1. Collaborative Storytelling Using Variety of Tools from Social Media
Fall 2012 class: Social Media and Remix, First Project

2. Collaborative Online Video: WeVideo (free), Adobe
Anywhere (in development)

3. Project #1: Who are the Peacemakers? Collaborative
Video Essays on Historical Alternatives to Violence
• Project Description:
• Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” identified the four
basic requirements for a non-violent campaign: “collection of the facts to
determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification; and
direct action.” In this assignment, your group will identify a campaign of
social justice focused on non-violence and research, document, and
analyze the above four areas with regard to the specifics of the historical
and cultural context. That is, what were the key issues at stake in the
campaign, what strategies (from words to actions) did they employ to
make change, and how were they able to maintain their non-violence
response in the face of adversity (again, specific strategies employed)?
• Your research and documentation should draw upon diverse multimedia
materials, including still and moving images, audio, and text. After
collectively gathering, discussing, and organizing the material your
research produced, your group will create a 2-3 minute video that helps to
identify and define: “Who are the peacemakers?” and “What we might
learn from their strategies and actions as we undertake our larger
investigation in non-violent engagement?”

4. Process for our “Peace Emergency”
• Part of a grant to see how university handles emergencies with online
continuation of courses. I declared a “peace emergency” and asked
that they imagine themselves working within restraints of activist
organizations (minimal resources, dispersed activists).
• The assignment unfolded over 3 weeks with weekly updates on one
editing group’s progress by a separate collaborative group’s review with
attention to group’s concept, research, organization.
• Work was organized using Google docs, Google drive, with video and
work documentation made accessible through shared links
• Groups created a collaborative video essay online using
WeVideo(collective video with individual reflection). We met virtually
in third week via Google+ Hangout to underline the online collaborative
component.

5. Projects:
http://www.newmedia4socialchange.net