By Nick Ward
In collaboration with the Ottawa Art Gallery and Citizens Academy, Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Jacqueline Kennelly and her students recently had the opportunity to host a public screening of the results of Dr. Kennelly’s research project with homeless youth.
Dr. Jacqueline Kennelly | Photo: Alex Campbell
Professor Kennelly and her team had generated three short films with the youth, which were focused on the issues they had identified as most important to them – including policing, decriminalizing marijuana, and the supports they need to transition out of homelessness.
The public participated in activities that were similar to those that the youth had conducted, including mapping, a thermometer exercise, and discussions.
The films and a resource guide are freely available for teachers and professors to use in their classrooms, or for organizations or individuals to use for community screenings. The resource guide provides outlines of the activities and includes discussion questions and websites for further research on the topics raised.
Low Income Canadian Youths’ Perspectives on Citizenship and Democratic Processes
This 3-phased project was designed to elicit homeless and formerly homeless youths’ perspectives on democracy and citizenship and build towards an action or advocacy project with the youth.
The last phase – the action phase – was a culmination of the first two phases, and was left intentionally open to emerge organically from the youth involved. Youth thought about what kinds of action projects they would like to be involved in.
Some youth suggested creating a video.
Local filmmaker, Ben Hoskyn, and two crew members did the technical aspects of filming. The topics were a mix of issues that are important to youth (i.e. transitioning out of homelessness; decriminalizing marijuana; and youth and policing). Topics also have traction right now with the broader community and social services world. The films are now a product that can be used in a variety of different ways.
You are encouraged to draw on our Encountering Democracy Resource Guide, developed with educators in mind. The Resource Guide is meant to accompany a classroom/community film screening, with the purpose of sparking critical engagement in the topic of youth homelessness.
Thursday, January 26, 2017 in Arts and Social Sciences, Community, Film
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