“Through inclusion, there can be education and through education, there can be transformational changes towards creating spaces of excellence and tolerance.
Hear My Voice."
ABOUT
"Hear My Voice...(HMV)," began as an Interdisciplinarian project of dedicated students, faculty and staff on the campus of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, who volunteered to work towards creating a platform of Inclusion in March of 2016. It became a Registered Organization on May 1 of 2016. As an RO, the supportive team includes staff, faculty, and students from across campus and disciplines. This web collaborative project will also be supported by students in an Independent Study Course (MDIA 290 Section HMV) in the Fall semester of 2016 under the direction of Dr. Janice Marie Collins from the College of Media and the Institute of Communications Research.
PURPOSE
To Create Pathways & Support Diverse Voices of Inclusivity. This means ALL students across campus of any skill level, race, of any gender, sexual orientation or preference, and nationality, etc., who have the desire to work towards educating the public about unique and authentic perspectives through narratives and research can join.
Through teaching, scholarship, research and constant hands on experience, students learn how to create and develop professional, ethical multimedia elements and platforms that allow students to talk with and learn from one another, faculty, staff, as well as the community.
The focus of articles, research studies, and multimedia projects include voices from the margins such as gender discrimination, harassment, discrimination against individuals in the LGBTQ communities, Native Americans/Indigenous Americans/American Indian, African and Black Americans, White Americans, people in impoverished environments, individuals of Hispanic, Latino, and Asian descent, student-athletes, as well as International people, physically challenged and other marginalized aggregates.
ACCORDANCE
This organization’s mission statement supports the educational mission of the university by approaching research and narratives from an instructional perspective that encourages ethical practices, professional codes of conduct, innovation and creativity, and leadership development that is transformational. Our hope is that the lives of the students who work with us will be enhanced through positive experiences of respecting “difference”. We also hope that the lives of others on this campus as well as society will by transformed in positive ways because their voices and concerns are being heard, addressed and shared in a respected and dignified manner. Because the resulting programs of this group will be far-reaching and ubiquitous in nature, our Mission and Vision is aligned with the University’s call to action of putting knowledge to work on a large scale and with excellence. We are creating leaders for positive change.
the CHALLENGE
Traditional and Social Media have made great efforts to include voices and stories from the margins. But, due to operational, logistical and exclusionary reasons, the resulting stories and images and the approach are usually monolithic. Consequently, the coverage, in general, is not written or designed for the broad and diverse audiences that exists. This means that gaps are formed. These gaps house missed opportunities to educate the public on important issues that must be considered in a free and democratic society. In such a society, marginalized voices and perspectives are valuable and should have a platform to share their experiences. In this spirit, the content of this multimedia platform will include stories from across campuses, disciplines, in the community as well as outside of this country. We are filling the Gaps of omission and marginalization that exists within our research, service, teaching, creative endeavors by empowering ALL voices in this community. The philosophical foundation of this organization is Active Centralized Empowerment, a module developed by Dr. Collins that Actively encourages and supports leadership development and inclusion of all voices and perspectives in egalitarian ways.
All participants and contributors have read and understand the Code of Ethics, Standard of Professional Conduct, Policies and Bylaws that serve to frame the guidelines, goals, objectives and expectations of the Organization and Web Publication, "Hear My Voice...(HMV)," and acknowledge that their participation acts as an agreement of understanding that the violation of any of these measures can lead to dismissal from the Organization or Failure of assignment.