Program showcases social justice issues in Hamline-Midway

HU students premiere  multi-media program to showcase social justice issues in Hamline-Midway

Students at Hamline University are collaborating to bring a unique vision of social justice through photography and sound to tell the story of the Hamline-Midway community. The students will be showcasing their work to the public at the Hamline-Midway Library Auditorium on May 20 from 5-7pm.

The exhibit, titled “Overlooked and Underheard: Image, Sound, Social Justice,” incorporates photography taken in the Hamline-Midway community by students in an “Introduction to Issues in Social Justice” class. Students from a class called “Sound for Moving Image” then created unique soundtracks for the photos. The showcase focuses around issues impacting the community including homelessness, lack of access to healthy foods, and racial and ethnic diversity.

Headed up by two first-year professors, Valerie Chepp (Social Justice) and Josh Gumiela (Digital Media Arts, they wanted to bring students together from distinct disciplines to illustrate how one set of disciplinary tools and perspectives informs the other.

The project is based on a participatory action research technique called “Photovoice,” in which participants use photography to advocate for important issues in their community. The Hamline students’ project, however, incorporates an innovative twist on Photovoice, adding a sound design element in order to tell stories of social justice in the Hamline-Midway community.

The goal of this project is to empower students to become actively involved with the Hamline-Midway community and help bridge the gap between the university and surrounding neighborhood. Community members are welcome and encouraged to attend the showcase and participate in the conversation about community change. The hope is that this project will contribute to the ongoing collaboration between Hamline students and neighborhood partners.