海角换妻

If you are looking for an example of how 海角换妻鈥檚 focus on civic life and public purpose translates into action, look no further than the , housed within 海角换妻鈥檚 School of Communication. CMSI grounds its mission in 鈥渃ivic participatory media鈥� as a research organization, convener, and creative incubator and producer of media for social good and public engagement with shared social challenges. A decade under the leadership of SOC鈥檚 Provost Associate Professor Caty Borum, who serves as CMSI鈥檚 executive director, the center鈥檚 program activities have expanded on a broad scale. In that time, CMSI has raised more than $10 million in external grants, and the team鈥檚 collaborative creative and research programs have been recognized with six Anthem Awards for purpose- and mission-driven work, bestowed by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences in collaboration with the Webby Awards.听

Now, nearly 10 years after its first significant听investment in CMSI, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has just awarded CMSI a new $1M grant for its work in "civic media and storytelling" to support its ongoing mission to study, create, and spotlight civic storytelling. The grant will support several CMSI initiatives, which span from rigorous research into areas of documentary film, entertainment media and portrayals of topical social issues, comedy as a powerful tool for civic dialogue and engagement with taboo topics, climate change; and live comedy shows, programming to promote community storytelling, and a new podcast in partnership with the Peabody Awards.听

The MacArthur Foundation is one of CMSI鈥檚 longstanding supporters. Starting from a $75,000 grant to support , CMSI鈥檚 signature civic storytelling convening series, MacArthur鈥檚 support has deepened. Similarly, Story Movements has evolved over the past decade to become a preeminent destination for people from the worlds of tech, comedy, media, activism, philanthropy, filmmaking, and more to share and examine how storytelling can impact the world and create social change. 2024 marked the fourth iteration of the event, which included presentations from makers and experts, combined with interactive opportunities for participants to meet and find their own space for ideas and collaboration as well as a live comedy show, , featuring the talents of D-Lo; Maggie Crane; Rollie Williams; Yasmin Elhady; and the event MC, Gabe Gonzalez.听

Applying Culture and Comedy for Civic Change听听

An umbrella for CMSI鈥檚 wide ranging array of initiatives united by the concept of leveraging comedy to address human and social justice concerns across the civic landscape, is led by Borum, who serves as principal investigator and lead director of its programs; CMSI Operations Director, Varsha Ramani, who directs all business and grant operations; and CMSI creative director of comedy initiatives, Bethany Hall, who acts as creative architect and producer for comedy programs at the center, including serving as co-executive producer for GoodLaugh at CMSI. Since 2018, in collaboration with civil society and arts organizations, CMSI has co-created, launched, and co-directs several multi-faceted national comedy and human rights programs, designed from Borum鈥檚 peer-reviewed research about comedy鈥檚 utility in public engagement with social and civic issues. 听

(YALL), co-directed by CMSI and Moore + Associates, brings comedians together with civil society organizations and philanthropists to harness comedy鈥檚 unique power to bring people together. In the six years since its launch, the initiative has produced spinoff events including , the first and only comedy festival that celebrates the power of humor to change the world. The festival expanded to include the original YALL Fellows showcase events, but also a wide variety of comedy program offerings for the general public, including: table reads of pilot TV programs, stand-up comedy, sketch, one-person storytelling shows, networking. In 2024, YALL was awarded with an Anthem Award (Bronze) for mission-driven media programming as an outstanding Community Organization in the 鈥淓ducation, Art & Culture鈥� category.听听

Over the past few years, CMSI鈥檚 comedy portfolio has raised awareness of the issue of climate change and developed programming to engage more citizens in the voting process 鈥� all while keeping them laughing. For instance, under the strategy and research direction of IllumiNative, CMSI鈥檚 GoodLaugh initiative team led a rapid-production creative agency model that brought all artistic and production talent together in one space, for one week. With this collaborative expanded team, the Natives Vote comedy initiative rapidly created a package of targeted, non-partisan comedic content to disseminate on social media channels from early October through November 5, 2024 (Election Day).听听In the summer of 2024, The Great American Punchline tour brought people together to play, laugh (and register to vote!) in a live comedy show and interactive experience with comedians Negin Farsad, Chris Gethard, Dylan Adler, Corey Ryan Forrester, Ali Sultan, Maggie Crane, and Yasmin Elhady as they shared funny stories about America and taught us about finding human connections through humor. In this five-city tour adapted from the show鈥檚听Kennedy Center premiere in 2023, the tour traveled to communities across the country.听

And the, co-created with Generation 180, won an Anthem Award (Gold) in Sustainability, Environment & Climate Special Projects under the Awareness & Media Categories. The Anthem Awards celebrate purpose & mission-driven work from people, companies and organizations worldwide.听听

In 2024, CMSI debuted its latest largescale production initiative: a new podcast in partnership with the Peabody Awards, the oldest award in U.S. broadcasting media. Produced and distributed in partnership with award-winning audio production group PRX, explores how the minds behind critically-acclaimed TV shows are re-imagining the world. From intimate interviews with award-winning TV creatives to real talk with experts and civic leaders, the podcast explores inner-workings and cultural relevance of听entertainment TV that is shaping our future. The new season kicked off in February, 2025, featuring interviews with celebrated TV showrunner Bill Lawrence (Scrubs, Shrinking) and writer/actor Brett Goldstein (Ted Lasso, Shrinking). Past guests include famed book author Judy Blume; Bluey creator Joe Brumm; the executive producer and star of Abbott Elementary, Quinta Brunson; executive producer and star of Ramy, Ramy Youssef, and more. 听

Research Supported Impact听

What鈥檚 the secret sauce that has allowed CMSI to develop such loyal support from foundations, comedians, and human rights groups alike? Borum says that it is CMSI鈥檚 鈥淭hink and Do鈥� approach to its work. As an academic center and a creative innovation lab at the heart of 海角换妻鈥檚 School of Communication, CMSI is constantly evaluating not only the impact of its own programs, but also the efforts of other entertainment and comedy creators, documentary filmmakers, and participatory storytellers in a quest to figure out how the interplay of civic life and our culture works and how it can be used to elevate social justice and greater understanding.听CMSI also maintains an ethos of 鈥渃ivic imagination,鈥� says Professor Borum, which 鈥渁llows us to always center the idea that we can work toward a world we would like to see, but first we have to imagine what it looks and feels like. Media and culture are the most powerful forces for shaping our realities, and working within this space is听a crucial part of building听civic imagination.鈥� 听

The , which is overseen by Borum and led by research director David Conrad-P茅rez, focuses on the intersection of journalism, social justice, community organizing, and media history. Conrad- P茅rez joined CMSI as a post-doctoral fellow in 2018 and has since produced award-winning research on how civic work and engagement is portrayed in American television programming; participatory, community-centered documentary filmmaking; documentaries in the age of streaming and the representation of homeless people on US television. Additionally, the center issues reports related to all its ongoing and initiatives.听A forthcoming book from Borum and听Conrad- P茅rez听spotlights much of their CMSI research over the past several years: will be published by听Oxford University Press in April 2025. 听