Jihii Jolly
I see journalism as a practice that can be applied to a range of work: audio, video, text, teaching, design, community engagement, conversation, and, perhaps most importantly, life. I’m currently applying that practice to navigating life with a tiny human through a series of constellations. I also write a newsletter.
Below are some questions I have been interested in and work I’ve done to explore them.
I’m always open to new experiments, collaboration or just talking about shared interests. You can contact me here.
How can we better understand and value women’s labor?
I became interested in this question as a journalist covering women’s advancement in the global south at News Deeply (see links). Over time, reflecting on my own acculturation as a South Asian American woman, stories that felt far away started to hit closer to home. I began craving a more macro-level understanding of feminist economics. Thus, I joined the International Association for Feminist Economics, ostensibly as a steward for their community, where I was the first director of engagement and helped produce many events, but really to educate myself about the important questions these researchers and advocates were asking. I’m now living through the micro-level understanding of this question as a new parent and full-time care worker.
Reporting:
How Time Use Surveys Can Put a Value on Women’s Work
The Bohra Women Fighting to End Female Genital Cutting in India
Journalists Challenge Syrian Media to Improve Gender Coverage in War
Expert Views: The Future of Women’s Leadership in Africa
When Girls Get Strong: The Kung Fu Nuns Who Teach Self-Defense
One Day, Three Women: A WhatsApp Story About Work and Equality
How can we nuance our understanding of each other through storytelling?
As a reader and producer, I’m most compelled by stories that interrogate identity, particularly those about people who seem so different from us, or hold such different beliefs, that humanism becomes hard to reach for. I think we can always find a way in. One angle is by understanding where people’s passions come from. I adore stories about people who have very specific or unique interests and how they came to be. This interest has led me to experiment with storytelling across mediums, as well as reflect on and teach about what generates empathy.
Events:
The Power of the Storyteller in Public and Private Spaces (undergraduate workshop)
What happens when you combine dance and journalism? (live show)
Stories:
When Doctors Write the Story (The Juggernaut)
Looking for Love in One of the World’s Tiniest Religions (The Atlantic)
Beauty is Bone Deep (Short Film)
A Gun Lover’s Vacation (Narratively)
God Loves Vivek (Lambda Literary)