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We seek to address criticisms of the concept of moral panics (MPs) by offering a hybrid model of MPs that synthesizes theory and practice of MPs research. A review of the literature on MPs from sociology, media studies and related fields shows a wide variety of usage and lack of conceptual clarity of the term 'moral panic'. Yet there are few articles explaining how to analyze MPs. We present a theoretical clarification of MPs by addressing elements of scope, intensity and reception, to create distinction from other related theoretical concepts. To develop a working method for researching MPs, one must have an understanding of social conditions that give rise to, sustain and result in the success or failure of MPs, as well as possible lasting effects. We synthesize Cohen's process-oriented model of MPs and Goode & Ben-Yehuda's attribution-oriented model of MPs, creating a critical hybrid model of MPs that integrates processes and attributes. We then utilize the hybrid model to offer practical suggestions for researching and analyzing the conditions, processes and effects of MPs, in the hopes of encouraging a more rigorous research agenda for scholars of MPs.

This article applies 'social drama' -adapted from the anthropology of Victor Turner -to portray a performance of media ritual in control of critical academic discourse. Insights from newspaper coverage of a controversy surrounding Ward Churchill allow us to trace theoretical connections between strategic ritual at the occupational level and media ritual in cultural practice. We observe a fractal-like structure, such that ritualistic punishment of deviant ideas as a cultural response is encoded in textual production. We discuss implications of social drama as media ritual for the prowess of US journalism in patrolling boundaries of acceptable ideas in the academic-media nexus.

Faculty have played an important role in the ongoing efforts to confront gender-based violence on college campuses, as teachers, researchers, advocates, and policy advisors. Nevertheless, few institutions have welcomed faculty activism on this issue, especially when it took the form of vocal support for survivor-led efforts to transform campus policies and culture. This article examines the nature and scope of faculty involvement in confronting gender-based violence on college campuses across North America between 2014 and 2018. Our analysis of the range of roles and responsibilities faculty have assumed and the challenges and obstacles they have faced is informed by our own involvement with the U.S.-based group, Faculty Against Rape (FAR), which is dedicated to supporting faculty involvement in confronting gender-based violence on campus. Informed by the context of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements on one hand, and the changes in Federal and State protections for student survivors in the Trump–DeVos era on the other, the article concludes with a list of best practices for faculty involvement.