USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism is seeking a Program Specialist to join its MacArthur funded Media, Activism, and Participatory Politics (MAPP) Project. Henry Jenkins’ MAPP Project at USC explores continuities between online participatory culture and civic engagement. With low entry barriers, participatory culture-based communities often encourage online participation and expression even as they promote expression, awareness, mentor-ship,and skill training. Premised on a dynamic understanding of citizenship, we analyze how participatory culture interactions encourage young people across political affiliations and social values to create, discuss and organize to engage with specific civic issues and events. We then ask how these interactions lead to new forms of organizing and action. Over the past four years, MAPP conducted five case studies of diverse youth-driven communities which translate mechanisms of participatory culture into civic engagement and political participation. Our findings stress the interplay between individual growth, organizations, networks, communities, and platforms. As MAPP researchers learned, these groups often succeed by tapping practices of cultural appropriation, storytelling and remixing, working across organizational contexts, deploying metaphors from popular culture, and drawing on sustained engagement with interest-driven and friendship-based networks. Over time, youth involved in these communities mapped innovative and imaginative trajectories that scaffolded existing skills and interests towards a sustained ability to achieve social change. We now shift our attention to supporting connections and dialogues between communities and curating and creating media, and working closely with educators and community leaders to ensure the findings of our research find application in real world contexts. We seek staff who are self-motivated, but collaborative and willing to be creative in the management of their work environment. The Program Specialist will have the opportunity to assume significant responsibility in: seeking out and supporting relationships with civic communities and organizations planning and executing face-to-face and online events that encourage productive dialogue between activists, artists, academics and cross between practice and theory curating MAPP’s ever growing media resources to ensure their accessibility and relevance to diverse audiences working closely with educators to find ways to integrate MAPP materials into existing curricula authoring media (video, audio, posters, announcements, short articles) as required by the project working closely with students on the project to accomplish specific goals Essential Duties and Responsibilities Include: Community Liaison seek out and establish new community connections on behalf of MAPP project sustain and support existing relationships connect members in the project network to each other to support productive dialogue and exchange identify opportunities for closer partnerships with specific communities and organizations Event Planning propose, plan, coordinate and execute live and online events Online Resource/Library Development Network with other projects and organizations working in related areas Develop competence with “Scalar” platform Participate in the development of specific sections of the resource/library Educator Outreach seek out connections to educators and educational institutions whose approaches resonate with MAPP’s commitment to participatory practices support relationships with specific educators coordinate piloting MAPP’s online resource through these educator networks Media Curation/Creation actively participate in the curating and organizing MAPP’s media database (currently in process) work with other projects in MAPP network to ensure thematic and conceptual alignment coordinate with other contributors to ensure coherence across various curated section as needed create media (film interviews, document events, edit existing footage) Coordination Set timelines and deliverables for specific tasks and goals If relevant, provide guidance to student workers on the project Work with research director to plan budget, allocate funding, and keep the project on track The University of Southern California values diversity and is committed to equal opportunity in employment.
Andrew Schrock USC Annenberg Doctoral Candidate aschrock@usc.edu 714.330.6545