Welcome to the project website of Reading and Writing New Media! This site contains the semester-long projects of UMass Lowell undergraduate students in English 3690, taught by Dr. Rebecca Richards, Associate Professor of English.
Students spent the spring 2025 semester reading complex media and rhetorical theories to understand the ways in which digital tools impact communication and literacy.
Each student researched, proposed, and designed their final projects you see below, highlighting the diverse ways of knowing. We hope you enjoy their efforts!
Video and Podcasting Projects
- The Shade Room's Shadiest Venture by Ivy Galloway.
- Gamification of Language Learning by Olivia Hallbourg
- The Origins and Value of Podcasting as a Medium by Jack Cahill
- Music and Copyright by Ezequiel Perez
- "Fear of Missing Out" in Honkai: Star Rail by Jesse Nguyen
- Music Streaming and Local Artists by Colin Nasson
Multimodal Articles
- Learning Management Introduction for Freshman College Students by Shishir Javali
- Substack and Sports Journalism by Jason Cooke
- DVDs and the Transition to Digital Streaming by Luciana Carvalho
- Faking It by Sean Donovan
- Micro-influencers on Instagram by Julia Shea
- The Newspaper's Need for Proper Monetization by Jake Messer
- The Language of TikTok by Caroline Magner
Arts-based Inquiries
- How New Media Has Changed the DIY Music Scene (A Zine) by Hannah Ginocchio
- A Fool's Masquerade by Jackie O.
- Mortem Interretialis (The Death of the Internet) by Izzy
Additional Projects
Parasocial Podcast by Frederick Correa
This podcast discusses themes of overreliance on the internet and how it is designed to foster addiction which leads to loneliness and parasocial relationships. It argues that every social website on the internet now uses features to exacerbate this phenomenon. I target the minds of young adults who face or have seen similar situations in their lives. The podcast comes in the form of a 1-on-1 interview with Quyen Le, a friend from Boston University, who is very familiar with the dangers of social media. We have a discussion on these topics and have a progressive conversation on the dangers of internet addiction.