Liberal Arts Action Lab
In the Liberal Arts Action Lab, Hartford community partners propose semester-long research projects to pursue in collaboration with student and faculty teams from Trinity College and Capital Community College. Each semester, students apply to join Action Lab project teams and enroll in two courses to learn research skills and digital tools while collaborating with their partner organizations. Our goals are to strengthen the city and its role in the region, spark social innovation, and support civic engagement and sustainability.
Meet the Immigrant Welcoming Team
Nora Blamires
Nora is a freshman at Trinity College, who is planning to major in Public Policy with a concentration in human rights.
Marco Bragado
Marco is a sophomore at Trinity College majoring in Public Policy and Law with a concentration in law and society. He is a first generation American, and the son of two Argentinian immigrants. Marco plans on attending law school and pursuing a career in either immigration or human rights law.
Teodora Brnovic
Teodora is a junior at Trinity College and is a Davis Scholar from Montenegro. She is double majoring in Sociology and Italian Studies.
Tushna Elavia
Tushna is a freshman from Mumbai, India. She is an aspiring Political Science and Human Rights major, who is interested in work related to Europe’s 2016 migrant crisis.
Victoria Farrow
Victoria is a freshman at Capital Community College, majoring in International Studies, and plans to attend UCONN in the fall of next year.
Otis Klawans
Otis is a sophomore at Trinity College from Chicago, IL. He is majoring in Urban Studies with a planning & policy concentration and minoring in Studio Arts.
Emma Kozak
Emma is a sophomore and an Urban Studies and Public Policy & Law double major with a concentration in environmental policy.
Sara Zahoor
Sara is a freshman at Trinity College planning to study Public Policy & Law and Economics.
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Laura Minor
Laura Minor most recently worked with undergraduates at Central Connecticut State University, both as an assistant director of undergraduate advisement and coordinator of its academic minor in Community and Civic Engagement. Through her work in that program, she has overseen student community research and internship projects in the Greater Hartford area, such as with Habitat for Humanity of North Central Connecticut, the Hartford Catholic Worker, Sun Scholars, and REACH (Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health). Her passion is to see young people experience learning in high-impact contexts, both in the U.S. and abroad, and have reciprocal learning partnerships with community organizations that change and benefit where we live. Laura has a Master’s of Education in Counseling from the University of Texas at Austin, and a PhD from Clemson University in International Family and Community Studies. Her dissertation research was a quantitative outcomes assessment of academic community engagement programs, and she is working to expand that research to include an assessment of Connecticut’s high school engagement programs as well.
Faculty Fellow: Dr. Abigail Fisher Williamson
Abigail Fisher Williamson is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Policy & Law and Director of the Center for Hartford Engagement and Research (CHER) at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. She is the author of Welcoming New Americans? Local Governments and Immigrant Incorporation (University of Chicago Press, 2018). Williamson serves as a co-Principal Investigator of ARCHES | the AmeRicans’ Conceptions of Health Equity Study, an interdisciplinary study of how Americans think about health and fairness, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She holds a Ph.D. and Masters in Public Policy from Harvard and a BA from Williams College.
Faculty Fellow: Dr. Janet L. Bauer
Doctor Janet L. Bauer is a Professor of International Studies at Trinity College, and a faculty member since 1984. Affiliated Faculty: Women, Gender, and Sexuality Program and Human Rights Studies Program. She holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology and a Masters Degree from Stanford University, along with a Bachelor’s Degree in Science from the University of Central Missouri. Dr. Bauer is also a Fulbright Global Scholar (2017-2018). She is also Co-Chair of the City of Hartford’s Commission on Refugee and Immigrant Affairs. Missouri.
