Groups and populations known as Indigenous people comprise some of the most marginalised populations on the planet. Their cultures and languages are threatened with extinction due to prejudice, discrimination, and the widespread exploitation and destruction of the environment. These processes are often fueled by the discriminatory attitudes and racism of privileged members of mainstream society. Indigenous peoples themselves have responded to these challenging circumstances and sought to improve their situation proactively through legal recourse, direct action, and activism, including using media and the arts as advocacy tools. Correct knowledge of these conditions is a necessary prerequisite to actions toward social justice, and the author considers it incumbent to work for consciousness-raising and the dissemination of knowledge geared toward the empowerment of minoritised groups. In this way, media literacy, or critical understanding of media and its consumption is a key agenda for the betterment of contemporary society. The question of how we as media consumers can make wise choices in support of Indigenous and minority empowerment is a crucial one.

On the other hand, what has been referred to as Indigenous Media or Fourth Media calls us to go beyond ordinary conceptions of social justice to radically re-examine our very own ontologies and senses of time. This presentation seeks to recap the conditions surrounding the creation and consumption of Indigenous media, and, through sharing examples of Indigenous and Ainu-created media, to consider its meaning and message to us all as 21st century citizens.

Speaker Biography

Jeffry Gayman
Hokkaido University, Japan

Jeffry (Jeff) Gayman is Professor of Education at the Graduate School of Education and the Research Faculty of Media and Communication at Hokkaido University, Japan. An American by nationality, he has been living and working in Japan for over 30 years, with approximately 20 of those in support of the Ainu people. He obtained his MA in Cross-Cultural Studies in 2005 from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, United States, and his PhD in Education from Kyushu University, Japan, in 2012. His research centres on Indigenous Education and Collaborative Research Methodologies with a special interest in the indigenous Ainu of Japan, a research focus he has honed over twenty years teaching at Hokkaido University. Professor Gayman also has strong interests in Indigenous-mainstream relations, education for intercultural understanding, and human rights education. His most recent publications include Education and Ethnicity of the Ainu People in the Routledge Handbook of Race and Ethnicity in Asia in 2021 and The Ainu Policy Promotion Act and Culture-Centered Indigenous Policies in Japan in the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs in 2024. Alongside his research activities, Professor Gayman teaches English to first-year undergraduate students in the Liberal Arts Division of Hokkaido University. In his spare time he enjoys running, hiking, and skiing to stay fit.

About the Presenter(s)
-Jeffry (Jeff) Gayman is Professor of Education at the Graduate School of Education and the Research Faculty of Media and Communication at Hokkaido University, Japan.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Wednesday Schedule

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