Selected Projects
The Sense Project
For two years I have worked with the Sense Project a peer-based sexual education program to develop their media materials. The projects we have done together include :
- Two youth-produced short videos dealing with aspects of sexual health.
- A website and blog to showcase the Sense Projects peer education program and in-school workshops
- An online forum for extending the reach of the peer educators and volunteer trainers to sites outside of Montreal
- A sticker campaign called "there are no stupid questions" used to publicize the website and the forum on public transit
Atwater Digital Literacy Project
From 2006 - 2009 I founded, and coordinated the Atwater Digital Literacy Project, a creative media production program for based out of the historic Atwater Library and Computer Centre.
The DLP was designed to be a responsive critical media program for youth and adults living in the communities in the libraries catchment area, specifically the low-income neighbourhoods; Verdun, Ste. Henri, Pointe Ste- Charles and Little Burgundy. By building partnerships between local new media practitioners, new media businesses, schools and local community service organizations we created learning and employment opportunities for Anglophone youth in west-downtown Montreal.
During the four years that I coordinated this project I had the opportunity to build relationships with many excellent community service organizations in Montreal. If you would like to learn more about the kinds of workshops we developed at the DLP please visit the Digital Literacy Project website.
Reclaim: Making Oral History Digital: Oral Stories and Literacy
Reclaim is a not-for-profit organization providing free and confidential literacy instruction to English-speaking adults in Montreal. Volunteers from Reclaim have been tutoring adult learners at the Atwater Library for several years. As part of the Digital Literacy Project we collaborated on a project called 'Making Oral History Digital: Oral Stories and Literacy'.
This series of workshops focused on digitally recording oral histories using Audacity, an Open Source audio program. There were six workshops in total during which the participants produced over 30 tracks featuring their stories and interviews.
Happy Listening!!
Albert - Literacy Interview
Mrs. Lee - A Hold Up
Elena - Learning to Read (+ 8 minutes but worth every minute.)
Producing Youth: Producing Media
In 2009 I received a masters degree from the Department of Communications, Media Studies program at Concordia University. For my thesis, I completed a project which took the form of a website and accompanying paper.
For this qualitative research project I used video interviews and on-site observation, as well as direct participation in several media projects to explore how ideological constructions of both 'youth' and 'media literacy' impact the lived experiences of youth and facilitators in media production workshops organized through my work with The Digital Literacy Project.
During the research interviewees discussed their experience working in community youth media, addressing issues such as collaboration, institutionalization of practice, motivation, emergent literacy practices, and the effect of the ‘new economy’ on community learning projects. Of particular concern is how ‘youth’ as a political and social category is conceptualized and mobilized in media projects, in ways that both compliment and challenge existing institutional and educational norms.
Visit the website: Producing Youth: Producing Media
Final paper is available as a download: Producing Youth: Producing Media (PDF). 2009 - all rights reserved.
3sCo Design
While completing my masters degree I co-founded a LCC design shop called 3sCoDesign.
3sCoDesign was a media design and communications strategy firm located in Montreal, Canada. As a sustainable business, we offered clients in the non-profit and cultural sectors professional design services and media products at competitive rates. We made it a priority to work towards social justice over the bottom line, and offered affordable solutions to clients based in Montreal and elsewhere.
As principle of 3sCo I was responsible for business development, communications strategy, client relations and site integration. The company closed recently as a result of my relocation to Toronto and my colleague Jen's relocation to Colorado.
If you would like to see the work we have done as a team, take a look at our Portfolio.