Lecturers
- Pronouns Use my name
- Title
- Lecturer
- Division Undergraduate Education
- Department
- Education Department
- Merrill College
- Phone (831) 459-2144
- Website
- Office Location
- Merrill College Administration Building, Room B
- Mail Stop Merrill College
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Critical Theory, Digital Media, New Media, History
- Courses MERR 60. Fake News: Its History and Why We Need Critical Media Literacy; EDUC 102. Education, Media, and Society; EDUC 166. Technology And Education
Biography, Education and Training
Nolan Higdon is a founding member of the Critical Media Literacy Conference of the Americas, Project Censored National Judge, author, and 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. All of Higdon’s work is available at Substack (https://nolanhigdon.substack.com/). 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.
Selected Publications
Publications
® Books
o The Media and Me: A Guide to Critical Media Literacy for Young People, co-authored with Andy Lee Roth, Allison Butler, Mickey Huff, Nicholas Baham III, Ben Boyington, Avram Anderson, Reina Robinson, Maria Cecilia Soto, Kate Horgan, Peter Glanting, Censored Press, 2022.
o Let’s Agree to Disagree: A Critical Thinking Guide to Communication, Conflict Management, and Critical Media Literacy, co-authored with Mickey Huff, Routledge Press, 2022.
o The Podcasters’ Dilemma: Decolonizing Podcasters in the Era of Surveillance Capitalism co-authored with Nicholas Baham III, Wiley Press, 2022.
o The Anatomy of Fake News: Critical News Literacy Education, University of California Press, 2020.
o United States of Distraction Media Manipulation in Post-Truth America (And What We Can Do About It). City Lights Publishing, 2019.
® Books in Press
o Surveillance Education: Navigating the conspicuous absence of privacy in schools, co-authored with Allison Butler (Routledge, 2024)
® Book Chapters
o “Constructive Conflict and Critical Media Literacy,” in Sergei A. Samoilenko and Solon Simmons (eds), Handbook on Social and Political Conflict, Wiley, 2024.
o “The Fake News Crusaders: Exploring The People and Practices That Spread Fake News While Working To Fight It,” in Robin Andersen, Nolan Higdon, & Steve Macek (eds), Censorship, Digital Media and the Global Crackdown on Freedom of Expression, Peter Lang, 2024.
o “The Delusion of Power: Investigating The Myth Of Social Media User Power In The Age Of Big-Tech Censorship,” in Robin Andersen, Nolan Higdon, & Steve Macek (eds), Censorship, Digital Media and the Global Crackdown on Freedom of Expression, Peter Lang, 2024.
o “Critical media literacy in higher education: What mattered then & what matters now,” in Steve Gennaro, Nolan Higdon, & Michael Hoechsmann (eds), Transformative Practice in Critical Media Literacy: Radical Democracy and Decolonized Pedagogy in Higher Education . Routledge, 2024.
o “If You Build It, They Will Come: Envisioning Critical Media Literacy Programs in U.S. Higher Education” in Roberto Feltrero and Sara Osuna Acedo (eds), Critical Media Literacy, McGraw Hill-Aula Magna, 2023.
o “Preparing Students for an Orwellian Education: Integrating A Critique of School Surveillance into Critical Digital Literacy Education” co-authored with Allison Butler, in Roberto Feltrero and Sara Osuna Acedo (eds), Critical Media Literacy, McGraw Hill-Aula Magna, 2023.
o ‘Returning to Neoliberal Normalcy: Analysis of Legacy News Media’s Coverage of the Biden Presidency’s First 100 Days,” co-authored with Emil Marmol and Mickey Huff, In Robert Gutsche Jr. (ed), The Future of the Presidency, Journalism, and Democracy: After Trump, (London: Routledge, 2022).
o “The New American Authoritarianism: How the Corporate Media Normalized Racism in 2016,” co-author with Nicholas Baham, Censored 2018. Huff, Mickey, and Andy Lee Roth, eds. New York, NY: Seven Stories Press, 2017.
o “Post-Truth Dystopia: Fake News, Alternative Facts, and Russian Hackers,” Huff, Mickey, and Andy Lee Roth, eds. Censored 2018. New York, NY: Seven Stories Press, 2017.
o “Millennial DeMockracy: The Corporate Media’s War on Social Justice,” The Global Critical Media Literacy Project, GCML.org, 2016.
o “Junk Elections and The Façade of Democracy: The Corporate Media’s 2016 War on Social Justice,” Huff, Mickey, and Andy Lee Roth, eds. Censored 2017: Fortieth Anniversary Edition. New York, NY: Seven Stories Press, 2016.
o “A Vision for Transformative Civic Engagement: The Global Critical Media Literacy Project,” Huff, Mickey, and Andy Lee Roth, eds. Censored 2016: The Top Censored Stories and Media Analysis of 2014-15. New York, NY: Seven Stories Press, 2015.
o “A Vast Wasteland: The Ongoing Reign of Junk Food News and News Abuse,” Huff, Mickey, and Andy Lee Roth, eds. Censored 2016: The Top Censored Stories and Media Analysis of 2014-15. New York, NY: Seven Stories Press, 2015.
o “Ukraine: Another Step in Capitalism’s Global Dominance Strategies and Power Inside the Transnational Global Corporate Class and US-NATO Global Empire,” Stephen Lendman, ed., Flashpoint In Ukraine: How The US Drive For Hegemony Risks World War III.” Clarity Press, 2014.
o “Mea Culpa, Mi Amore: Sorry for all the Junk Food News and News Abuse,” Huff, M. and Roth, A.L. eds., Censored 2015: Inspiring We the People; The Top Censored Stories and Media Analysis of 2013-2014. Seven Stories Press, 2014.
o “Can’t Touch This: Junk Food and News Abuse” Huff, M. and Roth, A.L. eds., Censored 2014: Fearless Speech in Fateful Times; The Top Censored Stories and Media Analysis of 2012-13. New York, NY: Seven Stories Press, 2013.
® Edited Volumes
o Robin Andersen, Nolan Higdon, & Steve Macek, Censorship, Digital Media and the Global Crackdown on Freedom of Expression, Peter Lang, 2024.
o Steve Gennaro, Nolan Higdon, & Michael Hoechsmann, Transformative Practice in Critical Media Literacy: Radical Democracy and Decolonized Pedagogy in Higher Education . Routledge, 2024.
® Journal Articles
o “Fake News is Racist: Mapping Culturally Relevant Approaches to Critical News Literacy Pedagogy.” Co-authored with Allison Butler, Critical Education, 2023
o “Being on The Outside Of The Ivory Tower: Contingent Faculty Attitudes Toward Credentialed Elites in Higher Education,” Journal of Education Human Resources, 2023
o The Other Populist Media: Examining Prog-Left Media,” Co-authored with Jen Lyons, Democratic Communique. Vol. 31 : Iss. 1 , Article 3. 2022.
o “The Critical Effect: Exploring The Influence Of Critical Media Literacy Pedagogy On College Students’ Social Media Behaviors and Attitudes,” The Journal of Media Literacy Education. Vol. 14: Iss. 1, 2022.
o “Curricular similarities and differences between critical and acritical media literacy: Supporting teachers’ classroom inclusion,” co-authored with Allison Butler and J.D. Swerzenski, Democratic Communique, 2021.
o “Time to put your marketing cap on: Mapping digital corporate media curriculum in the age of surveillance capitalism,” co-authored with Allison Butler, Review of Education Pedagogy and Cultural Studies, 2021.
o “Today’s Fake News is Tomorrow’s Fake History,” co-author Mickey Huff, Secrecy and Society Journal, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2021.
o “What is Fake News?: A Foundational Question for Developing Effective Critical News Literacy Education.” Democratic Communiqué, Vol. 29, No. 1, April 2020.
o "Rallying Over Balloting: The Origins of Millennial Activism." Journal of Critical Thought and Praxis 8, no. 1 (2019): 3.
® Book Reviews
o “Book Review: Renee Hobbs’ Mind Over Media, Propaganda Education for a Digital Age (New York, New York: W.W. Norton and Company.). Education Review, 2021.
o “Book Review: Matt Potolsky, The National Security Sublime: On the Aesthetics of Government Secrecy, (Routledge, 2019),” Journal Of Secrecy And Society, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2021.
o “Book Review: Cindy Otis, True or False: A CIA Analyst’s Guide to Spotting Fake News, (New York, New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2020). Democratic Communiqué, Vol. 29, No. 2, 2021.
® Opinions Editorials
o “Seeing isn't believing: From Gaza to US politics, deepfake videos are peddling fake news, USA Today, November 27, 2023
o “The firings of Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson doesn’t mean the end of hyperpartisan cable news networks,” Conversation, May 4, 2023
o “No Turning Back We Cannot Reverse the Damage Done By Poor Pandemic Reporting, But The Fourth Estate Must Do Better,” Project Censored, April 10, 2023.
o “Why the Dominion Lawsuit May Make It Easier to Restrict the Press The defamation case against Fox News might end up as a blessing in disguise for conservatives,” The Progressive, March 16, 2023
o “Journalistic Malpractice on Trial: What the Dominion Voting System Tells Us About How the Media Sacrificed Their Credibility to Partisan Falsehoods,” Project Censored, March 7, 2023
o “Is Your Teacher Spying on You? Your technology is surveilling you, and your teacher may be too,” Co-authored with Allison Butler, Project Censored, March 2, 2023
o “From Russiagate with Love: Corporate Media Spin and Revisionist Reporting on Russia’s Alleged Meddling in the 2016 Election Continue,” Co-authored with Mickey Huff, Project Censored, February 23, 2023
o “STFU about ChatGPT Educators Always Have and Always Will Confront Academic Dishonesty co-authored with Allison Butler,” Project Censored, February 14, 2023
o “The Professional Managerial Class Strikes Back! The Return to In-Person Education,” Project Censored, February 14, 2023
o “Promoting Falsehoods and Marginalizing Truth-Tellers WaPo’s Revelations About Russiagate Reporting Failures Typify Legacy Media Failures,” Co-authored with Mickey Huff, Scheer Post, January 2023.
o “Election denial and the Big Lie: Sure, Trump made it worse — but both sides do it ,” Salon, October 31, 2022.
o “Zuckerberg interview with Joe Rogan was public relations propaganda” San Francisco Chronicle, September 2, 2022
o “The Alex Jones Playbook,” Scheer Post, August 30, 2022.
o “Strangers are spying on your child. And schools are paying them to do it,” USA Today, August 24, 2022.
o “Defund the Democrats: Stop giving money to the party of surrender and inaction After their disastrous failure on abortion rights, Democrats want us to give more money and vote harder. Forget it,” Salon, July 3, 2022.
o “Teaching Media Literacy Is the Only Real Answer to Fake News We can’t stop disinformation, but we can teach students to think more critically, The Progressive, May 14, 2022
o “CNN+ was just the latest failed attempt of the cable news trailblazer to remain relevant,” The Conversation, May 3, 2022.
o “Media gets it wrong on Elon Musk and Twitter: The issue is oligarchy, not "free speech" Mainstream media largely parrots Musk's mendacious framing — but this fight is about monopoly power, not speech,” April 23, 2022.
® Dissertation
o “Effective Critical Media Literacy Pedagogy in Higher Education: Turning Social Justice Theory into Practice,” doctoral dissertation, San Francisco State University, 2017
® Thesis
o "The Politics of Desertion," master’s thesis, San Diego State University, 2012.
Selected Presentations
Conference Panelist
® “Media and Me,” Critical Media Literacy Conference of the Americas, 2023.
® "Surveillance Education" Union for Democratic Communication, Philadelphia, PA, 2023.
® "Let’s Agree to Disagree : A Critical Thinking Guide to Communication, Conflict Management, and Critical Media Literacy" Union for Democratic Communication, Philadelphia, PA, 2023.
® "Let’s Agree to Disagree : A Critical Thinking Guide to Communication, Conflict Management, and Critical Media Literacy" Seventh International Conference on Communication & Media Studies, 2022.
® "Back To School?: Contingent Faculty Members Attitudes Toward Their Employment During The COVID-19 Pandemic" Peralta Online Equity Conference, 2022.
® "Fake News: A Historical Analysis and a Snapshot of Attitudes and Behaviors in the United States" 2021 Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association.
® “#MediaLiteracySoWhite: Using critical race theory to fill the gaps in (critical) media literacy,” Critical Media Literacy of the Americas, 2021
® “A Historical Analysis and a Snapshot of Attitudes and Behaviors in the United States” American Psychological Association, 2021
® “The Other Populist Media,” Union for Democratic Communication, 2021.
® “Fake News Is Only the Beginning: Critical Media Literacy in Your Classroom,” National Council of Teachers of English, Denver, CO, 2020.
® “Time to Put Your Marketing Cap On: Mapping Corporate Media Literacy,” Critical Media Literacy Conference of the Americas, Virtual, 2020.
® “Fake News Is Only the Beginning: Critical Media Literacy in Your Classroom,” National Council of Teachers of English, Baltimore, MD, 2019
® “United States of Distraction,” Union for Democratic Communication, Hayward, CA, 2019.
® “Critical Versus Acritical Media Literacy Curriculum: The Ideological Debate Over Corporate Influence in The Classroom—,” Union for Democratic Communication, Hayward, CA, 2019.
® “In Pod We Trust: The Podcaster Predicament (Decolonization and Digital Colonization),” Union for Democratic Communication, Hayward, CA, 2019.
® “The Anatomy of Fake News,” Journalism Association of Community Colleges, Sacramento, CA, 2019.
® “The Anatomy of Fake News,” International Critical Media Literacy Conference, Savannah, GA, 2019.
® “Today’s Fake News is Tomorrow’s Fake History,” Howard Zinn Book Fair, San Francisco, CA, 2018.
® “Fake-News”: The Trojan Horse for Silencing Alternative News and Reestablishing Corporate News Dominance,” Media Freedom Foundation Summit 2.0, Kentfield, CA, 2018.
® “Fighting Fake News”, Third International Conference on Communication & Media Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 2018.
® “Fighting Fake News: Project Censored, Education, and Solutions for The Digital Age,” Association of Alternative News Media, San Diego California, 2018.
® “Fighting Fake News: Project Censored, Education, and Solutions for The Digital Age,” Union for Democratic Communications, Chicago, IL, 2018.
® “News and Media Censorship: Project Censored’s Top 25 Censored Stories,” Association of Alternative News Media, San Diego, CA, 2018.
® “Fighting Fake News: Critical Media Literacy in Professional Development,” Union for Democratic Communications, Chicago, IL, 2018.
® “Critical Media Literacy Pedagogy Across The Curriculum,” International Critical Media Literacy Conference, Savannah, GA, 2018.
® “Effective Critical Media Literacy Pedagogy In Higher Education: Turning Social Justice Theory Into Practice,” Critical Media Literacy Conference, Savannah, GA, 2017.
® “Power Dynamics And Problem Solving: Engaging Both To Explore Civic And Community Engagement,” Media Freedom Summit, Cotati, CA, 2016.
® “Effective Critical Media Literacy Pedagogy: Turning Social Justice Theory into Practice,” Unionfor Democratic Communications Conference: Troubled Waters, Detroit, Michigan, 2016.
® “A Teachable Moment: Social Justice Pedagogy in a Post-9/11 World,” 9/11 Film Festival, Oakland, CA, 2016
® “What Can Community Colleges and Four-Year Institutions Teach Each Other About Social Justice?,” National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE), San Francisco, CA, 2016
® “Social Justice Pedagogy in The Digital Age,” Action In Media Education Summit, Fairfield, CT,2016
® “Effective Critical Media Literacy Pedagogy in Higher Education,” Leadership in Equity, Achievement, and Praxis Colloquium, San Francisco State University, 2016
® “Global Critical Media Literacy Project,” English Council Of California Two-Year Colleges Conference, San Jose, CA 2015
® “Re-Inventing Media and Systems That Serve Communities and those who live and work thereby Creating Systems that Empower Potential,” What’s Possible Conference, San Francisco, CA, 2015
® “Media Education and News 2.0: Solutions for the Digital Generation,” Union for Democratic Communications: Circuits of Struggle Conference, University of Toronto, 2015
® “An Expert Educational Panel on The Drug War,” Students for Sensible Drug Policy Club, University of California, Davis, CA, 2015
® “Muzzling Investigative Work,” Holding Power to Account Conference, University of Winnipeg, 2014
® “Screening and Q&A of Project Censored” Law and Disorder Conference, Portland State University, 2014
Selected Recordings
Podcasts
§ Two Broads Talking Politics
§ The Chris and Christine Show
§ Tiny Voice Talks
§ Doused
§ Scheer Intelligence
§ Educators Book Club
§ Manwhore Podcast
§ Prop Watch
§ Healthy Discussions
§ Mint Press News
§ Harvesting Happiness
§ Unauthorized Disclosure
§ Zack Hassan
§ Have You Considered?
§ Endless Cup of Coffee
§ Parallax View
§ The State of Kentucky
§ Challenging the Rhetoric with Cheri Roberts
Broadcast
§ Connecticut Politics Television
§ Mint Press News
§ Lifestyle Magazine
§ The Young Turks
§ Thom Hartmann Program
§ Banfield on News Nation
§ The Chris Hedges Report
§ Free Speech TV
§ ACT TV
§ Real News Network
§ Full Measure on Sinclair Broadcasting
§ ABC News, KGO
§ Univision
§ NBC Bay Area News
§ CBS News
§ KPIX News
§ KRON 4 News
§ Fox News, KTVU
§ Populist Dialogues
§ Alliance for Democracy
Radio
§ The Thom Hartmann Program
§ Be Bold America!
§ Tell Me Everything with John Fugelsang
§ Let's Go There
§ David Feldman
§ Rising with Sonali
§ Letters and Politics
§ CBS Sunday Morning
§ Brian Copeland Show
§ The Attitude
§ The World Stage
§ Out of This World
§ The Answer 560
§ Project Censored Show (Guest and Host)
§ KBOO Wednesday
§ Kevin Barratt’s Truth Jihad Radio
Documentary
§ Taking The Shot (2021)
§ United States of Distraction (2020)
§ Project Censored The Movie (2012)
Print (Select examples)
§ “Potential TikTok ban has San Francisco content creators concerned,” By Amanda Hari CBS, March 13, 2024,
§ “CSU East Bay professor on the evolving race to the white house,” Yahoo, March 6, 2024
§ “Biden arrives in the Bay Area for campaign fundraisers,” NBC Bay Area, September 25, 2023.
§ “Twitter Deal on Hold?,” NBC Bay Area, May 14, 2022.
§ Keith Burbank, “Professor says Elon Musk bid for Twitter poses threat to democracy,” Bay City News, April 22, 2022.
§ Olivia Riggio, “Not All Media Literacy Programs Are Created Equal—and Most Have Yet to Be Created,” Fair and Accuracy in Reporting, December 15, 2020
§ Dante A. Ciampaglia, “Fake News Is Real! (And What to Do About It),” The Elective, October 29, 2020.
§ Hazel Kelly, “Creating Critical Media Consumers,” California State University, October 19, 2020.
§ “QAnon banned from Facebook: the never-ending fight against disinformation,” Philosophie Magazine, October 7, 2020.
§ “Nolan Higdon: ‘We are going through a deep information crisis’,” Philosophie Magazine, September 22, 2020.
§ Miguel Velazquez, "Adam Schiff, the "new enemy" of Donald Trump," Metro World News, January 10, 2019.
§ Jared Davis, “Panel informs on ‘fake news’,” Experience, November 29, 2018,
§ Carolina Diaz, “Bits & Bytes: The Cost of Free News,” Xpress Magazine, September 30, 2018.
§ Miguel Velazquez, "Analyst: A US president who submits to the will of a Russian leader is unprecedented," Metro World News, July 17, 2018.
§ Jill Tucker, Jenna Lyons, and Sophie Haigney, “Students walk out, embrace ‘fight of our lives’ to end school gun violence,” San Francisco Chronicle. March 14, 2018.
§ Terelle Jerricks, “Junk Food News: 2017 will be remembered as the year of post-truths and alternative facts,” Salt Lake City Weekly, December 21, 2017.
§ “Facebook drops ineffective ‘disputed articles’ tag in fight against fake news,” Russia Today, December 21, 2017, Terelle Jerricks, “FEATURE: Junk Food News,” Planet Jackson Hole, October 11, 2017.
§ Greg Buckley, “History professor fights against news censorship,” Las Positas College Express, March 17, 2017.
§ Jacob Weindling, “Facebook Launches a New "Disputed" Tag to Combat Fake News,” Paste Magazine, March 6, 2017.
§ “Facebook begins ‘fake news’ crackdown with ‘disputed’ story tag roll out,” Russia Today, March 5, 2017.
§ Jonah Engel Bromwich And Bonnie Wertheim, “Does Bigfoot Have a Soul? A Radio Host’s Audience Ponders,” New York Times, February 20, 2017.
§ Andrew Ochieng, “Deny, Discredit and Discount: How the Powerful Muzzle Investigative Work,” International Anti-Corruption Conference, June 17, 2014.
§ Lou Fancher, “Walnut Creek: ‘Project Censored’ leaders discuss work, new film,” The Mercury News, March 26, 2014.
