Originally published November 2, 2021, and updated on December 15, 2021, to add a fifth awarded project that members of the College of Education community are involved in.
Chancellor Jones and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion have announced the first U of I projects to be awarded funding under the $2 million annual commitment by the university to respond to the critical need for higher ed institutions across the nation to prioritize research focused on systemic racial inequities and injustices. The research program also supports the expansion of community-based knowledge that advances the understanding of systemic racism and generationally embedded racial disparity.
For a full list of 2021-22 funded projects and descriptions, please visit the OVCDEI Research Program webpage.
Several College of Education faculty, as well as alumni, are part of five of the 22 proposals awarded funding, specifically:
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Partnerships for Equity, Access, and Representation in STEM (PEAR-STEM) ($99,494)
Project Leaders: Eva Pomerantz, Psychology professor (Liberal Arts & Sciences); Lara Hebert, College of Education alumna and public engagement coordinator (Grainger College of Engineering), George Reese (MSTE), et. al.
Community Members: Beth Hand, Urbana Neighborhood Connections Center; Janice Mitchell, Urbana Neighborhood Connections Center; Tracy Dace, DREAAM-Driven to Reach Excellence in Academic Achievement
This proposed Societal Impact project, Partnerships in Equity, Access, and Representations in STEM (PEAR-STEM), is a collaboration of Champaign-Urbana (C-U) community organizations and initiatives, the Chicago Pre-College Science and Engineering Program, and University of Illinois (UIUC) Psychology, Engineering, and Education faculty as well as specialists in public engagement and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teaching and learning. The overarching goal is to address inequities in preparation for STEM careers among K-12 students, with efforts to identify how to optimize preparation among Black and Latinx students.
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Business Certificate for Incarcerated Students ($88,073)
Faculty Project Leader: Education Policy, Organization & Leadership professor Rebecca Ginsburg
Community Member: Mike Muneses
This project plans to design and deliver an Accounting Certificate to incarcerated individuals. It will be offered first at Danville Correctional Center and may be offered at other facilities after the pilot period. The certificate will open doors to employment and continued education upon release to this population, which is predominantly minority. Business knowledge is highly sought after at the prison and Accounting has long been known as the language of Business. Incarcerated individuals expect to face discrimination in the job market due to their records and, typically, their racial identities. They recognize the promise of self-employment to allow them to pursue their dreams and support their families with dignity. Accountancy is a foundational subject for individuals who wish to run their own businesses, enabling them to pursue their dreams with added competence. The unemployment rate among formerly incarcerated individuals is nearly five times the rate for the U.S., generally (Prison Policy Initiative, 2018). This proposal offers a means to self-reliance, livelihood, and social participation to one of the most overlooked, and often maligned, populations in the U.S.
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Our Lives, Our Dreams, Our Voces: Leveraging Community-Based Collaborations to Increase Representation of Latina/x Girls’ Narratives in Museums ($24,959)
Faculty Project Leaders: Assistant professors of Curriculum & Instruction Catherine Dornfeld Tissenbaum, Mónica González Ybarra, and Idalia Nuñez
Community Collaborators: Kelly O’Neill and Cynthia Bruno; Girls Go For It!
This project amplifies Latina/x girls’ voices through co-creation of a multimodal exhibit that represents the varied cultures, languages, and histories of local Latinx communities. To combat deficit views, museum spaces must make intentional and explicit efforts to recognize Latina/x girls and afford representation of their histories, stories, languages, and cultures in humanizing and empowering ways. In this collaborative study, Latina/x girls will imagine, design, and curate an exhibit that represents and honors their aspirations, hopes, and stories. In turn, visitors gain opportunities to build cross-cultural understandings, relationships, and solidarity. We have partnered with Girls Go for It! (GGFI), a local nonprofit community organization that hosts professional leadership experiences for girls, and the Krannert Art Museum (KAM) to increase visibility of Latina/x girls’ experiences and promote equitable, authentic representation of Communities of Color in public spaces.
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Launching Uni High’s Bridge and Equity Program to Affirm and Support Incoming Underrepresented Students of Color ($64,115)
Faculty Project Leaders: Valerie O’Brien, University Laboratory High School (Office of the Provost); Melissa Goodnight, Educational Psychology; Karl Radnitzer, University Laboratory High School (Office of the Provost)
As Uni High commits to new equity-focused initiatives, we are responding to a request from students for a summer bridge program for incoming subfreshmen (Uni’s 8th graders) that addresses disparities in preparation and bolsters social supports, especially for students of color from underrepresented backgrounds. Adapting the successful Illinois Scholars Program model for Uni’s younger population, this collaboration between Uni High’s administration, Dr. Valerie O’Brien (Uni High’s Coordinator of Equity), and Dr. Melissa Goodnight (assistant professor in EPSY and CREA) designs and evaluates summer and academic-year programs that promote academic resilience, foster peer and student-teacher connections, and facilitate students accessing valuable school and campus resources.
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Illinois Community Media Project ($100,000)
Faculty Project Leaders: Angela Aguayo, Media and Cinema Studies (College of Media); Julie Turnock, Media and Cinema Studies (Media).
Community Collaborators: Evelyne Tardy,Cunningham Children’s Home; Miriam Larson, Independent Media Center, Urbana; Rachel Lauren Storm, Education alumna, Urbana Arts and Culture Commission
The Illinois Community Media Project seeks to expand and enliven the mission of the University of Illinois to serve the people of the state of Illinois and beyond for the 21st century though an emphasis on community media. Community media are forms of production and screening that address the interests of underserved people before commercial interests, providing a platform for the expression of diverse perspectives. Helping to build media making capacities in Illinois communities, amplify underrepresented voices, and create the infrastructure for a richer, more diverse media community on campus, the Illinois Community Media Project unites the educational, scholarly, and community outreach missions of the publicly engaged university.
Congratulations to each project leader and community partner! The research groups will share their work with the campus community at a research symposium in Fall 2022.
