A research grant from the Ford Foundation funds the launch of JustPublics@365, a project designed to empower academics with the social media skills to increase their impact on social justice issues.
“People today who are concerned about social justice are really at a loss if they’re not using social media,” said Dr. Jessie Daniels, professor at the CUNY School of Public Health and Hunter College and one of the project leaders for JustPublics@365 (https://justpublics365.commons.gc.cuny.edu/). “What the Ford Foundation was interested in was connecting the very good research happening at the Graduate Center with social justice movements and social justice advocacy.
“The project is really intended to transform the way scholars/academics think about their work and use that work in a way that really engages with social justice work going on in the world.”
Based at the Graduate Center at City University of New York (The GC), JustPublics@365 will create avenues for academics that research, write and teach about issues related to social justice to become more familiar with social media platforms. With those skills they can promote their work to a wider audience, increase attention to the issues and hopefully bring about change.
JustPublics@365, which is named for The GC’s address, has plans to address issues of inequality in the areas of economics, housing, race and ethnicity, immigration, health and education.
The project, which will have full- and part-time staff totaling seven, will be housed in The GC Digital Scholarship Lab. For events and programs, it will have access to other spaces at The GC, including the James Gallery and Proshansky Auditorium.
Daniels said most faculty are not trained in the use of social and digital media, so JustPublics@365 will offer training.
