MISI and Boston University’s College of Arts and Sciences hosted “Community Voices: Building Stronger Partnerships Between Academia and Community”
Last Friday, MISI and Boston University’s College of Arts and Sciences hosted “Community Voices: Building Stronger Partnerships Between Academia and Community” at the Howard Thurman Center. Chaplain Clementina Chéry, the founder, President, and CEO of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute; Dr. Peter Masiakos, a Harvard professor and director of pediatric trauma surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital; and Eric Gordon, Director of MISI; sat down together to discuss the importance of genuine community engagement in universities and hospitals, and the challenge of turning research into usable resources for community. Reflecting on their partnership in building the initiative, Transforming Narratives of Gun Violence (TNGV), the conversation challenged the siloed dynamic between medical, academic, and community institutions by centering stories, collaboration, and people. “When conversations change, we change,” said Dr. Masiakos. The initiative was championed as a starting point for investing in families and communities. “We’re training, educating, and putting the emphasis on the solution,” said Chéry.
Resources:
- The Survivors’ Burial and Resource Guide
- The New England Journal of Medicine: Transforming Narratives of Gun Violence
- Taylor & Francis Online: Collaborative critical making in higher education: a case study of a community-centred storytelling effort to transform harmful narratives of gun violence in Boston
- The New England Journal of Medicine: The Quiet Room
- The New England Journal of Medicine: #ThisIsOurLane — Firearm Safety as Health Care’s Highway
- TNGV: Quiet Rooms
- TNGV: Quiet Room Redesign
If you missed it in last month’s newsletter, check out BU student Anna Baker-Butler’s experience as a peace fellow at the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute.