The Vicious Cycle of Mass Polarization and Fear: A Pilot Program Using Comedy and Dialogue to Leverage Political Polarities

United States polarization has shifted from simple Congressional stalemate to a state of political warfare. While there is debate in the literature as to whether this attitude polarization is mirrored among the general public, the research is clear that American perceptions of their political opposition is marked by fear and animosity (Pew Research Center, 2016). The Impolitic program aims to intervene in this cycle using comedy to reduce anxiety and encourage participation, and dialogue to build understanding and shift relationships among politically divergent participants. This paper details the system of polarization in which Impolitic seeks to intervene, the guiding leadership philosophy that informs this work, and the results of the September 2016 pilot event. Impolitic events consist of an improvised comedy show based around political storytelling coupled with facilitated dialogue among audience participants. The goal of the program is to model a third-way for political conversations (beyond debate or discussion) and invite participants to bring this mode of engagement into conversations with individuals with whom they are close, but ‘don’t bother talking about politics’ due to disagreement

Digital Inclusion in Detroit, Michigan: A Study of Community Leadership, Network Building, and Possibility of Closing the Digital Divide

The digital divide is described by technology experts and scholars as the disparity between digitally literate individuals with access to broadband internet and internet communications technologies (ICTs) and those who do not have access to ICTs nor possess digital skills. Approximately 19 million Americans, 6 percent of the population, are without reliable internet service. In Detroit, Michigan, approximately 40 percent of city residents live without an at home internet connection making it the most digitally disconnected city in the United States. Economic, social, and political factors have contributed to this high number of disconnected residents. Any resident affected by digital inequities faces daily challenges in accessing and navigating simple services. These inequities impact a Detroit resident's ability to find employment to provide for their family, a student's ability to complete a homework assignment, and an older citizen's ability to access healthcare services and pay their bills. Affected residents also miss out on being part of the political conversation. The digital divide can impact a resident's ability to access news, research political candidates, and register to vote for the first time. The digital divide must be understood as a spectrum, it is not binary. It is complex, manifested by a history of inequalities between countries, nations, and communities. Solutions in this space require a great deal of organizational collaboration, data gathering, and local expertise. Scholarly research has highlighted that grassroots efforts usually catalyze the solutions in this space, and local community nonprofits know the impacts for those most affected intimately and accurately. However, there is a scarcity of published academic work on the digital divide in Detroit particularly assessing the needs and work of residents and community leaders. We still don't know how these local change makers working in nonprofits, public sectors, and academia are viewing the digital divide. There is not much data on how they interact with one another or if their needs and behaviors share patterns. Lastly, we don't know how these stakeholders measure their success. This research seeks to begin to answer these questions using a primarily qualitative approach. I focus this work on local leadership in the non-profit and public sectors in Detroit. Based on qualitative research and secondary data collection through 8 interviews with community leaders, my research provides insight into how these leaders of the digital inclusion and equity efforts in Detroit see the current state of the digital divide, what they are doing about it, and what they believe they need to successfully reach their goals. These findings provide insights to what future collaborative efforts and relationships might look like as well as highlights suggestions and next steps for this work to continue.Master of Science in InformationSchool of Informationhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/168556/1/20201105_Lang,Brittany_Final_MTOP_Thesis.pd

Well Being Trust 2018 Annual Report

Well Being Trust 2018 Annual Report

Communicating, Networking: Interacting: The International Year of Global Understanding - IYGU

Communication Studies; Sustainable Development; Communications Engineering, Networks; Computer Systems Organization and Communication Network

Understanding Civic Participation and Realizing Data Justice

To understand civic participation in the datafied society and the possibilities for social change, we must foreground social and political injustices and understand how citizens are frozen out of society and “democratic” processes in general. This requires decentering technology in our analyses and interrogating the structural imbrication of injustices in a broader social, political, and economic context, while recognizing the need to identify and address technological injustices that occur. This article illustrates how British civil society has become less able to play an active role in democratic processes over the past decade as digital tools have proliferated. Rather, we find a disciplining of dissenting voices and depoliticization of civil society. The article argues that it is only when we take a holistic and structural approach to data injustices situated in conditions of oppression and domination that we can reach an understanding of what data justice might become to take us beyond technical/regulatory fixes that offer no more than the tweaking and taming of capitalism to a newly imagined democratic political economy beyond capitalism

Phoenix, 2015-02-04

The Phoenix is a student newspaper published at Governors State University since August 2002. The newspaper features student reporting, opinions, news, and photos

Communicating, Networking: Interacting: The International Year of Global Understanding - IYGU

Communication Studies; Sustainable Development; Communications Engineering, Networks; Computer Systems Organization and Communication Network

Young, Feminist, and Fearless: Holding the Line - State of Youth Civil Society Report

We live in uncertain times! Worldwide, we are witnessing attacks on the rights of women, girls and non-binary persons , threatening our foremothers' hard-fought gains. From preventing access to sexual health services in the United States and banning girls from education in Afghanistan, to restricting digital feminist organising in China and brutally suppressing feminist activism in Iran, the global rollback of rights is coordinated, wellfunded, and gaining momentum everywhere.Young feminist activists are revered as sheroes and are often at the frontline of democratic struggles, employing creative methods to hold the line- yet we fail to realise the toll of activism on their wellbeing, mental health, and hopes for the future. This is particularly critical for young women and non-binary young people involved in feminist movements, as they are both uniquely vulnerable and forced to be increasingly brave. Their actions appear fearless from the outside, but this work is fraught with danger and comes at a personal cost.This year's State of Youth Civil Society Report - Young, Feminist, and Fearless: Holding the Line, focuses on feminist movements and their critical role in making the world more equitable, safe and accessible for everyone. Young feminists are fearless and hold the line despite the dangers to their security, the uncertainty that today's world presents, and the cost to their mental health. They are pushing back against tyranny

Recognizing the Interdependent Self: The Perception of the Production and Consumption of Meat at Bard College

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College