First-Gen Stories: A Web Series
- Bethany Monea
- Graduate School of Education
- Student Arts Innovation Grant
"...rather than doing research ON youth ABOUT their media-making practices, I plan to do research WITH youth and THROUGH their media-making practices.” - Bethany Monea (Screenshot taken from the snapchat group formed by the eight students and Monea, as part of this project)
Bethany Monea, in collaboration with a group of eight first-gen-to-college Latina young women, will produce a web series documenting their experiences as they graduate high school and begin college. The web series will be created over the course of 12–18 months, beginning in the students’ senior year of high school (spring 2020) and concluding during their first year of college (2020/21). During this time, Monea will facilitate the students’ creation of vlog-style episodes covering topics such as college decision making, senior-year milestones, Latinx identity, and how the COVID-19 crisis has disrupted their college transition process. This participatory film-making project, which is part of Monea’s dissertation research, exemplifies her commitment to using the arts to expand access to the production and dissemination of academic research. She plans to submit the web series to both academic conferences and film and media festivals, not only to amplify first-gen Latina students’ experiences and media-making practices but also to demonstrate the methodological potential of merging social-scientific research and participatory film-making.