more than a profile: the ethics of digital storytelling in study abroad

The Imagery of Humanitarianism An overview

Western Images of Humanitarians and Volunteers:

1) Type of media

2) How identities of donor and beneficiary (or ‘Other’) are constructed

3) How their relationship is imagined

4) What image suggests about distance/proximity between public and the ‘spectacle’ of need or suffering

Colonialism (18th-19th c.)

o Media: Photography, Post Cards, Museums, Colonial Exhibitions

Identity: Donor: Paternalistic, ‘Civilized’ Beneficiary: Childlike, ‘Savage’

o Relationship: unequal, exploitative

o Distance: emphasized between ‘uncivilized’ Other and viewing public

French Congo (Date Unknown)

Belgian Congo (1910)

Christian Missionaries (19th-early 20th c.)

Media: photos; newspapers (faith-based or otherwise); museums; documentary films (later)

Relationship: Charity; inequality assumed between donor/beneficiary; ‘mission to civilize’ ‘responsibility to civilize’

American Missionary (India, 1873)

Donor:

Paternalistic, but humanitarian

Beneficiary:

Child-like,‘Savage’ but in need

charitable;

German Christian Mission School (South West Africa, 1910)

Twentieth Century: Humanitarian Images

Media: Photography, Doc. Films, Television

Identity: Donor: Charitable, generous, Beneficiary: Suffering, in need

Relationship: of help and protection

Distance of suffering increased through media (TV)

20th c. Imagery of Humanitarianism (Post-Colonies; Cold War)

New role of International Development

Media: should represent the ‘Truth’ of Suffering

Realism (‘seeing is believing’) (Vietnam War)

Focus on beneficiary (suffering)

Goal: to make suffering more urgent and immediate

to gain donor support, political support

Child Sponsoring: ex. Christian Children’s Fund (f. 1938- China) (TV ads: ‘70s)

“Starving Children of Biafran War” (Life Magazine, 1968)

The Aughts

Media: Photography, Doc. Film; Video; Internet

Identities: Donor: individual humanitarian, activist. Beneficiary: in need but dignified; ‘success stories’

Relationship: individual-to-individual (equal?)

Proximity of those need ever-increased (internet)

Web 2.0 “Revolution” and Humanitarian imagery

interactive; user-produced content

increased reach of images/content

user identity: importance of public; online ‘self and the ‘profile’ (Facebook, Blogs)

Focus on the donor

Global (often celebrity) activist and consumer-based movements (Kony 2012, Half the Sky)

Donor/Beneficiary Relationships

Kony 2012: the consumer/activist

“Half the Sky” (Celebrity Humanitarians model activism)

Donor/Beneficiary Identities: Hands Up For Haiti

Shift to Donor as Focus

Donor identity?

What do you think?

Images disseminated by Service Abroad students on Social Media

How do older versions of donor/beneficiary identities and relationships persist?

How do new models (often internet based) of humanitarianism and volunteerism exert an influence?

How does the increased proximity of those in need (enabled by the internet) affect the relationship between donor and beneficiary?

“A once in a lifetime opportunity to do good in the world”

What’s “the story” with health-related study abroad—and why does it matter?

In three semesters of public/community health study abroad in Ghana, I noticed:

• Students were oriented more toward “serving” than “learning”.

• Students bumped up against the limits of health education

• They took—and posted--a LOT of pictures

“It was the photographs posted by other students that inspired me to go on my first overseas medical mission. When classmates

uploaded the experience of themselves wearing scrubs beside adorable children in developing countries, I believed I was missing out on a

pivotal pre-med experience.” #InstagrammingAfrica: The Narcissism of Global Voluntourism, Lauren Kascak, Sayantani DasGupta, Sociological Images 2014

And from The Onion …

Some obvious ethical questions:

• Confidentiality and Informed consent?

o Protected Health Information on Social Networking Sites: Ethical and Legal Considerations. By: Thompson,, Black, Duff, Black, Paradise, Saliba,Dawson Journal of Medical Internet Research, 14388871, Jan-Mar2011, Vol. 13, Issue 1

• And more…Whose story is it?

Silvia Taulés, reporting in the New York Times, July 12, 2015

“There were surgeries in the operating room almost daily, and I would often assist with those. I will never forget “scrubbing in” on my first C-section – an experience I wouldn’t have again until my fourth year of medical school!” http://www.projects-abroad.co.uk/why-projects-abroad/volunteer-stories/?content=medicine-and-healthcare/medicine/ghana/genevieve-digby/

Student social media use—a risk, but also an opportunity

for growth and reflection.

Photo voice: “Often used in community research and to create dialogue among community

members; the application of photovoice in this article turns the focus inward to ask students to

explore their own thoughts and values.”

Cray Mulder & Aubrey Dull (2014) Facilitating Self-Reflection: The Integration of Photovoice in Graduate Social Work Education, Social Work Education: The International Journal.

Writing a caption: SHOW What do you See

here?

What is really Happening here?

How does this

relate to Our lives?

Why does this exist?

To build our cabin in the Ozarks, each of the members of the five owning families participated. Here, Ginny Muller measures deck boards.

Step 1:

Concrete or abstract? Avoid generic images….

Pick a photo that reflects one of the best things about your life: Caption it: Pick a photo that reflects one of the worst things about your life: Caption it:

Step 2

Imagine you are someone from a different cultural group, age, race or place. Someone who doesn’t know you and your life.

Re-Caption photo 1

Re-Caption photo 2

Reflection • Did the captions

change? In what way?

• What was the outsider missing?

• How might your perception of SHOW—particularly the Why or meaning be different?

• Write One or Two paragraphs about this exercise: oWhat did you

learn? oHow did it feel? oHow might this

apply to a study abroad experience?

• Autonomy The right to participate or decline to participate • Do No Harm Am I creating and using photos in a manner that will do no harm to persons appearing in photos? • Fidelity Am I using photos in a context that fairly represents the real situation in this photo? • Justice Am I photographing people with the same respect I would show to neighbors and strangers in my home community?

Using captioning to enhance student

learning Lessons from Health Sciences study abroad

Pre-departure • “Things are not always as they appear”

o Context o Empathy

• How will this direct photo taking or photo sharing? o Respect o Multiple interpretations o Understand cultural differences

During the trip • Directions: Each student selects a picture that they have already

taken. Caption it. Then re-caption it from the point of view of a resident of the local city.

• Outcomes: o What is the subject of the picture?

• Centrality of the students as subjects vs. the sites they were taking pictures of. o Ordinary vs extraordinary conditions and behaviors

After the trip • Directions: Students asked to identify and caption photos that

represented the best things, the worst thing, and a time of learning.

• Outcomes: o Best thing: students themselves, their host families, or local staff o Worst thing: material discomfort (food, pollution, toilets) o Learning: internship site, homestay family

Example of a “Best thing” photo

Example of a “Worst thing” photo

Example of a “Learning” photo

Concluding thoughts • Benefits to ethical behavior • Potential benefits to development of cross-cultural competency and

empathy • Work to develop a curriculum that promotes student engagement

with cross-cultural issues in health care

Study Abroad & Photos

Administrative role

• Pre-departure • During • Return to campus

• Photo contest, 20/20, returnee events…

• Alumni

Administrative responsibility

• Marketing • Expectations • Reflection and learning vs. doing and saving • What is our own narrative?

Transforming awareness

Ethical Guidelines

1. Be respectful and accurate when representing the host country. 2. Avoid stereotyping individuals and groups. 3. Have you thought about the ways in which others who see your

photo will interpret it and is there any reason anyone, including subjects in the photo might be offended by it?

4. Does this photo represent you the photographer as a responsible traveler and a respectful student of the University of Missouri?

?