As an instructor at the Journalism Department, Kelsey Whipple is keen to co-create lasting educational artifacts with her students. The objective is to encourage students’ creative empowerment and practical learning opportunities. She likes to give students the opportunity to co-create lasting artifacts, a small-time capsule of their experiences, and proof of concept for potential future partnerships (public organizations, UMass programs, and many others).
The most notable examples Kelsey shared were the audio tour, podcasts, and zines. In partnership with the University Museum of Contemporary Art (UMCA), she and her students created an art museum audio tour. They also made one for hidden gems at the DuBois Library (ongoing). Another co-creative project is podcasting about life and culture in Amherst, IT Happened in Amherst, which is available on iTunes and Spotify.
Additionally, students produced zines, a reporting story about gender and sexuality and about communities being targeted and discriminated against. In the process, students utilized their university provided student allowances for printing services at the library and received help from librarians when needed.
Kelsey notes that although these co-creative projects are hard at first, they are worth doing. Students value tangible projects that they can always revisit as well as use as examples for potential professional jobs. The fact that her students are deeply inspired by the work of their peers is what she enjoys the most.