Provost’s Colloquium Series Presents “Street Fight Videos: Real Violence, Racial Tensions, and a Desensitized Generation”

Kristopher Weeks

Posted by: Elizabeth Richardson on March 30, 2022, No Comments

East Stroudsburg University’s Provost’s Colloquium Series, an intellectual experience that promotes dialogue among ESU faculty, staff, students, and community, continues the Spring 2022 semester with a presentation by Kristopher Weeks, Ph.D., assistant professor, communication. The presentation “Street Fight Videos: Real Violence, Racial Tensions, and a Desensitized Generation” will take place on Wednesday, April 6, at 5:30 p.m. in Beers Lecture Hall. The presentation will also be live streamed on the ESU Live Events webpage.

According to Dr. Weeks street violence is in our phones, our computers, and our homes. In October 2020, a search for the phrase “street fight video” via Google’s video search service yielded approximately 76 million hits. Weeks’s discussion will address the effects of street fight videos on viewers and on society. These videos may lead to emotional desensitization to violence, hindering viewers’ motivation to prevent and stop violence from occurring in real-life settings. They may also lead viewers to shy away from topics about racial discrimination, hindering the general population’s motivation to support anti discrimination efforts.

Weeks studied street violence shared throughout social media as part of his dissertation studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “The street fight video phenomenon is much more complex than it may seem on the surface. There is much for us to learn.”

For more information about the Provost’s Colloquium Series, contact Christina McDonald, director, office of sponsored projects and research, at (570) 422-7954 or cmcdonald9@esu.edu.