...continue reading "Conversations: Community Based Participatory Research and the IRB Review"
Campus Compact has released the inaugural issue of its Common Cause series on public service. In this issue, the authors discuss why public service is a critical focus and need for our country. Read more here.
The PAGE Fellows Program invites graduate students to participate in a yearlong working group in support of collaborative art-making, teaching, writing, storytelling, and co-creating knowledge with and within community. Apply here ...continue reading "Share With Students: PAGE Fellowship Application Deadline Approaching"
Guest editors: Patrick M. Green and Susan Haarman, Loyola University Chicago
Metropolitan Universities journal accepts manuscripts on an ongoing basis on scholarship and research relevant to our urban and metropolitan campuses and communities. Review our Aims and Scope for more information. Submit Complete Manuscript
Guest editors: Matthew Durington, Towson University; Katherine Feely, John Carroll University; and Jen Britton, Drexel University
Complete manuscripts due: August 1
The Coalition for Urban and Metropolitan Universities has released a new publication on "The Development of the Community Impact Feedback Questionnaire for Service-Learning: A Delphi Study". Read the article here. ...continue reading "Good Reads: “The Development of the Community Impact Feedback Questionnaire for Service Learning”"
Thursday, March 2, 5-6pm
Zoom link: https://gwu-edu.zoom.us/s/95921677157
Community Engaged Scholarship Panel, Hosted by the Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service. This is a great opportunity to more deeply understand how students make meaning of their service-learning experiences, adding complexity and quality to their research and writing. Panel moderated by Wendy Wagner, Director of Community Engaged Scholarship at the Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service.
Both student panelists were enrolled in Phyllis Ryder's, UW 1020: Writing for Social Change in Washington, DC
Student Panelists
Sneha Srivatsa
"Power Structures and the Ability of Nonprofits to Initiate Policy Change"
Srivatsa served with Miriam’s Kitchen.
Taytum Valentine Wymer
"In Decadence and Decay: The Capitalist and Colonial Logics of Homelessness in Post-Industrial Washington DC"
Wymer served with Ward 2 Mutual Aid.
...continue reading "GW University Writing Conference: Student Panel on Community Engaged Writing"
Sponsored by LEAD California, IARSLCE (International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement) and Imagining America, the Dissertation Dish webinar series spotlights research in the community engagement field. This webinar is on Organization Development for an Engaged Campus: Assessing Narratives and Architecture to Direct Future Change. Click here to watch.
Dr. Michelle Kelso, recipient of the 2022 Nashman Center Community Engaged Teaching Award, has many years of experience engaging her students in the community. Her own scholarship has focused on EU migration and the fate of the Roma during the Holocaust in Romania. She recently co-authored an article on Medium on the impacts of volunteer networks in Ukraine. Read the article here
The Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities has two research fellowship applications open until November 28th for 2022-2023. Collaboratory Research Fellow Application. Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia Research Fellow. The fellowships are open to students and faculty.
GWupstart is GW's central hub for social innovation training, mentoring and funding. Deadline for grant applications is November 14th 2022. GWupstart builds on GW’s strength as an institution that fosters the next generation of citizen leaders. Approximately $75,000 in funding is available every year. In addition, we provide mentorship and support to students to turn their ideas into practical action that makes a measurable, sustained difference. Apply today
Award: 1st Place, Nashman Center Prize for Community Engaged Research, 2022
Project: Key Recommendations for Higher Education Institutions to Provide Non-Financial Support to Refugee-Background Students
At the annual GW Research Showcase in spring 2022, research team Olivia Issa, Emmanuelle Dyer Melhado, and Sara Alassaf presented their research, which grounded a larger project, the Welcoming Campus Initiative. This grassroots program advocates for a more inclusive GW community for refugee-background students including a scholarship, mentorship program, and revised admissions practices.
The program was initially developed by No Lost Generation GWU (NLG) members in collaboration with refugee-background students on campus and the Student Voices for Refugees Network. Olivia Issa studied Political Science and Arabic Language at GW and helped lead refugee-advocacy groups before graduating.
This program has expanded through conversations with numerous other universities and organizations across the country, outlining proposals at schools like Georgetown University and George Mason University to start their own Welcoming Campus Initiative. The Welcoming Campus Initiative Committee is planning to continue further programming, including fundraising events and awareness projects geared to make GW an inclusive space for all.
Read more about the initiative here. Read more about the research project here.
“We worked with students internationally, including refugee-background students themselves, to interview practitioners and student recipients of college-access programs for refugees in the US, Mexico, and Canada through Student Voices for Refugees,” Issa said.
The purpose of this study was to both acknowledge the barriers sitting at the forefront for refugee-background students and bring forth recommendations to the higher education institutions to better connect these students to resources. Two categories of non-financial student assistance emerge from their research: revising admissions practices, like accepting Duolingo English tests in addition to TOEFL scores, and developing pre-arrival and on-campus mentorship programs. After realizing GW was a vital component in assuring her goals come to fruition, Issa began the Welcome Campus Initiative project to help make "life-changing education" happen.
Outlined below are some key components from Issa's research:
| Community Partnership | Recommendations for GW and other higher education schools |
| Project by the University Alliance for Refugees and At-Risk Migrants: Student Voices for Refugees | Switching out standardized test requirements for low-cost English proficiency exams that schools are beginning to accept |
| Volunteers created toolkits for refugee-background students through scholarships and mentorship programs | Implementing an alumni mentorship networking program modeled after World University Services Canada |
| Olivia Issa spearheaded practitioner-student interviews with those involved in college-access programs | Adding pre-entrance language programs and volunteer-led English tutoring like Proyecto Habesha and GirlForward |
Award: Second Place for Nashman Center Community Engaged Research
Project: Making Work Work: Improving Employment Outcomes for Autistic Adults
Adam Berman, an autistic man, noticed that available research on autistic adults does not adequately collect the voices of other autistic adults when discussing satisfactory employment outcomes. Berman explored beyond the typical terms of wages and hours worked, which are important factors of employment quality but they do not grasp what satisfactory employment is to autistic adults.
With authentic, purposeful research, he made sure to include the opinions of other autistic adults through a mix of interviews and surveys. He asked questions regarding how the world of work has treated them and how their autism impacted employment outcomes. The results of these interviews suggest that systemic change to the world of employment must be made in order to better include autistic adults.
Read more about the project here.
The findings propose a new framework for how self-determination can positively impact autistic adults' employment prospects. Berman found that autistic people are often unemployed, work fewer hours and earn less money than neurotypical peers with other disabilities. Autistic people also struggle to determine their career paths and are directed by others into undesired careers.
| Questions the study answered: |
| What self-determination capacity variables predict gainful, high-quality employment for autistic students? |
| How do the individual capacities (volitional action, agentic action, and action-control beliefs) of self-determination affect employment outcomes for autistic people? |
| What self-determination skills do autistic people value the most in finding and maintaining high-quality employment? |
| What makes autistic people satisfied with their employment? |
| What do autistic adults say about employment and self-determination that would explain the regression analysis? |
With the help of his research, seven themes of autism and employment were found common amongst autistic adults as well as many areas of silence between the survey and interview results.
Award: Community Engaged Research Honorable Mention
Project: For Imposters, By Imposters: Community-Engaged Research to Mitigate Imposter Phenomenon Prevalence in Peer Tutors
CCAS student Jurnee Louder's University Writing centered research impressed judges while presenting her literature review at GW's annual research showcase in spring 2022.
The research question initially originated in talks with past and current GW writing center consultants. Anecdotally, many individuals reported what they identified as imposter phenomenon (IP) or what the researcher identified as likely symptoms of IP. Therefore, this research and the intervention are done with the intent to mitigate these distressing experiences. All research participants will be able to provide feedback on their experiences with the intervention and detail what other systemic changes are needed within the writing center to better support individuals who experience IP.
While writing center (WC) scholarship has begun to explore writers’ confidence and belief in themselves as writers (Mackiewicz & Thompson), little, if any, WC research has investigated imposter phenomenon (IP) — the intellectual phonineness individuals often feel when achieving success (Clance & Imes, 1978). Imposters — individuals who are experiencing IP — often feel their success was achieved by mistake or luck, and soon they will be outed as intellectual fakes (Clance & Imes, 1978). This experience may lead to heightened incidences of anxiety and low self-esteem (Cokely et al., 2013). Previous literature suggests that individuals experience IP in both academic and professional settings, which may hold strong implications for peer tutors who occupy both realms (Clance & Imes, 1978; Parkman, 2016).
Throughout Spring 2022, I am conducting an IRB-governed study on IP among WC tutors at the George Washington University Writing Center. My research will quantitatively identify how many participating tutors experience symptoms of IP by using validated IP scales. Furthermore, I will develop an intervention — a workshop that provides peer tutors with tools to address their IP experience.
I hope to find that IP prevalence will be mitigated by a targeted intervention, leading to more confident peer tutors. At the research showcase, I would present my literature review, an overview of the intervention workshop, and initial findings, so that a) peer tutors can identify what might work for them, b) WC researchers can expand upon the IP literature and c), administrators can identify systemic changes to make in WCs to mitigate IP prevalence across peer tutor populations.
HumanitiesDC has announced upcoming grants for their second cycle of funding for 2022. Applications open on April 25th, 2022. The upcoming grants include:
FESTIVALS AND GATHERINGS GRANT: Awards up to: $25,000
This opportunity provides resources to nonprofit organizations interested in creating relevant, diverse, and unique public humanities programs for the people of Washington DC through the execution of Festival/Events/Meetings/Conferences, etc. The funding will support in person, virtual or hybrid projects (as long as they comply with local and Federal guidelines). The gathering must be open to the public and includes some portion of free or discounted programming.
CAPACITY BUILDING GRANT: Awards up to: $25,000
This grant opportunity is available to Nonprofit Humanities Organizations in the District that are looking to take their organization to the next level. This general operating funding is intended to help humanities organizations in the District invest in their organization.
HUMANITINI CURATOR GRANT: Awards up to: $5,000
HumanitiesDC is offering the opportunity for DC residents conducting and presenting original humanities research to become Humanitini Curators. Each Curator will create an in-person or virtual public humanities program based on their research or area of expertise. As part of the application, prospective curators will need to fully describe this research topic, and where it is situated within a wider humanities field.
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