Next West Media Lab – Just Futures Institute

In Partnership with Whitman College

Next West Media Lab is an intensive, experiential learning program, focusing on gathering and sharing the stories of voices less often heard in the rural, eastern portions of Washington and Oregon on issues relating to land, water, and climate justice.

After a spring semester seminar focusing on the legacies of manifest destiny, racism, and cultural exclusion, students and faculty take to the field to meet people who are confronting these legacies and envisioning more just futures for the region. For example, will listen to the stories of tribal leaders, frontline workers in environmental health, land rights activists, and climate activists. Threading these stories into the present, we aim to unsettle established narratives about rural spaces and highlight pockets of rural resistance and renewal that will be the seeds of the Next West, a place of increasing diversity and importance to climate mitigation and justice.

As a final project, students will work in teams to produce and publish an original podcast, bringing the stories we encounter to a wider audience. Students have the opportunity to develop and hone digital storytelling skills, including narrative development, audio podcast production, and digital photography.

The program has two co-requisites. Prior to the summer intensive field experience, students admitted to the program enroll in the 1-credit seminar in the spring, followed by a 3-credit summer experience, roughly two weeks in May and two weeks in June. Admission to the program is limited to 14 students and may be competitive. The Spring/Summer 2022 and Spring/Summer 2023 programs are tuition-free for students.

January 2024 update: This project is now finished and applications closed. Please view the final projects below: