Community Building

Mason students use digital storytelling for community change

Shayla Brown — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 20:29:30 +0000

Mason students use digital storytelling for community change Shayla Brown Thu, 02/16/2023 - 15:29

In This Story

Video Production for Social Change students in the field. Photo provided.

When ��AV students sign up for Video Production for Social Change, they won’t just learn in a traditional classroom setting, they’ll make an impact in their community.

“It's such a unique experience as a student, particularly a production student, to get hands-on, real-world experience working with a client,” said Peabody Award-winning filmmaker and Mason adjunct professor Rebekah Wingert-Jabi, who taught the Film and Video Studies (FAVS) course in Fall 2022.

The course is open to everyone, said Wingert-Jabi, and no prerequisite courses are required. The class works with a different local partner each semester, and students create videos based on their organization's mission statement. Their most recent partner was the nonprofit organization Cornerstones, which serves families and individuals in need of housing, food, finances, and childcare assistance, among others.

“I'm just really proud to know that Mason students within this department are community advocates by heart,” said Margaret Anne Lara, Cornerstones vice president of marketing and communications.

Video Production for Social Change students in the field. Photo provided.

“The students came at the project from such a professional point of view. They carefully crafted storyboards that truly brought to life the importance of community connection,” Lara said. “Each production spotlighted an emerging challenge faced by families living along the Dulles corridor region— affordable housing, food insufficiency, economic security, and resiliency for children and families—as well as how Cornerstones’ faith-based community partners make a meaningful impact through their support of our organization.”

“I was also impressed with the technical expertise of these talented young filmmakers. It was clear they had excellent training through their GMU studies. The final products were well received by our Board of Directors and staff, and have already been used as part of our fundraising and communications and marketing outreach.”

The course consisted of four student groups, each of which took on a different aspect of Cornerstones' mission for their videos.

“[The course] was incredibly valuable; filmmaking is often a teamwork experience and the students really saw the value of that,” said Wingert-Jabi. “A student bought in her conflict analysis perspective and a native Spanish speaker in her group conducted field interviews in Spanish.”

Junior film and video studies major Olivia Williams previously worked with the media crew for her church, in Mount Lebanon Baptist Church in Chesapeake, Virginia. She and her group members had a faith-based angle to their video.

“We tried to show the importance of not just one, but all faiths, and how Cornerstones is here to help everybody. The most rewarding part is just being able to share their stories,” said Williams.

Video Production for Social Change students in the field. Photo provided.

Two Mason students got hired as Cornerstones interns, and will continue to work with Lara and the rest of the Cornerstones team.

“The responsibilities of this internship are much greater than anything I've had prior to it, but after taking this course I'm ready to take on those responsibilities,” said senior film and video studies major Blake Smith. “It was incredibly beneficial, not only for developing my own professional skills, but also knowing what is expected of me from employers."

“I recommend this course to students who want to know more about filming documentary style content, and who want to work in film or maybe even start their own production company one day,” said Smith.

Topics

College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA)

Tech Talent Investment Pipeline (TTIP)

Master of Public Health student advocates for community health as This is Public Health ambassador

John Brandon Cantrell — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 13:34:13 +0000

Master of Public Health student advocates for community health as This is Public Health ambassador John Brandon C… Mon, 09/26/2022 - 09:34

Explore Mason's MPH Program

Topics

Public Health

This is Public Health

Jacqueline Clabeaux led an inclusive social media campaign on the value of exercise in the public’s health for the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH).

Jacqueline Clabeaux , MPH 2023

Master of Public Health (MPH) student Jacqueline Clabeaux knows that leading communities to practice healthier lifestyles is a key role for public health professionals. That’s why she focused her ASPPH This is Public Health (TIPH) Student Ambassador social media campaign on educating people on how to improve their health while strengthening their local communities through physical activities.

“When public health is working at its full capacity, that’s when you see the most inclusiveness within communities and populations because everyone is on board to solve a problem and make their community a better place,” Clabeaux said. “I knew that most people understood what exercise is and how it impacts your body, so I took another approach and focused on how exercise can impact populations and communities.”

Clabeaux, a student-athlete for Mason’s swim team, concentrated her campaign on community building after learning from her MPH coursework that community is an essential factor in an individual’s life and health. Her campaign educated TIPH’s 30,000 followers about how they can improve their community’s health through more physical activity, such as working out in a community gym or swimming pool, exploring scenery in local neighborhoods, and spending time with others while exercising. These types of activities support individuals’ physical, behavioral, and emotional health.

Uplifting Community Health

Her week-long takeover on TIPH’s Instagram and Twitter accounts consisted of graphics on how exercise impacted her life and how exercise aids the public’s health. She also provided ideas to encourage others to exercise within their community. In doing this, she considered physical differences and community demographics to ensure her campaign was inclusive of diverse populations.

“If you live in an area where health resources are scarce, there is a higher chance that this can negatively impact your life compared to areas where health resources are abundant,” Clabeaux said. “If I could spread awareness about exercise and how it can impact communities, there is hope that this topic can build upon a community’s overall health.”

Clabeaux continued, “I wanted to make exercise look more fun to engage in and potentially entice other people to build a network of people to exercise with and that people can look at exercise in a different and fun way that can make an entire community healthier and happier.”

Students who pursue a TIPH student ambassadorship lead national presentations and campaigns to raise awareness of public health education, careers, and issues. In the past, Mason’s TIPH student ambassadors led awareness campaigns on growing a career in public health and bringing attention to the historical public health disparities affecting specific populations.

Moving Forward

For Clabeaux, being a TIPH student ambassador was a rewarding experience where she could grow as a public health professional.

“The most important lesson I learned is how to be more inclusive with how I word my posts,” Clabeaux said. “For example, some people do not have the ability to work out due to physical limitations, disabilities, etc., so I had to make sure that I was using inclusive words so that everyone would benefit from my posts.”

After graduating with her Master of Public Health degree with a concentration in epidemiology in 2023, Clabeaux aspires to continue her education and become a physician’s assistant, a career where she will help communities learn the value of exercising to improve their health and aid in disease prevention.

“I’ve had a passion for the medical field since I was very young, and my goal was always to become a medical professional of some sort when I was older,” said Clabeaux. “I found that the human body is capable of many extraordinary things, and I would love to learn as much as I can about our bodies and share it with others.”

International Community Leaders Join Carter School for a One-of-a-Kind Fellowship

Paul Snodgrass — Fri, 29 Jul 2022 18:42:25 +0000

International Community Leaders Join Carter School for a One-of-a-Kind Fellowship Paul Snodgrass Fri, 07/29/2022 - 14:42

In partnership with the U.S. Department of State-sponsored Community Solutions Program (CSP) and IREX, a global development and education organization based in Washington, D.C., the Carter School is proud to welcome five community leaders from Bangladesh, Guatemala, Palestine, and Slovakia.

Together, the CSP Fellows will complete a four-month fellowship with the Carter School where their work will focus on the thematic areas of environmental issues, peace and conflict resolution, transparency and accountability, or women and gender issues.

Upon completion of the fellowship, the Fellows will return home to apply their new skills through community action projects.

Fellows

Jonathan Jiménez

Founding Partner, Family Lawyer and Professor of Law, Universidad Regional de Guatemala, Central America

Jonathan Jiménez was born in Chimaltenango a Mayan indigenous village of Guatemala. He is the legal team lead and founder of Jiménez & Jiménez Family Law Firm that provides legal services to victims of violence in the local indigenous community of Chimaltenango since 2019. Jonathan is certified by the Supreme Court of Guatemala as Law Attorney and Notary Public.

He has more than two years of experience in Human Rights litigation focused on Children and Adolescents and Family law including domestic violence and sexual abuse, mediation and arbitration, illegal immigration, and family disintegration matters.

Jonathan often serves as a speaker and panelist at human rights justice programs and seminars in his community. In addition, he is a Professor of Law at Universidad Regional de Guatemala.

Karam Al-Zaanin

Communications for Development Specialist

Karam Al-Zaanin, holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Al-Azhar University in Palestine, and a diploma in Communication for Development. His skills in communication, networking, presentation, and strategic planning are key assets to his career as a pioneer project coordinator for humanitarian and aid organizations in Gaza.

Karam has the talent to visualize success and identify unconventional yet highly effective strategies for achieving success. He skillfully balances organizational objectives and productive relationships, strategizing and recommending ways in which to achieve and maintain a competitive business edge. Karam’s decision-making and leadership talents have supported his professional growth efforts.

Karam aspires to improve his knowledge and career and pursue making a positive impact in his local community, expanding it to other communities.

Niamat Ullah

Licensed Advocate of the District and Sessions Court, Bangladesh Bar Council
Legal Officer of Legal Cell, Office of the Registrar at the Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP)
Lead of Curriculum, Training & Project Development at Surge Bangladesh
Trainer of Peacebuilding at Peace Maker Studio (partner of UNDP Bangladesh)

Niamat Ullah is an Advocate of the District and Sessions Court under Bangladesh Bar Council and professionally works as a Legal Officer (Legal Cell), Office of the Registrar at the Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP). Prior to joining BUP, he worked as an Assistant Manager (Complaints management) at BRAC, where he developed documentation processes for investigations by maintaining sensitivity and confidentiality with the highest levels of efficiency. He started his professional career with the PVE works at Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center as a Lead Instructor for a special project on 'Promoting Equality in Madrasa Students' supported by the US Embassy, Dhaka in 2018 & 2019.

Niamat also volunteers as a Lead, Curriculum, Training & Project Development at Surge Bangladesh. In 2020, Niamat was awarded the ‘EMK Center Small Grant 2020 award for a PVE-related project, where he successfully implemented a nine-month-long project called Project C-FRIYS “Countering fake news and radicalization with the inclusion of young students”.

He completed his Master of Laws (LLM) from the Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP), where his thesis was “A Critical Study on the Impact of Fanaticism over Freedom of Religion for the Religious Minorities of Bangladesh.”

Simona Marcinková

Humanitarian and Co-Founding Member of STEP-IN

Simona is a passionate teacher and a lifelong humanitarian worker. As a teacher, Simona is an ambassador of Teach for Slovakia leadership program. Simona spent two years among the Roma community, teaching in the largest Roma settlement in Slovakia. As a humanitarian worker, she is a co-founding member of STEP-IN, a Slovak medical non-governmental organization focused on providing healthcare in humanitarian and post-humanitarian contexts. Simona worked with STEP-IN over two years in Iraq, coordinating a medical team in a refugee camp. Since the war spread to Europe, together with STEP-IN team, Simona continues to provide medical help in Ukraine. 

Ula ElHindi

Peacebuilder and Project Coordinator for Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung/Rosa Café

Ula ElHindi, is a project coordinator for Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung/Rosa Café in the Gaza strip, Palestine. She holds a bachelor's of English Commerce-Business Administration. Ula has several years of experience working with women in the peace field, through specialized trainings and workshops. In 2021, she was selected as a peacebuilder by UNWOMEN, a UN organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. She is the founder of Metoogaza, which raises awareness about sexual harassment and rape.

Topics

Bill Potapchuk

Paul Snodgrass — Fri, 08 Apr 2022 02:54:43 +0000

Bill Potapchuk Paul Snodgrass Thu, 04/07/2022 - 22:54

Adjunct Faculty, Carter School
Senior Fellow, Center for Peacemaking Practice
President, Community Building Institute

Contact Information

Email: wpotapc2 @gmu.edu

Biography

Bill Potapchuk is President and founder of the Community Building Institute (CBI), an organization created to strengthen the capacity of communities and organizations work collaboratively, inclusively, and equitably healthy, sustainable futures. His work over the past three decades has spanned a wide array of policy arenas and work with nonprofits, community groups, philanthropy, and every level of government. In recent years, his work has focused on community development, early childhood education, democracy reform, and large landscape conservation. Potapchuk has been affiliated with all of the previous incarnations of the Carter School starting with the Center for Conflict Analysis and Resolution in 1987. Potapchuk is widely published. He has co-authored chapters in significant textbooks for the field, including the Deliberative Democracy Handbook, Consensus Building Handbook, and theCollaborative Leadership Fieldbook, and a wide array of monographs and journal articles.