Nancy Jo Sales on Girls and Social Media

February 16 (Thursday):  Nancy Jo Sales, journalist and nonfiction writer
Reading/discussion — 8:00 p.m., Campus Center Room 375

Nancy Jo Sales is known for work that focuses on youth culture and crime, and pop-culture icons. Her book American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers (2016) is an investigation into how social media has presented girls with unprecedented challenges. USA Today said Sales, “… offer[s] a harrowing glimpse into a world where self-esteem, friendships and sexuality…are defined by the parameters of social media.” Newsday recommended “If you have a teenage daughter, read American Girls. Have her read it, too.” Sales is also the author of The Bling Ring: How a Gang of Fame-Obsessed Teens Ripped Off Hollywood and Shocked the World (2013, see February 10 Classic Film Series listing).

Read more about Nancy Jo Sales:  http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/archives/sales_nancy_jo17.html

Sponsored in association with UAlbany’s Sexuality Month, a program of the Middle Earth Peer Assistance Program of Counseling and Psychological Services

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Our Summer Program for Teen Writers

The next session of the New York State Summer Young Writers Institute will be held July 1-7, 2012.

2011 participants in the Summer Young Writers Institute for teenage authors write about their experiences:

"This was my first time away from my parents, so I was kind of nervous, and I wasn't sure I was going to make friends, but I did, despite being somewhat socially awkward. From all different parts of the country, everyone was friendly talented and unique." --Cynthia Gerber

"This past week I have learned to open up to others about my writing whether I was confident about my piece or not.... It's truly amazing how passionate we all are about writing and it's clear how tightly woven by this passion we are." --Erin Carden

"The instructors here, instead of pushing a set curriculum, help to build upon the students' creations, turning ideas into works of art." --Matteo Mobilio

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Young Writers Institute, July 1-7, 2012

A student writes about her experiences at the Summer Young Writers Institute:

“Assuming that I would be my usual apathetic, antisocial self, my mother’s one rule for when I would be at the New York State Summer Young Writers Institute was, 'Be outgoing.'"

"I suppose that if I were anywhere else but a writing camp filled with 35 other students who were more or less just like me, I would have had a painfully hard time. Every minute that I
have spent here was precious. I have never been surrounded by like-minded people who were just as enthusiastic and passionate about writing as I was, and it was a beautiful and heartwarming sensation learning that everybody around you — faculty and peers alike — felt the same way you did...." — SABRINA HUA, July, 2010.

Read the 2010 student anthology.

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