An artistic endeavor doubles as a civics lesson in “Empowering a Generation,” a photographic essay by Liza Yeager ’17. Yeager created the work as part of Storytellers for Good, a program with the Swearer Center of Public Service that highlights stories of social innovation through multimedia journalism. The exhibit opened Thursday night at the Brown/RISD Hillel and tells the story of the organization Generation Citizen, whichpromotes civic awareness by providing a specially designed curriculum for students in low-income schools across four states, said Scott Warren ’09, Generation Citizen’s co-founder.
“I try to tell the stories my subject thinks is the most important, because the thing that motivates the people in my stories would be the thing that’s most interesting for a broader community to understand,” Yeager said.
The photo series, comprising a slate of pictures with corresponding anecdotes and elaborations, captures the dynamics of Generation Citizen’s classes and outlines the program’s operations through the lens of on-site experiences.
The series opens with a photo of two adjacent whiteboards. One is filled with a list of intentionally doctrinal and dry phrases like “community issues,” “root cause” and “goal.” The other one is scribbled with concrete details and practical courses of action: “We will create a field day. By providing safe and fun activities and positive adult role models, we will reduce gang violence.”
Warren started the organization after observing “a number of emerging democracies” throughout the globe. He learned the “power and fragility of democracy,” he said, adding that American democracy is no exception to this pattern.
Generation Citizen has identified the manifold problems with this, including the lukewarm attitudes of younger generations towards the democracatic process, ineffective civic education and existing inequalities in education and participation, he said.
The organization operates on the model of action civics, in which “young people learn about the critical process for taking actions on issues that they care about,” Warren said. “Just as students learn math by doing math and learn science through science experiments, our students learn politics by doing politics.”
Generation Citizen conceived multiple strategies to rally against the dire situation, such as prioritizing low-income students and students of color and bringing in college-aged volunteers as teaching assistants to better relate to students, he said.
Yeager said she attended several such classes in Providence to capture moments for her essay.
Warren praised the project. “It’s inspiring. It’s helpful,” he said. “We are able to use it to show people, giving them the conception of what we do.”
Yeager connected with Generation Citizen as a fellow of the Storytellers for Good program, whose mission is to “serve the community, nation and world through innovative, thoughtful approaches to social change,” according to the Swearer Center’s website.
Yeager said the program gave her a chance to use her photography and writing skills for a meaningful cause. The on-campus service community fostered by Storytellers for Good provides Yeager and fellow students a platform on which to tell stories of social impact.
Storytellers for Good was established in 2013, said Program Director Alexandra Braunstein. It stems from the idea that “stories can spark meaningful connections and relationships and ideas for social change,” she said, adding that the program is “about students learning from another as much as they are from the support and resources we give them.”
Braunstein and storyteller fellows meet weekly for multimedia training or editorial deliberations. Though the center helps connect fellows with students, faculty and alums, the fellows claim total autonomy over the narrative and fabric of their stories, Braunstein said.
Until now, Storytellers for Good has had nine fellows due to its selective admissions process and limited resources. But Braunstein said the program, which is still in its incipient stages, has promising potential. This year, the center offers technical workshops open to all students on campus, and an increasing number of alums are approaching the center for collaborations.
“I want to find a way to involve more students,” Braunstein said. “This intersection of multimedia and social justice is really complex and rich and there’s many directions we can go.”
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