The Liberal Arts Action Lab received 15 proposals in March 2020 from prospective Hartford community partners, and each described a research question or problem that they would like help answering. Last week, the Hartford Resident Advisory Board reviewed all of the proposals and prioritized 7 to advance to the next stage.
Students and faculty fellows are welcome to apply by Friday, April 17th, 2020 to join any of the Action Lab projects below. Depending upon scheduling and interest, we expect to support 4 teams during the Fall 2020 semester. Apply online, and read more details about each project below the form, at http://action-lab.org.
- Limitless Fitness Project: Oak Hill asks for help to improve the quality of life for Hartford residents with disabilities and chronic health conditions through access to adaptive fitness and sports.
- Cannabis Justice Project: Diamond Research Consulting, LLC and Hartford Communities That Care asks for research to assess the economic impact of the war on drugs on communities of color.
- School Food Project: Grow Hartford Youth Program asks for research to help improve food quality in Hartford schools.
- Youth Multimedia Project: Friends of Pope Park, Inc. asks for help to develop a computer center and youth multimedia studio in Hartford’s Pope Park.
- Syrian Refugee Project: Sawa Refugee Resettlement asks for an analysis of needs and resources for Syrian refugee families.
- Workforce 4.0 Project: Girls for Technology, Inc. asks for research to improve STEM programming for young adults.
- Resilient Environment Project: Park Watershed asks for research on local environmental conditions to improve neighborhood quality of life and climate resiliency.
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 (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. Prospective students from Capital Community College and Trinity College are welcome to list up to 5 project preferences. The Action Lab will inform students if they have been matched to a project team by early April, before pre-registration for the Fall 2020 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 the 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 April, before students pre-register for the Fall 2020 semester. If selected, faculty fellows will receive a $1,000 stipend.
Contact the Action Lab if you have questions about the application process.
