MTV’s ‘Ignite’ debuting at BU

The Center for Global Health and Development invited MTV’s Staying Alive Foundation to come to Boston University Thursday and Friday to promote its new campaign “Ignite,” which aims to spread HIV/AIDS awareness.

According to the Ignite website, the campaign hopes not only to spread awareness but also to target young adults interested in changing their lifestyle. At the core of the campaign are three locally filmed drama series set in Kenya, Ukraine and Trinidad and Tobago.

On Thursday the Staying Alive campaign will screen the second episode of “Shuga,” a series set in Kenya. The first screening will be on the medical campus from 5 to 7 p.m., and the second screening will follow at 7:30 at the College of General Studies.

“The episode that we’re showing is a really pivotal episode because it’s when they really start talking about knowing your status and getting tested,” said Corrie Haley, the department of international health department program assistant in the School of Public Health. “It’s about college-age Kenyans getting tested and talking about it.”

Each screening will be accompanied by a panel featuring Donald Thea, a SPH professor and an expert on HIV transmission, Lupita Nyong’o a Kenyan actress in the episode, and Georgia Arnold, the senior vice president of social responsibility for MTV International.

“We wanted to drive conversation, and although it’s a large venue, we’re going to set it up so people can ask questions,” Haley said.

Arnold will also hold an open interview on Friday at 2:15 to 3 p.m. at the BU Pub, and Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore will hold a discussion at the Howard Thurman Center at 3 p.m. on Friday.

Unlike other HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns held on campus, “Ignite” is backed by a major corporation and takes a more dramatic stance on the issue, Haley said.

“I think that they’re taking a different approach. The drama that they’ve created is not your run-of-the-mill show,” Haley said. “It’s provocative. It shows somewhat realistically how young adults party and how they make decisions, and how sometimes these decisions are not well thought out and they have consequences.”

By filming drama series in three different locations across the world, the “Ignite” campaign is hoping to connect with young adults everywhere, according to the campaign’s website. The people in the films could be people that you meet everyday, your friends or family.

“Obviously there are major differences, but all in all they’re twenty-something year old young adults who are middle class, and they are at a university and exposed to most of the similar things that any undergrad student is exposed to,” Haley said. “They’re drinking and participating in risky behaviors, having sex, and although the context is different, it can translate across the board.”