My name is Mehul Bhushan. I am a third-year PhD Student in the Department of Communication at Pitt, and I am also an international student from India. In my research, I focus on how marginalized indigenous communities can leverage the latest tools and technologies, such as natural language processing, to document and save endangered languages and cultural practices. I was interested in the Humanities Engage Administrative Micro-Internship with the Office of Community and Governmental Relations (OCGR) because it promised to add to my intellectual trajectory by giving me the opportunity to think deeply about how communication strategies like visualization through graphic tools and user-centered design principles can become assets for communities to document their cultures.
The University of Pittsburgh’s Community Engagement Centers (Pitt CECs), which are under the purview of OCGR, are located in Homewood and the Hill District. They promote and support research that has wide social impact and can become an asset for community members in the neighborhoods of Pittsburgh. The goal of the CECs is to integrate civic engagement as part of teaching and learning in the University. This also brings an added relevance to learning for students. The Centers help foster lasting collaborations between research scholars, students, and local communities so that they can work on impactful projects together.
As an intern with the Pitt CECs, my role has been to understand the collaboration between University scholars and community partners in bridging the gap between conventional academic research and social impact. I worked with Vice Chancellor of Engagement and Community Affairs Dr. Lina Dostilio, who guided and helped me connect with multiple stakeholders in the community-centric research undertaken by scholars at the Pitt CECs.
I started by interviewing and listening to faculty and staff members from STEM, Social Sciences, and Humanities fields about how they approach community engaged research. The one thing that stood out for me in all of my interesting interviews was the importance of collaborating with local community-based organizations. Such close-knit partnerships between University scholars and members of diverse communities help in shaping research projects that are also well suited to the real, everyday needs of community members.
There are several innovative learning and research programs currently underway at Pitt CECs that are related to promoting free health and wellness programs for community members, bridging social and economic inequities, and thinking through creative ways to promote the unique cultural values of communities in Pittsburgh. As an administrative intern, I also got the chance to meet and talk with staff, directors, and other members who directly engage with communities. The emphasis in these Centers is on listening to the voices of community members as much as leveraging the resources and knowledge of the University.
This role helped me as a Communication scholar to better understand how research can have a social impact beyond academic spaces. Listening to community members and faculty, I got a very hands-on experience with mindfully engaging in community-facing research. My narrators revealed that flexibility is the key to making education and research projects have a real impact for communities.
This internship aligns with my research interests and also provided me with directions to approach my own field work. I examined my methodologies of research more closely. One of the ways in which we often think of research data is how it can be testable. But community-facing research requires time. It asks us to rethink methodologies of learning and even the touchstones for assessing research projects. This is especially true since it involves real people with specific needs, goals, and ideas. For instance, a data-centered STEM or health project may face several social or economic constraints in real world scenarios that might hinder it from being successful. It then requires us as researchers to think on our feet and learn to engage with those social issues more closely. Listening to faculty members, I understood better how this kind of research is a continuous, iterative process that has to take into account different social and cultural factors of applied learning.
I also created brief case studies, “key messages,” and creative tools to articulate the values of Pitt CECs. These short text-types have been designed to better disseminate information about the many interesting programs such as Wellness Pavilion, STEAM Studio, HYPE Media, and REP (Research for Equity and Power Project) undertaken by Pitt scholars. In the process, I learned how to make this content compelling and creative for readers so that they can also engage with the impactful nature of community engaged learning happening in the University. Such content is useful for website and newsletters to be shared with more students and scholars, who can then come and explore these opportunities for themselves.
I also spoke with staff members who handle information on digital platforms like the Community Engagement Center’s website. This helped me gain a deeper, user-centered perspective of how websites, podcasts, and other media are being used for sharing crucial information about community-centric programs. In fact, bridging digital divides and empowering communities who have been excluded from digital technology fields is also one of the many projects of the STEAM Studio. Such programs help them engage with digital tools better. Learning about leveraging digital communication tools for widening the scope of sharing information, an important aspect of my role as an administrative intern, was something that aligned well with my research goals as a PhD student of Communication.
As a Humanities scholar, I also learned a lot about networking through the administrative nature of this role. I spoke with members from different units within the University of Pittsburgh, as well as Pitt CEC staff who are directly in touch with community members. This helped me gain a sense of how to work alongside established communication channels between all stakeholders. Such channels have fostered long-lasting relationships between University of Pittsburgh and community partners. These are relationships of trust and accountability. I understood that effective networking and unique ways of communication help promote research that can drive change. It is one that is rooted in the needs and goals of local experiences of communities in Pittsburgh. This micro-internship opportunity has been a very interesting journey for me.