Youth Media Program in NYC with AAFSC (Spring / Fall) – led by Nitin Sawhney & Peter Lucas
EML’s signature youth media program conducted in partnership with the Arab American Family Support Center (AAFSC) in Brooklyn as part of a year-long project to train and engage 16-20 immigrant youth, originally from Yemen, as they cope with everyday struggles of identity and socio-cultural integration in the context of New York City. The project includes participatory media workshops devised and conducted jointly with the EML team and staff from the AAFSC as well as a participatory learning and research component (IRB approved). The program will be conducted both in the spring and fall, with 14-week workshops held at the Packer School in Brooklyn and a public screening of student work at the term.
Pre-College Media Production Intensive (Summer) – led by Melissa Friedling
This pilot program offers a new opportunity for pre-college students interested in learning about filmmaking craft and engaging media for social change. The program will be offered in conjunction with the with EML and the well-established undergraduate film production curriculum to create a novel practice-based offering that uniquely combines artisanal and digital filmmaking with socially engaged media practices. The program will follow the Parsons Pre-college model and is an intensive four-week program – 40 sessions, Monday through Friday beginning June 30. Students can earn 4 college credits in this program and housing could be made available. The mission of this Pre-College program is to provide a four-week intensive experience that gives students access to the tools to create a film project that is inclusive, participatory and transformative for themselves and those who engage with it. The intensive course acquaints students with digital story-telling techniques in image and sound, the tools of digital video and also gives students the opportunity to use 16mm equipment and produce hand-made films that may be incorporated into final projects, which will be showcased in a public screening at Tishman Auditorium at the end of the summer.
International Participatory Media Research in Jerusalem – led by Nitin Sawhney
The participatory media project and pilot study (IRB approved) examines the experiences, struggles, and identity constructions of Palestinian adolescents aged 13-17 living in East Jerusalem. In collaboration with students and researchers from Al-Quds University, we carried out workshops with Palestinian youth using a variety of participatory and qualitative methods. The inquiry aims to investigate how both Palestinian boys and girls living in the contested context of East Jerusalem construct adolescent identity and gender norms through intersecting lenses of ethnicity, class, religion, national identity, sexuality, economic and political struggles. The project was initiated in January 2014 and will be continued over the coming year.
Public Events and Symposia
EML will curate and organize several public events and symposia each term that focus on critical participatory and community-based media initiatives to foster critical discussions among students and faculty at The New School and the general public.
Ongoing and recent event include:
- Summer 2013: The International Conference on Interaction Design and Children (IDC 2013)
- Spring 2014: Indigenous New Media Symposium, Remixed Media Festival, Flying Paper film premiere, AAFSC youth media screening
- Summer 2014: DIY Days with a focus on DIY Urbanism and Tactical Media, Pre-college youth media screening
- Fall 2014: Soundtrack 63 performance event, AAFSC youth media screening
Workshops, Outreach and Mentoring
EML supports a engagement among students, practitioners and partner organizations, mentoring opportunities, internships, and outreach efforts through workshops, a range of courses offered, and a comprehensive website showcasing emerging projects and resources.