The Politics of Power and Place: Giving Voice Through Curated Digital Storytelling asks students to consider the influence of place on how an organization functions and how compelling storytelling can deepen the work of an organization in their community. Her initial partnership with the CEC Hill District will tell the history of the Engagement Center’s founding, including the evolving relationship between Pitt and the Hill District's residents. The goal of Keating's program is to offer students and community organizations meaningful opportunities to build narratives together to bridge our physical and digital place. Students will work in a small team with faculty, artists, writers and archivists to explore key questions that inform the making and content of digital stories that can circulate in Pittsburgh, with a focus on linking common experiences and challenges in Belfast and Cape Town in future years. The team will explore histories and narratives pertaining to the violence of colonial settlement and population displacement.
Students will learn to use digital tools to build dynamic texts that incorporate visual and audio elements. In tailored workshops that will engage with experts on written portraiture, digitization and archival practices in local and global contexts, the team will develop techniques for crafting culturally sensitive and conscientious representations of places and peoples. They will explore how digital stories circulate and how such stories can be combined with other community work to bolster an organization’s mission and reach.