Civic Media and Community Engagement

Students Can:

• Work hand-in-hand with local communities and organizations 
• Plan, develop, execute, and evaluate different types of programs, projects, and products to inform, educate and engage the public
• Gain hands-on experience in analyzing and communicating complex technical research
• Learning technical, professional, leadership and collaboration skills in directly applied and engaged manners
• Research and find solutions to real social problems, many of them extremely complex, such as: 
  • How to solve the housing crisis
  • How to improve our capacity to welcome refugees
  • How to adapt local communities to the consequences of climate change
  • How to mitigate toxic and hazardous pollution through environmental justice
  • And much more

The minor consists of classes designed as multidisciplinary, collaborative, experiential and community-engaged learning experiences from beginning to end. The core classes are sequenced in a way that students will have multiple opportunities to complete the minor. The sequence also addresses the new Gen. Ed. Learning themes.

Career Paths

The  Civic Media and Community Engagement minor is the perfect combination of sought-after skills and hands-on experiences to prepare our students for highly  gratifying careers in their field of choice.

Graduates find success in:

• Civic engagement, education, and information for governmental agencies (i.e. FEMA, EPA, state departments, local governments); international organizations (U.N., UNESCO, WHO, UNICEF, IPCC, Amnesty International, etc.), and regional and local community organizations (i.e. United Way, American Heart Association, Sierra Club, SPCAs, The NAACP Legal Defense Fund, etc.)
• Intragovernmental and public diplomacy
• Public and Private partnerships
• Global, national and local foundations and charitable organizations (i.e. The Ford Foundation, The McArthur Foundation, The Rhode Island Foundation, food banks and kitchens, free clinics, public shelters, etc.)
• Religious, political and ideological organizations (i.e. churches, temples, mosques, think tanks, partisan and nonpartisan media, etc.)
• All nonprofit organizations and civic educational programs
• Organizing and civic engagement for public health, climate change, social justice, and human rights movements, etc.
• Organizational and corporate communication (i.e. Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability)
• Journalism and civic media (i.e. investigative podcasts, public service journalism, civic education and information outlets, etc.)
• Public relations, social marketing, social media, and event planning for education, entertainment, arts, etc.
• Mediation, depolarization, and conflict resolution institutions and firms
• Public humanities and the Arts
• Entertainment and sports media 

 And many more.

Student Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to: 

• Identify, obtain, and evaluate research data from credible, trustworthy sources.
• Organize journalistic and civic information using basic and advanced research and reporting techniques. 
• Competently conduct interviews, produce, write and edit publishable information that is accurate, fair and balanced
• Analyze and illustrate metrics to explain complex problems. 
• Articulate and apply the basics of civics and government functions in a democracy. 
• Engage a community-centered ethics of care protocol to identify and develop relationships with community members 
• Effectively apply organizational skills, professional communication, research, and management techniques and meet deadlines in work settings