As we all struggle with the demands of academia, it is important to ask where public scholarship fits into the equation, especially at the graduate level. Some have argued that it’s not possible to truly incorporate public scholarship into one’s research until tenure has been obtained and one’s research focus has been established. However, others have argued that consideration of the larger public and community in which one operates should be taken into account for all research projects. There are no hard and fast rules as to how public scholarship can best be accomplished, and much does depend upon the willingness of each institution to support certain endeavors. The following examples detail how a handful of graduate students in the Department of Communication at the University of Washington have successfully integrated their scholarly research interests with publicly minded outcomes and efforts. Many of the projects involve reaching out to surrounding communities, involving undergraduates and multiple disciplines within the academy, building bridges between one’s research and its effects on non-academic publics, and utilizing academic expertise to support community groups in their actions and endeavors.

The September Project Mural

In 2004, as part of The September Project, graduate students Giorgia Aiello, Irina Gendelman, and Tema Milstein organized a community mural at the Seattle Central Library. The mural was based around four themes: War and Peace, America, Patriotism and 9/11. The goal was to create a collaborative project which would engage the public in conversations around these topics; conversations with academics and with each other. The event captured a good deal of media coverage with articles in The Seattle Times, the University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences Bulletin, and on an Italian political blog. Pictures of the event can be viewed here. In addition, Giorgia received a grant from the Simpson Center to support a collaboration with three Youth in Focus teen photographers to create a public display documenting the day’s events. The photograpsh are displayed in the Department of Communication at UW.

Total Projection Action

Organized by Giorgia Aiello, Irina Gendelman, and Tema Milstein, the Total Projection Action took place at the end of The Day Before Project, a host of activities organized for the day before the most recent Presidential election. The day included a range of voter-related activities and films, and was capped off with a visual display of pre-election images projected onto the large brick pylons that are at the heart of centrally located Red Square. As quoted in The UW Daily, Irina said, "We just wanted to do kind of a visual graffiti, without actually writing on the walls." Photographs can be seen here.

What is Your Meaning?

Inspired by the University of Washington’s The Day Before Project on November 1, 2004, Tema Milstein’s Interpersonal Communication class of undergraduates organized a public community chalk mural focusing on key election terms. The student-driven project asked community members to write down meanings for terms such as “the draft,” “the economy,” and “freedom.” Students also organized a bridge-to-bridge march across campus with signs and spontaneous performances which engaged pedestrians, other students, and community members in the area.

The Nature, Culture, and Public Scholarship Research Collaborative

As a member of the Nature, Culture, and Public Scholarship Research Collaborative, Tema Milstein joins approximately 50 faculty members, graduate students, and community members who share an interest in the environment, culture, and public scholarship. Last year members participated in an ethnographic field trip of the Woodlawn Park Zoo, observing texts and communication as they shape nature and culture within the zoo setting. They then met with top zoo officials to discuss their observations and converse with zoo staff in regard to future plans. This year, members toured the UW Medicinal Herb Garden with the director, a member of the collaborative, and learned about the history, the purpose, and the aspirations of the garden.

Urban Archives

Overseen by graduate students Irina Gendelman and Giorgia Aiello, the Urban Archives provides a space for conversation between scholars, artists, and activists interested in a variety of issues related to communication in public spaces. Through the study of public spaces as a medium for social formation and interaction, the Urban Archives project builds on existing theory about public space, involves undergraduates in the process of studying urban communication, and engages the greater population through collaborative work. Various projects have included the study of social control, race and ethnicity, collective memory, and visual communication all in public spaces. Media coverage can be found in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and in The Daily. A recent addition to the site also includes information on creating a community mural where community members interact, share ideas, and inspire one another.

Strategic Political Communication

Graduate student Anna Fahey’s research addresses political communication in the media, political discourse, and strategic messaging, all from a critical perspective. She has investigated the concept of "family values" at the intersection of American conservative Christian and conservative political discourse, the political rhetoric and its “press echo” during the 2004 presidential race, and masculinity as a form of political capital in American politics particularly after the attacks of September 11th. Anna now has the opportunity to expand her scholarship to a real-world situation through her work as a speech writer for a local political candidate. She is able to draw upon her scholarly understanding of strategic political communication and use these skills and knowledge to affect positive change within the electoral system.

Northwest Social Forum

Led by graduate student Amoshaun Toft, this research project seeks to engage in a particular community by undertaking public scholarship through participatory research. With a theoretical grounding in the social movement literature on inter-group collaboration and transnational advocacy, the Northwest Social Forum was chosen as a case study that offers an opportunity to learn more about why groups choose to collaborate, what they have learned from such collaboration, and how they would choose to organize the collaborative process in the future.

Northwest Community Radio Network

A Northwest coalition of community radio stations and supporting organizations undertook a survey of local community radio staff and volunteers to assess the opportunity to create a Northwest Community Radio Network. The Network would offer local stations the opportunity to share resources, content, and information through an online workspace. Reclaim the Media, a local non-profit, enlisted the help of graduate students Amoshaun Toft and Lea Werbel in analyzing the data which had been collected, evaluating trends and patterns, and producing recommendations for future collaborative efforts.