The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private,
independent grantmaking institution dedicated to helping groups and
individuals foster lasting improvement in the human condition. Through
the support it provides, the foundation fosters the development of
knowledge, nurtures individual creativity, helps strengthen
institutions, helps improve public policy, and provides information to
the public, primarily through support for public interest media.
The GoodPlay Project: Ethical Perspectives on Young Person's Use of Digital Media
Principal Investigator: Howard Gardner, Harvard Graduate School of Education
The GoodPlay Project is exploring the ethical character of young
people's online activities. The broad aim of the project is to discover
how young people are changing because of digital media, with a
particular focus on the ethical fault-lines that surface online,
including those related to identity, privacy, ownership and authorship,
credibility, and participation. The Good Play team is studying youth
ages 15-25 who participate in online games, social networking sites,
and other online communities. The project seeks to uncover the meanings
of "good play" online and to develop curricular materials that support
reflection about digital ethics.
Wyn KelleyWyn Kelley, of the Literature Faculty at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is author of Melville's City:
Literary and Urban Form in Nineteenth-Century New York (1996).
Associate Editor of the Melville Society journal Leviathan, and editor
of the Blackwell Companion to Herman Melville, she has published in a
number of journals and collections, including Melville and Hawthorne:
Writing Relationship, Ungraspable Phantom: Essays on Moby-Dick,
Melville and Women, "Whole Oceans Away": Melville in the Pacific, and
The Cambridge Companion to Herman Melville. A founding member of the
Melville Society Cultural Project, she has worked closely with the New
Bedford Whaling Museum on a number of initiatives: lecture series,
conferences, exhibits, and a scholarly archive. Her next project is a
Blackwell Short Guide to Herman Melville.
Ricardo Pitts-WileyOver the past twenty years, Ricardo Pitts-Wiley,
Artistic Director of
Mixed Magic Theatre, has written/produced/directed
"From the Bard to the Bounce: A Hip-Hop Shakespeare Experience",
"Kwanzaa Song", "The Great Battle for the Air", "About Me and the
Adventure" (with Community Prep and the Rhode Island School for the
Deaf), "How the World Came to North Kingstown Café"(an American
historical drama for the North Kingstown Millenium), "The Spirit
Warrior's Dream" (at the University of Rhode Island, Long Island
University, Johnson & Wales University, and Marin Academy in San
Rafael, California), "Harlem Renaissance Project" (with Blackstone
Academy), and four Annual Black History Month Celebrations at
Portsmouth Abbey. Pitts-Wiley was the Resident Artist at Brown
University Summer High School in 2001. In all of these collaborations,
students had the opportunity to work with professional theatre artists
and musicians.
Youth Voice CollaborativeYoung Woman's Christian Association (YWCA), Boston, MA
An innovative after-school program of media literacy and leadership
training, YVC provides young people from 13-18 with the information
they need to become critical consumers of media and the skills to
create and distribute messages that reflect their realities. YVC
continues to expand and students have benefited from partnerships with
the Boston Public Schools, WGBH, MIT, and 21st Century Learning Centers.
MIT@Lawrence
MIT@Lawrence is a long-term commitment to support dynamic and mutually beneficial relationships between faculty, students, and staff at MIT, together with civic leaders, residents, and community-based organizations in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The MIT@Lawrence commitment includes service learning, technical assistance, and community-based service projects in three program areas:
affordable housing, community asset-building, and youth pathways to
career and education. These areas promise opportunities for
action-oriented scholarship through university-community engagement for
the purpose of contributing to an equitable and sustainable future in
the City of Lawrence.
Global Kids
Founded in 1989, Global Kids' mission is to transform urban youth into
successful students and global and community leaders by engaging them
in socially dynamic, content-rich learning experiences. Through its
leadership development and academic enrichment programs, Global Kids
educates youth about critical international and domestic issues and
promotes their engagement in civic life and the democratic process.
Youth Media Exchange (YMEX)
TakingITGlobal and Global Kids, Inc., in collaboration with Asia
Society, are launching Youth Media Exchange, an online social
networking environment to encourage media production by international
youth addressing the role of digital media in their lives and pressing
global issues.