Engaging “Others” in Civic Engagement through Ethnography of Communication

Abstract

This essay explains how ethnography of communication informed a model of public participation designed to engage underserved populations in culturally sensitive deliberative discussions. Community college students successfully served as coresearchers to pilot test and assess the effectiveness of a community-service learning model of civic engagement research.

Keywords:

• Ethnography of Communication
• Public Participation
• Transportation
• Community
• Deliberation
• Service Learning
• Civic Engagement

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rebecca M. Townsend

Rebecca M. Townsend (PhD, University of Massachusetts Amherst) is an Associate Professor in the Communication Department at Manchester Community College. Research was supported by a cooperative agreement from the US Federal Transit Administration's Public Transportation Participation Pilot Program (#CT-26-1000)