The Master of Arts in Cultural Studies curriculum is grounded in the belief that students do their best work when integrating practice and theory. Community-based research and learning provide students with multiple opportunities to link art, culture, community development and social change.
Here are examples of student-community collaborations.
Seattle Human Rights Film Festival
Five cultural studies students worked with faculty member Ben Gardner to develop a course that designed post-film audience engagement activities. Partnering with Amnesty International's annual Seattle Human Rights Film Festival, the students facilitated two post-film activities to promote dialogue and social action around human rights issues. The selected films included "To See If I'm Smiling," which features the stories of six female Israeli soldiers formerly stationed in Gaza, and "Journey Through Hell," which documents the perilous journey of Somali and Ethiopian migrants risking their lives to cross the Gulf of Aden in search of a better future. Both post-film activities evoked difficult questions and thoughtful dialogue, and audience members were encouraged to visit a wiki website developed by the students to foster more discussion and resource sharing.
The Wing Luke Asian Museum
In October 2008, Cultural Studies students participated in the first-ever Ballot Party held at The Wing Luke Asian Museum (WLAM) in Seattle's International District. In conjunction with the museum's exhibit "Our Voices...Our Democracy: Civic Engagement in the Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) Community," the Ballot Party was co-hosted by a number of community-based organizations, including: WLAM, Asian Pacific American Labor Association, APIAvote WA '08, ROAR, and OneAmerica.
The Ballot Party featured a presentation on the importance of elections, interpretive services, assistance with voting, and ballot collection. Cultural Studies students participated in a variety of ways: helping staff the Ballot Party, documenting the event, and meeting with community organizers to discuss how civic engagement operates within our local APIA communities.