Minor in
Digital Community Studies

Digital Community Studies is a new interdisciplinary minor program in the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences which provides grounding in the theory, method, and practice of community studies with an emphasis on new media and technology. The objective of the minor program is to provide a strong foundation in the theory of visual language for evaluating digital media scholarship, to teach technical proficiency in digital modes of documentation and dissemination of research in the social and behavioral sciences, and to interface with local communities with opportunities for student

Minor in Digital Community StudiesLearning Communities Center ProjectsCommunity Partnerships Faculty & Staff Home

hands-on research through service learning and internships.

UAB Community-Based Documentary Films Since 1999, UAB students enrolled in the course Ethnographic Filmmaking have made short documentary films about communities in the Birmingham regional area. The students work collaborative in pairs to research a community or subculture, conduct qualitative interviews of community members, film significant activities and events that reveal the shared culture of the group, and edit their footage using state-of-the-art computer software to create a short documentary account of their community. Each year, the student films are screened at the McWane Science Center's Imax Theatre to the general public. This ongoing documentation and analysis of communities within Birmingham has created an archive of over 40 films, several of which have garnered awards and honors.

Benching: The Art of Watching Trains— Sidewalk Film Festival, Best Documentary Short, 2004
House of Prayer—The Internet2 Digital Film Festival, First Place, 2002
Wounded—The Internet2 Digital Film Festival, First Place, 2002

Educational Video Project—Center for Ethics and Values in the Sciences and Minority Health and Research Center Collaborating on an NIH-funded educational video project designed to educate researchers and IRB members about some of the ethical considerations surrounding research conducted in minority communities. The video is divided into three sections: 1) the relationship between university researchers and community members, with an emphasis on community-based research as a method; 2) research and race: guidelines for researchers and IRB members; 3) IRB and minority communities: various models for understanding community needs, fears as a way to effectively assess risk