Engaged Learning + Research Faculty Fellows named

Eleven faculty members from nine Cornell departments have been named Engaged Learning + Research Faculty Fellows for 2014. The selective program enhances the capacity of faculty to develop courses and research projects that connect the university with local, national and international communities.

Faculty and staff collaboratively explore cutting-edge theories, practices and assessments of community-engaged learning and research. Fellows form a learning community and share their experiences at a year-end, universitywide showcase.

The 2014 fellows are:

  • Sherene Baugher, professor, landscape architecture, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS);
  • Debra Castillo, the Emerson Hinchliff Professor of Hispanic Studies, Latino studies, College of Arts and Sciences (A&S);
  • Josh Cerra, assistant professor, landscape architecture, CALS;
  • Ella Diaz, assistant professor, English and Latino studies, A&S;
  • Angela Gonzales, associate professor, development sociology, CALS;
  • Peter Hobbs, associate director, international programs, CALS;
  • Christine Leuenberger, senior lecturer, science and technology studies, A&S;
  • Kathryn March, professor, anthropology, A&S;
  • Heidi Mouillesseaux-Kunzman, senior extension associate, development sociology, CALS;
  • Ananda Suarez, assistant professor, history of art, A&S;
  • Rana Zadeh, assistant professor, design and environmental analysis, College of Human Ecology.

The fellows are working on projects that include Ithaca Latino community art projects, research connections in East Africa’s great lakes region and community documentaries of murals in East Harlem.

Gonzales developed a service-learning component for the development sociology senior capstone course. The course has enabled students to make connections between theory and practice by working on a wellness promotion service-learning project for the Natwani Coalition community organization on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona through Cornell’s Academic Technology Center.

And March is studying how to support the co-curricular goals of engaged and service learning as components of the Cornell-Nepal Study Program. Students in the program work with faculty from Cornell and the Tribhuvan National University of Nepal to prepare for and undertake field research projects or internships on topics in the sciences, engineering, humanities, arts and social sciences in Nepal.

Engaged Learning + Research is an interdisciplinary center that cultivates Cornell’s commitment to community engagement in research, teaching and practice. Through the faculty fellows program and other effors, Engaged Learning + Research connects Cornellians and communities to address complex social issues and effect positive change. The center was established in 2011 through a gift from the Einhorn Family Charitable Trust (David Einhorn ’91 and Cheryl Strauss Einhorn ’91) and with support from the Office of the Provost and the Division of Student and Academic Services.

Media Contact

John Carberry