Collaboration and shared leadership help us to effectively work alongside others and reflect on collective work as a whole. The skills that are learned through these shared projects are vital to understanding how people think critically and manage group engagements outside of an educational setting. These collaborations may be difficult tasks to navigate, however, the skills developed through these connections have helped me to make collective decisions, become a practical mediator, and reflect on collaboration progress.

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The first artifact chosen for this portfolio is “Brochure: STI Stigma and Testing”, from the course BIS 316: Topics in Psychology. This project is a collaborative brochure that speaks to the stigmas, issues, and information surrounding sexually transmitted infections. The brochure was intended to provide reliable, safe, and judgment-free information regarding these topics mentioned above, especially on our UW Bothell campus. Since there were several of us in this group collaboration, I had to develop skills of communication and listening in order to incorporate the ideas of my colleagues with the ideas of my own. I learned how to mediate any conflict in a respectful and efficient manner so that everyone felt they were on the same page regarding the progress of this project. For example, since each group member had a busy schedule outside of class, I had to mediate conversations between my peers to make sure everyone was up to date on any aspect of the project they may have missed. This group collaboration was one of the most rewarding projects I have done throughout my time at UWB because it allowed me to learn how to work with others and create an artifact that could be helpful to others outside of the classroom experience.

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The second artifact for the goals of this portfolio is “Research Cluster: Gun Violence”, from the course BIS 313: Issues in Media Studies. This project asked students to generate a research paper that spoke to a particular issue within media studies through a human rights lens. Within the requirements, we had to accurately portray the specific issue of gun violence through compelling information and arguments in order to spark empathy from a given reader. Along with three other group mates, we had to navigate how to create this cohesive paper in a way that would use all of our voices. In order to do so, we assigned roles and sections to each member of the group to ensure that each writer’s voice could be established within the paper. Group papers can be hard to collaborate through, but this project helped me to develop the skills of shared leadership by helping me to generate collective decisions for the greater good of the assignment.

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Both of the artifacts mentioned above are strong examples of how I was able to develop the goals and skills of collaboration and shared leadership within the School of IAS. These skills help us to communicate, share ideas, and efficiently work with others within the school setting and outside.