Portland, Oregon, July 1st, 2008–– If Ira Glass and Michael Moore were college students again, they may have spent their summers at a summer camp like the one hosted by the Northwest Institute for Social Change. Each summer the Northwest Institute for Social Change turns Portland into a classroom and laboratory for a group of top-notch students from schools like Princeton, Macalester, Brown and Reed as they learn about using media as a tool to bring about positive social change. As Executive Director Phil Busse jokes, “We are creating an anti-Karl Rove army.”

Part academic bootcamp, part hands-on training, the program pairs a rigorous academic schedule with guidance from media and political players. Nationally recognized filmmakers like Robert Greenwald (”Outfoxed”) and Dennis Fitzgerald (producer of The Shins music videos) mentor the students in producing short video documentaries and local NPR producers coach students on creating effective audio pieces. As well, politicians like the newly-elected mayor of Portland, Sam Adams, and Senator Ron Wyden’s chief of staff teach seminars about the how media affects their decision-making.

Mark Saldaña, a current Fellow in the program says, “The task of articulating a moment–– one of social and political tangles, immense optimism and crushing pessimism–– becomes a lot easier when you simply trust your voice. The Institute is a place to speak, to sing, to scream. That we’re all in this together, is what it keeps coming back to.”

This year, each student will create one audio and one video project that documents a local solution that Portland is implementing to address national problems like immigration, affordable housing and global warming. Students are awarded full-ride fellowships and can earn a semesters’ worth of credit through a partnership with the University of Oregon’s Turnbull Center.

Final presentations will be hosted on Wednesday, August 13 at the University of Oregon White Stag Building in downtown Portland.

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