Assistant Professor LeiLani Nishime taught a class last quarter focused on public scholarship and race. She created a website that includes blog posts, photo essays, and podcasts from her students: https://leilaninishime.wordpress.com/.
“I wanted to try something new and I wanted to have closer ties between the University and the community,” said Nishime, when asked why she wanted to teach a class on public scholarship.
Nishime has ties with the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience, which will be installing QR codes alongside the “War Baby/Love Child” exhibit artwork so patrons can hear the student-produced podcasts with featured artists as they view the art. Students also experienced the “RACE: Are We So Different?” exhibit at the Pacific Science Center.
“I think it’s difficult to talk about race partly because we don’t get a lot of experience or training for it,” Nishime said, “and that’s partly because people are afraid.”
These quotes are from a short film by Ph.D. student Jennifer McClearen under the “About the Project” tab on the website. Short bios of the students involved can be found under the “About Us” tab. This is one example of how the work done in the Department of Communication extends beyond the classroom.