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Changing Cultures of Regent Park 2025 Media Project
The Changing Cultures of Regent Park 2025 Media Project was a 13-week collaboration between University of Toronto and the FOCUS Media Arts Centre (FOCUS), a not-for-profit organization that was established to counter negative stereotypes about the Regent Park community and provide media literacy and production programming for residents living in the area. Designed as a credited U of T university course, the project took place at the FOCUS location in the Daniel's Spectrum Arts Centre.
Adonis Huggins – Local Journalism Initiative
Together, University of Toronto students and residents of Regent Park learned about the multi-dimensional history of Regent Park focusing on topics such as immigration and racial formation, urban renewal, housing redevelopment, public health, and community organizing. Next, the U of T students and FOCUS journalists worked in teams to envision, research, and produce their own media project addressing a specific historical issue in Regent Park.
In designing their projects, groups were encouraged to connect their research to contemporary dynamics in the neighborhood. The projects could be designed on any media platform: radio, television, photography, print, social media, etc., and teams were encouraged to include an interactive component.
This video focuses on the fifth iteration of the course which brought together a diverse group of individuals to generate new knowledge about our social world, social processes, and the ways in which we understand cities, specifically Toronto.
Unlike most university courses, participation in the project involved a commitment to a new learning environment, outside of the typical classroom, and a significant dedication of time. The project is founded on a Participatory Action Research model, in which academics and community residents work together to design a scholarly inquiry, conduct research, and disseminate scholarly outcomes, and is explicitly committed to the democratic production of knowledge in the service of social change.
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FOCUS Media Arts Centre (FOCUS) is a not-for-profit organization that was established in 1990 to counter negative media stereotypes of low income communities and provide relevant information to residents living in the Regent Park area and surrounding communities.
We seek to empower marginalized individuals and under represented communities to have a voice, through the use of professional training, mentorships and participatory based media practices that enable the sharing of stories, experiences and perspectives on relevant matters and issues. In brief our mandate is to empower marginalized individuals and under-serviced communities to have a voice and tell their own stories.
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