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Student Research

Being a new parent can be tough, with a lot of sleepless nights. And although the CDC provides written guidelines to try to help, finding time and energy to review them is likely a nonstarter. And lists of tips aren’t always the best way to convey parenting advice in an accessible way.

That’s where “Positive Parenting Fables” comes in. The interdisciplinary project, funded by the Pabst Steinmetz Foundation Arts & Wellness Innovation Awards, aims to simplify things for new parents by translating these guidelines into animated fables, covering topics like the importance of getting your child vaccinated, dealing with postpartum depression and managing children’s screen time on electronic devices. It’s a collaboration between Dr. Kimberly Renk, director of UCF’s Understanding Children and Families Lab, and Dr. Tyler Fisher ’02 ’03, associate professor of modern languages and literatures, as principal investigators. Cheryl Briggs, associate professor of emerging media, directed the animations.

And the project has been gaining major attention of late. At the Winter 2020 Southern Shorts Awards, a seasonal short film competition held at the Aurora Cineplex in Roswell, Georgia, “Positive Parenting Fables” was honored with multiple recognitions, including an award of merit and as the best overall animation submitted. In addition, Sean Glatch, an English major, and Zeynep Elshaer, a biomedical sciences and Spanish double major, were recognized with an “Award of Excellence” for their screenwriting work (view Elshaer’s Instagram takeover documenting her experience).

“The award we received was wholly out-of-the-blue, but definitely a nice recognition of the work we put in,” Glatch said.

“This means our project is seen by industry professionals to be festival-worthy, and our efforts have been well-received by the animation and film industries,” added Dr. Briggs.

Glatch and Elshaer prepared for their screenwriting work by studying the structure of fables and examples of the form, as well as Zora Neale Hurston’s ethnographies of Florida, Haiti and the Caribbean.

“The students’ goal was to capture key qualities of a traditional folktale, featuring settings and animal characters native to our region, and to remain faithful to regional traditions without reflecting any one particular culture disproportionately,” said Dr. Fisher.

A primary goal of the project is to better reach Central Florida’s minority communities, who may not have optimal access to health information for young children. In addition to English, the animated videos have been translated into Spanish and Haitian Creole. And Nemours Children’s Health Alliance, a statewide network of primary care physicians, has requested that the videos be translated into Modern Standard Arabic and Mandarin as well.

Because fables can convey important lessons in a succinct and easy-to-visualize way, they’re ideal for imparting wisdom across cultural and language barriers. On YouTube, the animated fables have already accumulated more than a thousand views, including in far-away countries like the Philippines and Syria.

And being recognized at the Southern Shorts Awards means more exposure for this important work, Elshaer said.

“It gave me confidence that the stories will be able to truly reach the target communities and have a positive impact on the health of the Central Florida population.”