Engagement Lab

As the 2019-2020 Media Design year comes to an end, we want to take a moment to spotlight and celebrate the hard work and creativity of each of our students and their thesis groups. Our first highlights the work of Chitra Anwar, Kathleen Carroll, Paul Cifarelli, and Rakshya Devkota, who had the opportunity to work with the Mayor’s Office of Recovery Services in Boston:

“We partnered with the City of Boston Mayor's Office of Recovery Services on a youth prevention initiative that takes a holistic approach to prevention and increases marginalized youth’s access to community resources. We designed Future Connect, an app that helps Boston youth gain positive future orientation, set goals, and access community resources related to their goals. Youth are guided through imagining their best future self, identifying activities involved, building a support system, identifying barriers, and connecting with resources. Our prototype also includes a journal, which can be digital or physical, that prompts youth to respond creatively to questions related to each step of the app, in addition to giving space for more personal reflection. Our research has identified that positive future orientation and access to community resources are protective factors against substance misuse, but are less accessible to low-income youth of color. Our prototype bridges the gap between these youth and the resources they need.” @ Emerson College

ONE WEEK LEFT! Make sure to RSVP to our first annual Social Justice & Media Symposium on 2/28 to hear from our keynote speaker, Catherine D’Ignazio (), an Assistant Professor of Urban Science and Planning at MIT and Director of the Data + Feminism Lab, who will be leading a conversation about the ways in which data science and data ethics are informed by the ideas of intersectional feminism. ✊

We are proud to announce the inaugural Social Justice and Media Symposium, in partnership with , , , and to honor of our beloved professor, colleague, activist, and media-maker Moses Shumow, who tragically passed on October 22nd, 2019. Moses was a firm believer in the power of the story to reframe the narratives of the marginalized and worked tirelessly in the classroom and the community to help people use media to advocate for their rights.

In order to honor Moses’ life and work, the symposium will convene activists, scholars, students, and storytellers to explore how media pedagogy and practice can persist in the face of our increasingly transactional, shallow, and fractured media infrastructure.

Join us for a day filled with engaging keynote speakers, labels, community building, and a reflection of Moses’ most recent documentary, Liberty Square Rising. Please RSVP with the link in our bio!