While most people might associate bartering with early civilizations, a new social project is using the same ideas to foster an exchange of skills between Syracuse University students and residents of the Near West Side.

Barter Day will take place on April 5 at 601 Tully: Center for Engaged Art and Research. The event is part of CampusNeighbor, a project that Gabriel Mugar, a doctoral candidate in the School of Information Studies, started after being a finalist in SU’s Raymond von Dran IDEA competition in 2012. Mugar said this secured him a spot in the Syracuse Student Sandbox, which aids student entrepreneurs.

CampusNeighbor’s website allows students and residents to create a profile which lists the skills they have, as well as skills they want to learn, Mugar said.  The website then matches up students and residents, allowing them to exchange talents and ideas, he added.

Mugar said the Barter Day event gives a chance for these pairs to meet up and work out their trades.

Some examples of services given by the CampusNeighbor website include music and art lessons, tutoring, computer tips and family recipes.  Although the event focuses mainly on skills, objects of personal significance could also be traded, Mugar said.

Mugar said a Gallup-Knight Foundation report inspired him to start CampusNeighbor. According to the report, titled “Knight Soul of the Community,” cities with residents who had pride in their communities had a higher gross domestic product.

“A great way to get people to feel good about where they live and to connect with people around them is to get them to interact with each other in such ways that build trust,” Mugar said. “One way to do that is bartering.”

CampusNeighbor is itself part of a 601 Tully exhibition called “Getting to Know You: Artists Explore Authentic Connections in the Digital Age,” said Jillian Nakornthap, the exhibit’s curator. The exhibit explores how people connect with and without the Internet, especially as young adults move away from using Facebook and onto other sites, she added.

Nakornthap said she and Mugar met last fall to discuss including CampusNeighbor in the exhibit.

“I think it’s a great way to try to break down that town and gown divide that you see so often in so many university towns,” Nakornthap said.

In addition to the event, Barter Day will also feature an exhibit with visual and audio elements, Mugar said.  Anda French, an assistant professor in the School of Architecture, designed a computer installation that is part of the exhibit.  Visitors can use the computer installation to record themselves explaining the skills they possess and those they desire to have, Mugar said.

Syeisha Byrd, Hendricks Chapel’s director of engagement programs, said residents and students have a lot to share with one another in this bartering event.

“A lot of people just assume that students don’t want to come down there, or residents don’t have anything to share, when they have a wealth of knowledge of skills that they could give back to students, and vice versa,” Byrd said.

Byrd, who grew up on the Lower West Side of Syracuse, said she often didn’t have the opportunity to pursue skills that could now be taught through bartering.

In the future, Mugar hopes to expand CampusNeighbor to include different groups in Syracuse. He said he is working with the Community Folk Art Center, the Tech Garden and other local organizations to establish future sites where people could barter on their own time.

“People are not just going to be the recipients of something,” he said. “It’s about creating a real strong relationship, and it’s a way to get to know the surrounding community too.”

Published on April 2, 2014 at 11:57 pm

Contact Zach: zdschwei@syr.edu