Lang Center Announces Engaged Humanities Studio Fellows, Community Partners
The Lang Center for Civic & Social Responsibility is pleased to announce the 2024-2025 cohort of Engaged Humanities Studio Fellows: Giovanna Di Chiro, Donna Jo Napoli, Sony Devabhaktuni, and Cheng-Yen (Billy) Wu ’26.
In close collaboration with community partners, each fellow will embark on a 12- to 18-month project that addresses a contemporary issue through the arts and humanities. Read more about the Engaged Humanities Studio, spearheaded by Lang Center Senior Associate Director Katie Price.
To follow are snapshots of the fellows and their projects.
The Chester Justice Digital Collection: Chronicling Community Resilience
Reverend Hilda Campbell helps Chester children with "dream pillows": Kids were asked to write down their hopes for the future on pieces of paper, which were then sewed inside of pillows.
Giovanna Di Chiro, professor of environmental studies and coordinator of the Environmental Justice and Community Resilience Program of the Lang Center; with Christopher Mele, professor of sociology and adjunct professor of geography at the University of Buffalo; Barbara Muhammad, Chester community activist; Reverend Hilda Campbell, Chester community activist; Twyla Simpkins, founder and director of the YES Center; and Zulene Mayfield, chairperson for Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living (CRCQL).
The Chester Justice Digital Collection: Chronicling Community Resilience is a collaborative initiative to build a digital repository for state-of-the-art collecting, storing, and sharing of local stories, oral histories, and critical social media content centered on and created by grassroots organizations in Chester, Pa. The collection will serve both as a practical asset to document social and environmental justice projects in Chester and as a knowledge resource for critical humanities education and scholarship at Swarthmore College and beyond.
Circling the Deaf World with Sparkles
From left: Jiho Shin ’25, Joey Driscoll ’26, and Genine Collins ’27 at the set up for the RISE festival at the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf.
Donna Jo Napoli, professor of linguistics and social justice; with Ian Sanborn, storysigner; and the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf (PSD)
Bimodal-bilingual videobooks give deaf children pre-literacy skills and offer a joyful way for families to share sign eloquence. This year, Sanborn, world-renowned deaf storyteller, will give presentations and workshops at the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf so students from PSD and Swarthmore can continue explorations in storytelling creativity, leading deaf schools around the globe in best practices to promote individual growth and social justice.
Chester City Walks
The Chester City Walks project comprises four one-hour walks led by a different Chester community member, followed by a shared meal.
Sony Devabhaktuni, assistant professor of art, with Indigo Mills
The Chester City Walks project comprises four one-hour walks led by a different Chester community member, followed by a shared meal. The project focuses on relationship-building and knowledge-sharing that will lead to a collaborative urban design studio on the civic realm in Chester.
Navigating Nearby: A Multidirectional Learning Experience in Philadelphia Chinatown
Cheng-Yen (Billy) Wu ’26, peace & conflict studies major from Suzhou, China; with Asian Americans United
Through a short documentary, Navigating Nearby invites us into the life of Chinatown elders, a community that’s often unheard due to language barriers, and shares their life stories of how they navigate their nearby and build community. The project centers lived experiences and seeks to reinvigorate what builds community.
