Photo of the Hartford Resident Advisory Board prioritizing proposals for the Spring 2020 semester.
The Liberal Arts Action Lab received 15 proposals in September 2019 from prospective Hartford community partners, and each described a research question or problem that they would like help in answering. Last week, the Hartford Resident Advisory Board reviewed all of the proposals and prioritized 6 to advance to the next stage.
Students and faculty fellows are welcome to apply by Thursday, October 31st, 2019 to join any of the Action Lab projects below. Depending upon scheduling and interest, we expect to support 4 teams during the Spring 2020 semester. Apply online, and read more details about each project below the form, at http://action-lab.org/apply/students for students and https://action-lab.org/apply/faculty for faculty.
- Black Heritage Project: Hartford Heritage Project and Hartford History Center ask for help to raise awareness about the significance of Talcott Street Congregational Church, the first black Congregational Church in Hartford.
- Neighborhood Communications Project: The City of Hartford asks for research on how residents receive information on city services, activities, and resources, and also how residents want to communicate and receive answers to questions or concerns about the city government.
- Addiction Treatment Project: InterCommunity Health Care asks for help tackling the opioid epidemic in Hartford through addiction treatment.
- Stopping Absenteeism Project: LEO Children’s Clinic asks for research to help the clinic address children’s mental health needs, support their families to reduce chronic absenteeism, and maintain the health and wellbeing of their staff.
- HIV Community-Health Project: Yale School of Public Health: Arch Lab asks for an analysis to identify workforce development barriers for community health workers providing care to folks living with HIV.
- Arts Education Project: Hartford Performs asks for help evaluating their programs, which bring working artists into Hartford Public Schools.
Prospective students from Capital Community College and Trinity College are welcome to list up to 5 preferences. Students must be available to enroll in two Action Lab courses: LAAL 200 Action Research Methods in Hartford (for all students on Monday afternoons, around 1-4pm) and an LAAL 201 Hartford Research Project team (6 students, meets either Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday afternoons, around 1-4pm, or Wednesday evenings, around 6:30-9:10pm). Both will be taught by the Action Lab Director at our downtown campus, and successful students will earn 2 Trinity credits, which is the equivalent of 6 CCC credits. The Action Lab will inform students if they have been matched to a project team by early November, before pre-registration for the Spring 2019 semester.
Prospective faculty fellows are welcome to list up to 3 preferences. Your name will publicly appear online to help us match you with prospective students. Full-time or part-time faculty, advanced graduate students, or staff with subject or method expertise, from Capital Community College, Trinity College, or other institutions in the Hartford Consortium for Higher Education, are welcome to apply. Fellows will provide academic guidance and evaluate student work for at least one semester, and must be available to meet with project team at least once a month (either Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday afternoons, or Wednesday evenings) at our downtown campus, plus one additional pre-semester meeting of all faculty fellows. (The Action Lab Director will supervise teams of students on a weekly basis.) The Action Lab will inform prospective fellows if they have been matched to a project team by early November, before students pre-register for the Spring 2020 semester. If selected, faculty fellows will receive a $1,000 stipend.
Contact the Action Lab if you have questions about the application process.
