards will go to our students. In 2015, one
of our students won the same award and also was recognized with an
Honorable Mention at a Midwest Regional Conference of the Society of
Professional Journalists. In 2012, another one of our students won a
Sweetland Upper Level Writing Award for her work in our course.
Department support – In 2016, the department sponsoring our
course – LS&A's Program in the Environment – created a $1,000
Environmental Journalism Prize enabling a former student in our course
to attend the annual Society of Environmental Journalists conference.
Graduate-level instructor - 1992 –1996. Teamed with the same
colleague to teach a master's-level course in environmental journalism
for the Department of Communication Studies. During this period, I
also taught a 7-week seminar to MBA students.
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, East Lansing, MI. Teaching Assistant
managing three online sections of Teacher Education 150, Reflections
on Learning. 2015-2016. Engaged with about 20 students multiple times
a week during online discussions and reflections on a range of
education-related topics including stereotypes, learning theories and
online presence.
LIVING TEXTBOOK PROJECT, Unis Middle School, Dearborn, MI. Co-
Director. 2010-2014. Coached 30 8th grade student journalists as they
develop their digital literacy and post news stories to
livingtextbook.aaja.org. The project, funded by the Ford Foundation
and the McCormick Foundation, aimed at Arab American students. It
attracted international news coverage around the tenth anniversary of
the 9/11 attacks, and resulted in the addition of an 8th grade
journalism class that continues today. Students regularly win state-
level awards.
ACCREDITING COUNCIL ON EDUCATION IN JOURNALISM AND MASS
COMMUNICATIONS, Member, representing the Asian American Journalists
Assoc., 1995 - 1999. Participated in accreditation site teams visiting
the communication departments at Grambling State University and the
University of Indiana.
DETROIT FREE PRESS, Detroit, MI. Co-director, High School Journalism
Program, 2003-2005. As a public service, the Free Press partners with
the Ford Fund to publish the student newspapers of 18 public high
schools in Detroit. I shared the job of running this program, which
won a 2004 award from the Newspaper Association of America for being
the best example in the country of cooperation between a newspaper and
student publications.
KNIGHT CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISM, Michigan State University,
East Lansing, MI. Conference Planner, 2006-2011. For six years, this
one-day seminar introduced 200 Detroit public high school journalists
to careers covering science, health and the environment. This
innovative effort to recruit young students of color to journalism
careers won third place in the Innovative Outreach to Scholastic
Journalism competition of the Association for Education in Journalism
& Mass Communication.
INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR JOURNALISTS, Reston, Va. Instructor, two one-
week seminars in environment reporting for Latin American journalists.
One took place in March 1994, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The other
was in Mexico City in June 1995. Both seminars, conducted entirely in
Spanish.
AMERICAN PRESS INSTITUTE's Newspaper Satellite Network, Writer and
Narrator of a 40-minute video on environment reporting.
BIRMINGHAM UNITARIAN CHURCH, Bloomfield Hills, MI. Religious Education
Advisor, 2000 – 2015. Taught a variety of topics and ages on Sunday
mornings. One class for 8th graders culminated in the students writing
"credo statements" outlining their personal beliefs about
spirituality.
JOURNALISM EXPERIENCE
DETROIT FREE PRESS, Detroit, MI. Staff Writer – For most of the
1990's, served as the paper's environment reporter, covering regional,
national and global environment issues. Later covered public health
and local news. Served for one year on a select enterprise reporting
team. Experienced with Freedom of Information Act requests and using
databases as reporting tools. Have conducted interviews in Spanish
throughout Latin America. Assignments have taken me from a bear's den
in northern Michigan to the isolated cliffs of Patagonia, from the
slums of Mexico City to the rainforests of Nicaragua.
HERALD EXAMINER, Los Angeles, California, April 1988 - November 1989.
General Assignment Reporter - Covered everything from gang shootings
to water wars.
THE MIAMI HERALD, Miami, Florida, Staff Writer, June 1983 – March
1988. Covered a variety of beats, including Broward County law
enforcement, Palm Beach County businesses, two city governments and
general news.
NONPROFIT LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE & SERVICE
SOCIETY OF ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISTS, Philadelphia, PA.
Co-chair, 2018 national conference. University of Michigan-
Flint. Flint, MI. Fall, 2018. Expected to draw 700-1,000 attendees,
about half journalists and half people seeking to influence public
conversation about environmental issues (scientists, other educators,
activists, industry leaders, nonprofit leaders, health professionals).
Member, Awards Committee. 2010-the present. Establish awards
categories and rules, recruit judges, assist staff with related
questions.
President, 1994 -1996. Vice president, 1993-1994. Member, board
of directors, 1991- 1997. Supervised operations of this organization,
which at the time had a staff of three, annual budget of $300,000 and
more than 1,100 members in 20 countries. Led development of the
group's first strategic plan. Conducted the first formal, annual
review of its executive director. Planned a leadership development
retreat. Oversaw writing of the group's first personnel policy and its
first annual report to members. Launched a travel fellowship program
for environmental journalists of color. During my presidency,
membership and conference attendance increased by several hundred
while the annual budget grew by $40,000.
Co-chair, 1992 national conference. University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, MI. The organization's second annual conference drew $50,000
budget, 300 registrants.
JOHN OAKES AWARD IN ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISM. Judge. Columbia
University, New York. Spring, 2016- Spring, 2019.
ARAB AMERICAN NATIONAL MUSEUM, Dearborn, MI.
Advisory Committee Member, SURA Photojournalism Education
Program, January - September, 2016.
Exhibit Coordinator. Organized an exhibit of 30 news photographs
by Arab American 8th graders during the summer of 2011. Oversaw
planning for opening reception, news releases and coordination of
numerous media interviews with the artists. This exhibit drew more
media attention than any other that year at this Smithsonian-
affiliated museum and later traveled to the Michigan State University
library and College of Communication Arts and Sciences.
CISV USA, Cincinnati, OH. Formerly known as Children's International
Summer Villages.
Co-National Interchange Coordinator. October 2016 - the present.
Oversee about 20 short exchange programs for youth for this 60-year-
old, international peace education nonprofit that promotes global
friendship through experiential learning and travel. These exchange
programs are directly managed by volunteers across the country who are
trained by me and my partner in the role of National Interchange
Coordinator for the USA. The local volunteers we train collaborate
with counterparts in 70 other countries. I communicate with National
Interchange Coordinators in 70 countries to pair USA chapters with
chapters seeking to do summer exchange programs, which we call
Interchanges, with chapters in other countries. In 2017, the
Interchanges I arrange and oversee will deeply involve approximately
840 people in 17 countries. They will participate in these exchanges
as delegates, leaders or host family members.
Detroit Chapter Website Designer and Webmaster, 2015-the
present. Created a site on Wordpress. Update the site regularly,
attracting about 7,000 views and about 2,800 visitors a year.
Detroit Chapter Local Interchange Coordinator, 2011-2015, and
Detroit Chapter Board Member, 2011-the present. Planned international
cultural exchanges for groups of 12 to 20 middle schoolers annually.
Recruited and selected youth participants, trained families to host
foreign youth delegates for up to a month, recruited and hired adult
leaders to manage group activities. Coordinated details of these
exchanges with volunteer counterparts around the world, including
Indonesia, Austria, Italy and Finland.
DIVERSITY, ACADEMIC EQUITY AND RACE RELATIONS PARTNERSHIP, Bloomfield
Hills School District. Member, Advisory Board and Co-chair, School
Climate and Culture Subcommittee. October 2015 - the present. Selected
to participate in six-day Global Champions trainings and two-day
Institute for Healing Racism trainings, Bloomfield Hills Schools, 2016-
2017.
ASIAN AMERICAN JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION, San Francisco, CA. National
board member representing Detroit, 1991-1994. Detroit chapter
president, 1991-1992. Detroit chapter treasurer, 1994 - 1996. In 1995,
helped produce a journalist's guide to Middle Eastern Americans.
Planned seminars at national AAJA conventions on Religions of Asia,
Environmental Racism, and Covering Middle Eastern Americans. In l994,
as a member of the advisory board to Project Newswatch, critiqued
media coverage of people of color.
MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY, Woods Hole, MA. Member, Science and
Environmental Journalism Fellowship Advisory Committee. 1996-2006.
INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISTS. Member,
Advisory Council. 1994 -1997. Helped draft bylaws for this fledgling
group.
SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS, Detroit chapter board member,
2000-2003. Helped plan professional development seminars and set
policy for the local branch of the largest professional journalism
group in the country.
LANGUAGES
Spanish - With a National Press Foundation fellowship, studied at a
language school in Cuernavaca, Mexico for three months. Built on that
foundation with family vacations to language schools in Mexico over
three years. Can comfortably hold a conversation and conduct
interviews in Spanish, though grammar and writing skills are
imperfect.
French - Studied from grade school through college, spending a summer
at the Alliance Francaise in Paris. Can read and understand French
conversation but am no longer proficient in conversation and writing.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
American Education Research Association
Society for Information Technology in Teacher Education
International Society of the Learning Sciences
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
Online News Association
Society of Environmental Journalists
Asian American Journalists Association
Investigative Reporters and Editors
Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning
