Journalism + Design at The New School invites community college faculty and staff to self-nominate for the Community College Civic Info Challenge, a new initiative to grow creative civic information projects in collaboration with community colleges across the South. The program is supported by the Lumina Foundation as part of Press Forward, a national movement to strengthen communities through better local news and information.
We’re asking community college faculty and staff in the South to pitch their boldest answers to the question: “how might my campus equip more people to get, share, and discuss reliable information about what’s happening in the places where they live?” 5-8 winning applicants will receive recognition from Journalism + Design and Lumina; an all-expenses-paid trip to a two-day, in-person major summit in the South in fall 2025; and a chance to participate in a J+D-supported community journalism program design process in 2025-26.
The Challenge is open to full-time, part-time, and adjunct faculty and staff from community colleges located in the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. A number of our past programs have been led/co-led by historians and we highly encourage humanities faculty to apply.
To learn more and apply for the opportunity, visit our program page. We recognize that community college faculty and staff are often juggling many responsibilities, so the application is brief and flexible. The application deadline is Friday, May 16 at 11:59 am ET.
Questions may be directed to Valerie Popp, PhD at poppv@newschool.edu.
About Us: Journalism + Design works alongside community colleges to build tools, pathways, and opportunities that enable more people to produce and distribute reliable news and information. From rural New Jerseyans who connect senior citizens with local resources via Facebook pages to community journalists in Cleveland who identify community needs and priorities around local elections through interviews with their neighbors, the people who participate in our community college-based programs commit valuable acts of journalism every day. Visit: https://journalismdesign.com/our-work/community-news-networks/.