For Dr. Jin-Kyu Jung, the idea of community and its representation lies at the heart of his research into urban planning and mapping. As a professor in the University of Washington Bothell’s School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, Jung also brings this concept into the classroom.
“I define community engagement as a practice of teaching, learning and research with community, not to or on them,” he said. “Students’ knowledge in the classroom can be fruitful when it is connected to real-world examples and experiences, and it is most beneficial when their knowledge production is also valuable for the communities they are working with.”
For his important work in this area, Jung was recently recognized as UW Bothell’s 2024 Outstanding Community-Engaged Scholar.
The award, created in 2020, recognizes impactful community-engaged scholarship by faculty who collaborate across institutions of higher education and the broader community. The annual awardee is selected for work that engages community partners in a mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources.
Visualizing inequality
Jung believes community isn’t just a topic of study. It is also a place to find essential partnerships to support a shared body of work.
As an urban geographer and planner, he incorporates geographic information systems into his research as a tool to capture a new perspective on issues of social and spatial inequalities — such as his recent work exploring a digital gap in food access and equity in Seattle.
Jung relies on partnerships that help facilitate data collection directly from the communities he seeks to examine, noting that through this process, a shared ownership is created between his fellow researchers and the communities with which he engages.
“My career-long goal of building a community-centered philosophy and participatory and critical GIS inherently holds the core value of ‘reciprocity’ involving the generation of knowledge as a ‘process’ of co-creation,” Jung said. “There should be no distinctive line between the consumers and producers of knowledge, as well as the researchers and community members.”
In his classes, Jung incorporates opportunities for students to work with local community partners on a variety of urban concepts and contemporary issues — such as gentrification, displacement and housing affordability.
Students in his winter 2023 quarter Practicum in Policy Studies course, for example, worked with the city of Lynnwood on several social justice initiatives. They analyzed results from a 2021 equity survey of more than 800 residents and organized a “world café” event where more than 100 people of varying backgrounds came together to share their concerns.
This engagement provided both students and community partners with an opportunity to explore different social policy issues through direct contact and service.
Illustrating a need
Another important recurring partner in Jung’s classes is the Latino Educational Training Institute. A nonprofit organization based in Lynnwood, Washington, LETI is dedicated to strengthening relationships between Latinos and the wider Lynnwood community.
In one project, students used Google My Maps to visualize data collected through their collaboration with LETI to provide a deeper understanding of the community’s needs and how underrepresented communities are marginalized from necessary services.
“Participatory community mapping starts with a conversation with local residents,” Jung said. “The visualized community knowledge is a mixture of experiences, feelings, and social, cultural, political and ethnic understanding of their neighborhoods and communities, often with their future preferences.
“Our work made marginalized people more visible through mapping,” he said, “and showing where needs aren’t being met on the map illustrated the most important points for volunteer opportunities.”
This work also involves students getting out into the community to collect data, gathering notes, photos, and audio and video recordings at relevant sites.
By including partnerships such as LETI in his classes, Jung said, he hopes his students learn an essential framework for sustainable and reciprocal community engagement. But the benefits of these relationships are felt far beyond the classroom, he added.
“Community engagement between the university and LETI is important for the opportunity to support the community in different ways,” said Marisol Bejarano, director of health & wellness at LETI and a 2020 Health Studies alumna. “LETI is able to share its knowledge about engaging with the Latino community and give students the opportunity to gain on-the-ground experience, while the university is able to offer us theory, methodology and a structure for our needs as an organization that often struggles with capacity.”
One of the highlights of integrating community engagement into his teaching, Jung said, is the opportunity to see his students graduate and become future community partners.
Coming full circle
“To me, the important lesson these inspiring alumni and these new partnerships can bring is how the experience in college — in particular through interdisciplinary and engaged learning and research — can lead to community and student careers,” he said.
Josh Mueller, a 2018 Law, Economics & Public Policy alumnus who now serves as the senior transportation strategist for the city of Redmond, Washington, recalls his experience in Jung’s Geographic Data Visualization course in 2018.
“We learned to identify community issues and develop real-world solutions through geographic analysis,” he said. “This skill has become essential in my job, as it helps inform our community and supports our mayor and city council in the decision-making process.”
Mueller said the skills he gained from the class have also sharpened his ability to craft compelling narratives for grant applications that are crucial for securing funding for capital projects to enhance safety and livability for the Redmond community.
In 2022, Mueller found himself on the other side of the partner relationship when he served as Redmond’s liaison to Jung’s Mapping Communities course project. In this project, students created dynamic and interactive maps, including “storymaps.” They also offered suggestions for transit-oriented development around Sound Transit’s Light Rail Link.
“It was quite special to work with someone who was once a student of my class and who jumped at the opportunity to help facilitate this new partnership between my class and the city of Redmond,” Jung said.
Engaging with the University offers real-world experience and skill development for students, Mueller said, as well as integral relationship building that has a mutually beneficial community impact.
“This engagement ultimately enriches both the educational experience and the community, creating a sustainable partnership that benefits everyone involved,” he said. “Additionally, this experience serves as a guide for students who may be interested in pursuing careers in government and offers insight into working within a city organization.”
“We learned to identify community issues and develop real-world solutions through geographic analysis. This skill has become essential in my job.”
Josh Mueller, senior transportation strategist, city of Redmond
Teaching engaged citizens
With an interdisciplinary approach to his courses, Jung said these opportunities to engage with the community are relevant no matter what a student’s major or career path.
“Students begin to see themselves as participants in the larger public culture of democracy and explore different social policy and planning issues through direct engagement with local communities,” Jung said. “Like any relationship or partnership, it’s important to understand how we sustain it and keep it going, even after they graduate.
“I think students understand that, wherever they are, we are all eventually part of the community and all have the opportunity to be part of that society as a more engaged citizen.”
Jung added that he plans to continue growing the number and variety of partners he brings into the classroom and into his own research. He feels fortunate to have this work supported at an institutional level.
“I am so grateful that I am in a publicly engaged institution that strategically continues to make efforts to expand the scale and scope of community-engaged learning and research.”
