Juanie Walker and Jacob Walker to Present Case Study on Amazima Ministries

Juanie Walker, Seaver College associate professor of communication, and Jacob Walker, Seaver College religion student, will present their collaborative and interdisciplinary paper, “Constitutive Communication at Amazima: Pursuing Truth & Breaking Double Binds,” at the Western States Communication Association on February 22 in Denver, Colorado. The case study was inspired from Jacob’s experience working at Amazima Ministries, a Ugandan ministry organization and school.

In January 2018, Jacob Walker began a five month internship at Amazima’s site in Uganda with an interest in the often unseen ramifications of Western organizations attempting to help. Between his time co-teaching and co-leading bible studies, a basketball team, and a photography club for students, he built meaningful relationships with Amazima students, staff members, and founding leaders. He was struck by the unique reciprocal partnership Amazima had with the Ugandan government that has allowed the organization to root itself in cultural values while also flourish in providing people with education and resources to challenge poverty.

“The exciting thing about this research on Amazima is, even though organization still struggles with paradoxes of power, it sees the moral imperative to break unjust ‘double binds,’ and it is intentional in supporting Ugandans within the culture and pre-existing systems,” shared Jacob Walker.

Upon Jacob Walker’s return, Juanie Walker began collaborating to connect his experiences and participant interviews to communication theory. For over a year the two collected and analyzed interview transcriptions and artifacts for evidence of constitutive communication that breaks double binds. After their presentation at WSCA, they hope to submit the case study for publication.

For more information on the conference, visit the WSCA website.