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American University, School of Communication, Center for Media & Social Impact

Washington, D.C.

Grants

2021 (3 years)
$750,000

The Center for Media and Social Impact (CMSI) at American University is an innovation lab and research center that creates, studies, and showcases media for social impact. Focusing on a range of media from investigative journalism and documentary film to comedy and participatory media, CMSI bridges boundaries between scholars, media makers ,and other thought leaders who share a common goal of social justice. This grant provides flexible support for CMSI to undertake a broad range of activities that respond to new trends and challenges in the field, including hosting events and trainings, facilitating engagement among media practitioners on shared opportunities and concerns, producing creative content, and conducting research to inform the field and test new approaches. CMSI serves as a hub for a growing community of media makers, scholars, and others committed to using media in all of its forms to create a more inclusive and just society.

2021 (1 year)
$40,000

The Center for Media and Social Impact (CMSI) at American University is an innovation lab and research center that creates, studies, and showcases media for social impact with a particular focus on independent, documentary, and public media, as well as entertainment and popular culture. The research project, “Who is Telling Whose Stories in Contemporary Documentary?” is designed to examine and identify the racial, ethnic, and gender identification of all directors and main protagonists for social-issue documentaries distributed over the new online streaming era for documentary storytelling (2014-2020). The study will include three categories of distribution networks for nonfiction film: (1) online streaming; (2) public media; (3) commercial and cable television.

2019 (2 years 3 months)
$600,000

The Center for Media and Social Impact (CMSI) at American University is an innovation lab and research center that creates, studies, and showcases media for social impact. Focusing on a range of media from investigative journalism and documentary film to entertainment and participatory media, CMSI bridges boundaries between scholars, media makers and other thought leaders who share a common goal of social justice. This project grant provides unrestricted support for CMSI to undertake a broad range of research projects that respond to new trends and challenges, with a special focus on participatory media and its impact on culture and policy; to plan and execute issue-specific events and trainings, including its biennial conference, Story Movements; and, from time to time, to incubate media projects that address issues of misrepresentation, identity, and social change.

2017 (2 years 8 months)
$400,000

The Center for Media and Social Impact (CMSI) at American University is an innovation lab and research center that creates, studies and showcases media for social impact. This grant supports CMSI to plan and execute its bi-annual conference, Story Movements, which brings together a range of media makers, from documentary film and journalism to issue-based movement communications, community activism, game design, and popular culture. CMSI is also using funds to develop a series of research papers, blog posts, and workshops focused on the role participatory civic media – media created by individuals and small groups to influence culture and policy – plays in social change. This work is designed to build a base of knowledge around the emerging discipline of participatory civic media and its connections to the broader media ecosystem.

2016 ( 11 months)
$75,000

The Center for Media and Social Impact (CMSI) housed at American University is an innovation incubator and research center that creates, studies and showcases media for social impact. This grant supports CMSI’s annual convening, which brings together filmmakers and producers, academics and NGO leaders, and social justice and social change communication and issue professionals to examine platforms and storytelling genres to advance social change. This year’s conference, Story Movements, which builds upon CMSI’s 10-year history in convening thought leaders in documentary film and public media, has been expanded to include the full range of media creators engaged in social change, from documentary film and investigative journalism to games and media-led social movements. It is designed to spark new collaborations and identify new approaches to using storytelling for social change.