Illinois Public Media, College of Education Create New Media Initiative for Teens

Illinois Public Media recently announced the launch of a new multi-media civic initiative and TV program called “Teen Summit 2.0​​: The Remix”, dedicated to creating discussions and educating the next generation of civic leaders.

Made in collaboration with the university’s College of Education and the Communiversity Public Media Project, the program aims to teach teens how to engage in civic debates while building their media literacy and communication skills. 

The new initiative is expanding the legacy of Black Entertainment Television’s original “Teen Summit” in the ’90s and has the support of Sheila Johnson, cofounder of Black Entertainment Television and a University alum. 

Johnson stated in the announcement that the initiative creates a new chapter in expanding “Teen Summit’s” legacy. Since the initiative will take place at the University, she looks forward “to working with Illinois Public Media and the Teen Summit team throughout the launch and engaging with the exceptional teens who will shape its future.”

Malaika McKee, assistant professor Education Policy, Organization & Leadership and the co-creator and executive producer of “Teen Summit 2.0: The Remix,” wrote in the announcement that the initiative is meant to bring more perspectives to complex issues. She went on to write that the initiative will allow them “to honor the legacy of the original program while expanding its reach through public media, education and community-centered storytelling.”

McKee — a Chancellor’s Fellow in the Office of Public Engagement and director of the Communiversity Public Media Project — told The Daily Illini the initiative is a collaboration between several key stakeholders. Without the institutional partnerships, McKee stated, there would not be a project, nor would it have been funded.

McKee specifically expressed gratitude to Chrystalla Mouza, dean of the College of Education at Illinois.

“Our dean, Chrystalla Mouza, has expended significant human capital through my position at the College of Education, and therefore the College is a co-equal partner in this work,” McKee wrote. “This project is part of the new way our university is considering public scholarship as an important part of reinvigorating the land grant mission.”

In addition to the various interdisciplinary collaborations, the state of Illinois supported the initiative. State Rep. Carol Ammons and Gov. JB Pritzker helped push legislation to advance youth-centered civic dialogue through public television.

McKee explained that there is a strong research component underpinning the new program, which engages aspects of neuroscience and hip-hop pedagogy.

“These are new innovations to television programming for teens that are making the scholarship of the academy a part of public engagement,” McKee wrote.

Read the full story from The Daily Illini.