Creating community connections
“Culture-Centered Communication and Engagement,” a course offered by the CAES Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication, helps students hone their storytelling skills through community service.
By Amanda Budd
Every spring semester, you will find University of Georgia students enrolled in “Culture-Centered Communication and Engagement” lending a hand at the Sparrow’s Nest, a local organization providing food and other services to those in need. As they serve, the students in the course develop their professional communication skills as they relate to community engagement.
Abigail Borron, associate professor in the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication at the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, leads the course with the goal of expanding her students’ viewpoints and approaches to communication. Students think more deeply about storytelling, their community beyond UGA and how their service can impact others.
Students in Borron's “Culture-Centered Communication and Engagement” course pose in front of art hanging in the Sparrow's Nest, an Athens-based nonprofit.
Students in Borron's “Culture-Centered Communication and Engagement” course pose in front of art hanging in the Sparrow's Nest, an Athens-based nonprofit.
Borron was inspired to start the course after she and her family began volunteering at the organization in 2015.
With her own research focusing on the intersection of food insecurity, underserved audiences and university engagement, Borron saw an opportunity for students to consider how their developing expertise in agricultural communication has a place within all aspects of a community.
“I like getting my students to go beyond their comfort zones and get to know the people here. Everyone here has a story, and I love that this course allows us to tell those stories,” Borron said.
When students aren’t completing their service hours, they spend time in the classroom discovering methods in cross-cultural communication, civic responsibility and community engagement. They also learn how to present a story, reviewing journalistic writing ethics and honing their interview skills to assist them in their communication work.
At the end of the course, the students interview someone who receives services at the Sparrow’s Nest to learn their life story — many times learning about how they’ve overcome significant obstacles.
CAES Associate Professor Abigail Borron
CAES Associate Professor Abigail Borron
The result of the interview is a short narrative that is shared with the individual and, with permission, applied to the nonprofit’s communications with target audiences.
Many of these biographies line the main hallway of the Sparrow’s Nest on mounted plaques, starting just outside the office of Sparrow’s Nest Director James Scott, pictured below.
Scott appreciates the students’ involvement and their ability to offer a platform for the community to share their experiences. In addition to telling community members’ stories, students have also produced short videos, podcasts and social media content related to client stories since the class started working with the Sparrow’s Nest in 2016.
“These kids get so involved in a way that I really appreciate,” said Scott.
“They step outside of their box and get to know the people here,” Scott explained. “I sometimes go to the presentation the students host at the end of the semester, and I’m usually wiping tears away because of the stories they find.”
Eliza Jane Glover, Marina Mosgeove, Mattie Jane Mashburn, Molly Cooney and Madi Welch prepare food in the kitchen at the Sparrow's Nest.
Eliza Jane Glover, Marina Mosgeove, Mattie Jane Mashburn, Molly Cooney and Madi Welch prepare food in the kitchen at the Sparrow's Nest.
The end-of-year presentation, called a “photovoice exhibit,” challenges students to creatively represent the lessons they have learned and photos they have taken while working at the Sparrow’s Nest. Mattie Jane Mashburn, an agricultural communication student who took the course in the spring, arranged her photos on a model of the Earth’s layers.
As her photos reached the core of the model Earth, Mashburn explained how it represented her exploration of the Sparrow’s Nest and what the organization means to her and others. At the core, Mashburn had a photo displaying two bags: one full of pork rinds and another half-full of almonds. She explained that, while looking at the two snacks, she started to think about how they represented her experience.
“If given the choice, a lot of people might choose the pork rinds because they might taste better, but the almonds are better for you in the long run,” she said. “I started thinking about how that represents the Sparrow’s Nest in a lot of ways. It can be hard for people to make the choice to ask for help, and it may not always be the most appealing, but it’s better in the long run.”
Mashburn’s favorite part of the semester was getting to know her interview subject and seeing another side of Athens.
“Not everyone in the community is going to class every day. It’s important to put yourself into the shoes of other people and recognize that you should give everyone you meet an equal chance,” Mashburn said. “Speaking with my interview subject, I learned a lot about how you can end up in tough situations when you’re just doing your best.”
Students participate in a cleanup project outside Sparrow's Nest.
Students participate in a cleanup project outside Sparrow's Nest.
The Sparrow’s Nest purchases and distributes over 50,000 pounds of food to Athens residents each year.
The Sparrow’s Nest purchases and distributes over 50,000 pounds of food to Athens residents each year.
Mattie Jane Mashburn's project compares her experience in the course to the layers of the Earth.
Mattie Jane Mashburn's project compares her experience in the course to the layers of the Earth.
Other photovoice projects
Kylie Howlin’s project shows the connections between different parts of her experience at the Sparrow's Nest.
Kirk Beacham’s project includes puzzle pieces and how each part of the work is one part of the larger picture.
Madison Welch’s project comprises layers of an onion, signifying how she learned more as she peeled back each layer.
“Culture-Centered Communication and Engagement” is offered every spring semester and will be available for enrollment in advance of spring 2024.
To learn more about learning opportunities in the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication, visit alec.caes.uga.edu.
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