Caribbean Creativity in the North American Classroom: Deploying Difference and Ingenuity for Community-Engaged Pedagogy
No Thumbnail Available
Authors
Susan L. McFarlane-Alvarez
Issue Date
Type
Journal Article, Academic Journal
Language
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Since Fall 2013, students enrolled in Corporate Communication courses at Clayton State University have learned about public relations and advertising through community-engaged learning. Working in a mock student agency, formulated, named and administrated by the students, this experience brings real-world clients into the classroom. Each semester, clients include non-profit organizations or community start-ups, whose communication goals require astute strategic thinking and some technological competence. Through autoethnographic investigation, this paper describes how one professor’s professional background in Caribbean advertising and public relations is brought to the benefit of North American students faced with these challenges. The analysis asserts that students benefit specifically and tangibly from the cultural flows from Trinidad and Tobago expressed through facets of personal, professional and academic experiences. While perspectives imported from the Caribbean persuasion industries help guide students in their development of grassroots campaigns, the more profound pedagogical value of this cultural interrelationship includes the adaptation of sophisticated communication strategies, appreciation of diversity within the experience, and the manifestation of an interdisciplinary and transformative experience for both students and community partners alike.