Join our thinking (and doing) tank by working with the Beautiful Social Research Collaborative. Students in this course will be actively involved in research concerning social media and community engagement with local not-for-profit organizations. Students will examine both theoretical and experiential foundations in order to understand the relationship between mediated communication and social communities.

Not-for-profit and community-based organizations rely on strategic digital communication to create social change. Students in this course gain in-depth knowledge of communication theories and practices while conducting research projects with local organizations through the Beautiful Social Research Collaborative.

The premise of this course is that systems of oppression, inequality, and inequity are designed – and can be redesigned. Practicing asset-based community building, mutuality, reciprocity, solidarity, empathy, humility, co-creation, and power sharing are all methods to cultivate equity and justice.

In this experiential course, we combine the study of communication theory with mindfulness training. Mindfulness is about paying attention on purpose to what’s happening in the present moment –without judgment. We will explore a range of research topics related to mindful communication, including attention, engaged listening, and emotional intelligence.

Hone in on your audience, purpose, and mission by understanding the role of visual communication in storytelling. This course puts the spotlight on image and visual design and invites you to use Instagram (an image-first platform) as a creative sandbox for your own cause-based initiative.

Through media analysis and production, students learn to leverage platforms to strategize and advocate with community organizations. Students apply writing theories as they conduct research with communities and produce new knowledge with their community partners.