Funded Projects
| Project Title | Overview of the Project |
|---|---|
| Guided tour of Ypsilanti Kathleen Fortini Education Melissa Stull Education Jill Coultas Education $230.00 |
We are seeking funds to support a guided tour of Ypsilanti, led by Deborah Meadows of the African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County. We will explore historical and current sites significant to Black people’s experiences in Ypsilanti. This tour is for undergraduate students pursuing their elementary teacher certification in the School of Education. The focus on Ypsilanti is intentional and significant, as all of these students currently have a field placement at Perry Early Learning Center and some of them will have future field placements in other Ypsilanti schools as part of the teacher education program. As instructors for many years in the School of Education, we have found that students often hold deficit perspectives of Ypsilanti and do not necessarily see the community’s assets and strengths. We believe that actually exploring the community with a knowledgeable community member has the potential to positively counter the dominant narratives some students hold by humanizing and historically situating the Black communities in Ypsilanti. We intend to use this field trip as a touch point to create further learning opportunities in our courses. For example, in ED 307, the instructors plan to discuss the way these beginning teachers might use the guided tour to further build their understanding of and relationship with students and their families. In ED 392, the instructor plans to capitalize on these beginning teachers’ deepened understanding of Ypsilanti by exploring policy issues, such as redlining and school choice, that have greatly impacted schooling in the community. |
| Problem Solving Initiative: Addressing the Child Care Crisis Tifani Sadek Law $500.00 |
This grant will fund guest speakers for Michigan Law’s Problem Solving Initiative on addressing the child care crisis. This Problem Solving Initiative is a graduate-level multidisciplinary course with students from the schools of law, public policy, public health, and social work. These graduate students are placed in interdisciplinary teams and will apply the “socially engaged design” problem solving framework to come up with policy and program solutions to the child care crisis. At the end of the semester, teams will present their capstone projects to experts in government and policy. This semester, the students have narrowed their focus to creating solutions to attract, retain, and engage child care providers. This grant would provide monetary support to have five current child care providers (directors, lead teachers, and assistant teachers) come speak to the students and share important expertise, background, and opinions on the causes of the child care crisis. This crucial information would form the basis for many of the groups’ capstone projects. Given that the child care providers will have to miss a day of work and are typically paid on an hourly basis, we would like to offer compensation to make the visits a viable option for them. |
| The Zulu Kingdom: History and Representations from Shaka to T'Chaka Raevin Jimenez LSA - History $255.00 |
This grant will provide funding for students to attend a viewing of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) as a final example of the ways representations of the Zulu Kingdom and Shaka Zulu have been subject to repeated inventions. In this class, students explore historical sources from the 19th to 21st century to trace the politics of myth-making and knowledge production surrounding the Zulu and King Shaka. During the colonial and Apartheid eras, the image of Shaka and ideas of Zulu tribalism justified the extension of European powers and imposition of segregation. In more recent times, Shaka has been reimagined as a warrior-hero and symbol of African independence. Towards the end of the semester, students will explore the legacy of Shaka in pop culture, including novels, music, film, and art. Their final set of sources will include the original Black Panther graphic novel series and the 2018 Black Panther film. A viewing of the 2022 film will provide a valuable capstone to consider the ways Zulu imagery and the figure of Shaka continue to appear in popular politics and media. |
| Web-based tool for Formative Assessment tracking in Large Classrooms $350.00 |
We request $350 to cover the costs of the online software poll everywhere which would significantly improve inclusivity and engagement in larger courses in Biomedical Engineering. Literature suggests that the addition of active learning strategies that promote interactive engagement with the subject at hand stimulates student learning and provides real-time feedback to both students and instructors on the knowledge gaps to be addressed. However, introducing active learning in large classrooms can be challenging and add an additional barrier for instructors to positively implement them during lectures. While clickers have been implemented in the past to stimulate participation in large classrooms, the additional costs passed on to students imposed an additional socioeconomic barrier to the learning process, disproportionally discriminating against minority students. Online software like poll everywhere allows for classroom assessment techniques to be seamlessly executed during class time, with live effective feedback on student engagement, sponsoring cooperative learning, while reducing feelings of isolation often present in large classrooms. The multimodal approach to the feedback (i.e. web-based, SMS, or app) allows for the majority of students to participate in the formative assessment process without any added cost. Lastly, the integration with LMS systems such as Canvas, used at UMich, allows for tracking, and grading of student engagement automatically overcoming the hesitancy of instructors to implement such approaches. As a pilot project, this will be implemented in a senior required biomedical engineering course in Fall 2022. |
| Using an iPad and Apple Pencil to offer more personalized, detailed feedback on student journals submitted through Canvas $453.99 |
I am a lecturer in the Department of Romance Language and Literatures. I teach approximately 54 students each semester. My students submit a weekly hand-written journal entry in PDF or JPG format on Canvas. I am seeking a CRLT grant to purchase an Ipad Pro and Apple pencil so that I can write my comments/corrections directly into their on-line submissions. This will make giving feedback so much more efficient. Students are always asking for more feedback, and this would allow them to see exactly on which part of their writing I am annotating or commenting. |
| Orienting U-M Students Toward Ypsilanti’s Strengths by Centering Black History Chauncey Monte-Sano Education $500.00 |
Request. We request $500 to cover the cost of a bus to support a tour of historical sites of significance to Black history in Ypsilanti. This tour will be hosted by Ms. Deborah Meadows on behalf of the African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County. The tour will include Starkweather Homestead, Adams Street between Michigan Avenue and Harriet Street where the first Black families who settled in Ypsi lives, several murals in the downtown Ypsilanti area, Harwood Cemetery in Pittsfield Township where notable abolitionists are buried, and historical sites related to Perry Early Learning Center where the participating students have internships this fall. Participants in the tour will be University of Michigan undergraduates who are mostly juniors and in their first year of the Elementary Teacher Education (ETE) program - a two-year program leading to teacher certification for grades Pre-K to 3 and grades 3-6. There are 22 students in the first year of this program. Four instructors in the program will participate in this tour initiative. |
| Navigating Disability in 19th-Century America: A Student-Created Online and In-Person Exhibit at the Clements Library Ittai Orr LSA $470.00 |
This online and in-person archival exhibit is the product of a semester of work by graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in the course “Disabilities Past,” which investigated the cultural history of disability in the United States over the course of the long nineteenth century. Beginning with a long list of objects created by the experts at the Clement Library, students selected items for digitization and display, argued for their significance, placed them within larger historical shifts, and worked together to organize and interpret these items to produce historical conclusions. Along the way, they debated the limitations of the archive, theorized different approaches to exhibit design, researched best practices for ensuring accessibility both in-person and online, and engaged with live historiographical debates. Their online exhibit can be found at https://disabilitiespast.english.lsa.umich.edu. A Zoom symposium in which the students will share their findings at greater length will conclude the course on April 13, 2022. |
| Recording an Outreach Concert for the Detroit School of the Arts Caroline Helton Music, Theatre & Dance $500.00 |
I am a studio voice teacher in the Musical Theatre Department, and my goal is to train singers not only in the vocal technique of healthy and expressive singing across the entire gamut of styles, but also how to connect their art to the world around them. For that purpose, I allocate 20% of their semester grade to a “Humanities Project” that varies from term to term. For Winter 22, I have asked all the students to do some research about Detroit and pick repertoire that spoke to them personally as well as celebrated Detroit’s rich arts legacy. Out of that research we have created a concert called “A Love Letter to Detroit,” comprising songs that were created or popularized by artists from Detroit or have a connection to the cultural and historical importance of this great American city. Because of logistics and Covid safety issues, I would like to hire a video production team to make a high-quality video recording of our concert during the last studio class of the term, which I will provide to the students at the Detroit School of the Arts via their choir director, who is an alumnus of our own SMTD, for him to share it with his students at their convenience. I hope that through their research coupled with the empathetic act of performance, the students will be inspired to explore Detroit and more deeply appreciate the legacy of its outsized contributions to American song. |
| Authentic material development for Gender Equality in Latin America Nina O'Connor LSA - Romance Languages and Literatures $500.00 |
The project will focus on the development of DEI minded course materials for the Spanish Topics Course Gender Equality in Latin America. I will be working in collaboration with colleagues and contacts in Mexico, Argentina and Costa Rica, in order to get a variety of perspectives. The course material development will include developing level appropriate video and/or audio recordings, as well as written testimonies. These primary sources will then be the basis for developing language acquisition activities as outlined below. |
| IEDP Puerto Rico Cultural Excursion Jonathan Hanson Public Policy $500.00 |
The requested funds will cover costs of a field trip to Hacienda Buena Vista, an historic 19th century coffee mill and plantation in the mountains near Ponce, Puerto Rico. The field trip is part to the Ford School’s 2022 International Economic Development Program (IEDP) policy study tour in Puerto Rico. In this experiential learning program, 20 students will meet with stakeholders involved with a range of key development challenges facing Puerto Rico. The tour of Hacienda Buena Vista will help students understand the legacy of the colonial plantation era in setting the context for subsequent economic development in the region. The Hacienda is emblematic of historical economic growth through the use of natural resources and illustrates the relationship between land, water, and slavery. On this trip, students will critically examine economic disparities that Puerto Ricans of African descent face today and how these stem from the starting conditions under the institution of slavery. |
| A Novel, Web-based Curriculum on Guardianship Kahli Zietlow Medical School $250.00 |
As part of the Medical Education Scholar’s Program, I am developing a web-based course on the topic of guardianship for internal medicine (IM) and family medicine (FM) residents. Older adults with dementia or other medical conditions that impair rational thinking may ultimately require guardianship for protection. However, the incapacitated patient (ward) who is assigned a guardian loses the ability to make independent decisions, presenting a major threat to personal freedom of choice. Guardianship can pose an ethical dilemma for providers who must weigh the principals of nonmaleficence and autonomy. Although physicians may perform capacity assessments, serve as witnesses in guardianship hearings, and/or care for wards, they receive little, if any, formal education on this topic. Furthermore, guardianship is ultimately pursued in the probate court system, outside of the clinical realm. A curriculum targeted to the need of internists and family medicine physicians is needed to fill these educational gaps and allow physicians to understand the guardianship process, perform therapeutic alliances with guardians, and most importantly, understand alternatives to guardians such that guardianship is only pursued for those who truly require it. This curriculum is being developed with input from geriatricians, hospitalists, primary care providers, social work, and risk management. As a pilot project, it will be deployed to first year IM and FM residents. Their pre- and post-curriculum knowledge will be assessed and we will solicit feedback on the efficacy and clinical relevance of the content. |
| Illuminating interdisciplinary writing & research in Moral Psychology: A speaker series Mara Bollard LSA - Linguistics $500.00 |
This grant will fund 3-4 guest speakers, including at least 2 academic philosophers and at least 1 academic psychologist, for COGSCI 302: Moral Psychology during Fall 2021 (beginning in October 2021). This seminar class is currently being taught for the first time as an Upper Level Writing Requirement (ULWR) course and is thus heavily focused on helping students (24 in total) develop their writing and research skills. Moral psychology is an interdisciplinary area of study that draws from both moral philosophy and empirical cognitive science. In addition to sharing their content-level expertise with students via a brief presentation - students will read a paper by each speaker in preparation for their visit - the speakers will explicitly address this question: How do philosophers and psychologists differ in their academic writing and in their overall approach to the study of moral psychology topics? Speakers will share insights about their own writing process and discuss how to conduct fruitful interdisciplinary research in moral psychology, bearing in mind their own disciplinary training and the need to engage effectively with scholars with different academic backgrounds. Students will have the opportunity to ask questions and engage in discussion with each speaker. |
| Inside/Out Prison Exchange Teacher Training $300.00 |
program. I have volunteered at the Women’s Huron Valley MDoC facility for about five years and have been deeply nourished and transformed by what I’ve learned there. While my volunteering continues, I want to do more prison work—and make it possible for more “outside” people to learn from the incarcerated (and, of course, vice-versa). The Inside/Out program is a perfect way to do that. I will use this training to design and offer new undergraduate courses at the University of Michigan (thru the department of Comparative Literature and the Residential College) |
| Enrichment during the RC German Coffee hour Karein Goertz LSA - Residential College $500.00 |
Funds from the grant will be used to expand our German language coffee hour (Kaffeestunde) to include German-speaking guests, as well as field-trips to local sites. These required weekly co-curricular gatherings have long been central to the semi-immersive “learning beyond the classroom” pedagogy of the RC language programs. They are an excellent opportunity for current and former RC German students to mingle and speak German. Students dramatically improve their listening comprehension skills and become more comfortable speaking German. These gatherings also provide the opportunity to present topics and materials that are not covered in the classroom. Many of the Kaffeestunden are intentionally unstructured, with individual and group conversations evolving organically, much as they would in real life. However, we would like to include some more structured gatherings that allow students to meet with a wider range of German-speakers, to learn about particular cultural topics, and to go on fieldtrips out into the community to learn about local and regional German-related sites. Grant money would help defray the cost of honoraria, transportation and tickets. What follows is a list of proposed structured events for select coffeehours (Wednesdays 3-5 pm) this semester. |
| Reimaging Community, Art, and Social Transformation in Cambodia $500.00 |
My upcoming special exhibition, “Angkor Complex: Cultural Heritage and Post-Genocide Memory in Cambodia” (scheduled to open at the University of Michigan Museum of Art in January 2024) will showcase the work of contemporary artists who exemplify trends in how Cambodians are responding to the still-fresh wounds inflected by the Khmer Rouge regime and related upheavals that have shattered the country. Since several contemporary artists are engaging with the forms and functions of ancient Khmer temples and sculptures and are trying to position them at the intersection of trauma and healing, I shall include several ancient architectural fragments and sculpture in my exhibition. Travel to Cambodia is currently almost impossible, because of pandemic related travel restrictions and closures. Thus, I hope to bring into the classroom, via Zoom, the voices of women and men from diverse walks of life: contemporary artists based in Cambodia and in the diaspora, monks, Khmer Rouge survivors, community organizers, primary school teachers, world renowned scholars, and prominent collectors, many of whom I have gotten to know in recent months while conducting field research for the exhibition. These short-guest lectures will help foster greater respect for justice, common humanity, and diversity, and help my students critically appreciate the role of the arts in suturing post-genocide societies. |
| A Taste of Italy in Ann Arbor: Speaker Series Giulia Ricco LSA - Romance Languages and Literatures $300.00 |
This grant will help fund three speakers for the Freshman Seminar “Taste of Italy: Food and Identity in Italian Culture.” In this course, students explore the ways in which food and culinary knowledge have shaped specific Italian identities—Italians in Italy, in the USA, and the so-called New Italians. Toward the end of class I would like to invite representatives from the food industry of Ann Arbor to talk to students about what it means to serve, import, and make Italian food. Some of the questions I would like them to address are: Why did you choose to serve/import/make Italian food? What does Italy/ Italian mean to you? What does authenticity mean to you? Having a restaurateur, an importer, and a chef come to class would show students how our conversations about national identity, immigration, and authenticity transpose very seamlessly to the real world. In addition, seeking the involvement of the Ann Arbor food industry allows me to develop a more business-oriented model for the study of Italian. As a matter of fact, students would see firsthand some of the career opportunities that studying Italian affords them, which in turn would entice them to continue their language education. The CRLT grant would enable me to offer each speaker an honoraria of $100 for their time and knowledge. The form of their visits (virtual or in person) will depend on the latest University’s COVID-19 policy. |
| Using a tablet to represent student thinking and aid in formative assessment Nina White LSA - Mathematics $500.00 |
I am seeking funding to buy an IPad and accessories for two teaching projects I am implementing this semester. The first project will use the tablet, almost daily, to project my representations of students' diverse numerical strategies. The second will use applications on the tablet to help me with rigorous, ongoing, real-time, formative assessment. |
| Sugarbrook Community Engaged Learning Project Ayesha Ghazi Social Work $500.00 |
The Sugarbrook Community Engaged Learning Project is a partnership between the School of Social Work, Habitat for Humanity, & the residents of Ypsilanti’s Sugarbrook neighborhood. The partnership was facilitated, & has ongoing support, by the Ginsberg Center. Through fostering meaningful, equitable relationships, students leverage university resources to help Sugarbrook residents advance their equity, & overcome obstacles resulting from historic & ongoing racial & economic oppression. Students have joined the neighborhood's resident-led Action Teams, including Amenities, Neighbor Relations, Kettering, & Youth Activities, working with residents as they conduct neighborhood action to improve their lives. Some of these actions include advocating for speed abatements & curbs from the township, addressing neighborhood safety concerns, working with Ypsilanti Community Schools to convert an abandoned school site to a neighborhood green space, and conducting activities & events for youth, & events to foster and strengthen neighbor relations. In conducting this work, students use an asset, strength-based organizing approach, focused, & helping residents to identify, their capacity, resources, motivation, & tools for change. Students participate in resident-led action that includes a process of collaboratively identifying neighborhood issues, assessing history & context, identifying actionable objectives, implementing interventions, evaluating outcomes, & sustaining change. In doing so, students learn real-life application of social work tenets, tools, & organizing strategies, such as the necessity of fostering genuine relationships, being aware of identities & their intersection with power & privilege, understanding that those affected by an issue, know best the solution to that issue, & that social work practice is approaching environments, individuals, groups, & communities, with a focus on strengths & assets - not deficits. |
| Impact of traditional versus virtual simulation education for pharmacists on aminoglycoside pharmacokinetic dosing and monitoring Michael Kraft Pharmacy Gregory Eschenauer Pharmacy Rima Mohammad Other $500.00 |
Aminoglycosides have narrow therapeutic window and patient-specific pharmacokinetics are highly variable in hospitalized patients; therefore, necessitating intensive therapeutic drug monitoring to prevent supratherapeutic and subtherapeutic levels that can lead to clinical consequences (i.e. nephrotoxicity). It is crucial to provide effective aminoglycoside education to pharmacists. Unfortunately, there is limited data evaluating traditional compared to innovative educational interventions (i.e. computer-based patient simulation) in teaching aminoglycosides. Computer-based patient simulation technology simulates “real-life” clinical scenarios for learners to utilize their critical-thinking skills. We plan to evaluate learning outcomes (knowledge and application) and pharmacist perception of two educational activities on aminoglycosides (traditional vs computer-based simulation). We propose that implementing a computer-based patient simulation educational intervention compared to traditional education on aminoglycosides in pharmacists will improve knowledge and application scores. This study is a prospective, comparative, pilot study (pre- and post-study) will include pharmacists at Michigan Medicine that provide patient care in the adult inpatient setting. continued in Project Objectives |
| Art in the Anthropocene: An Interdisciplinary Symposium on Performance, Politics, and Ecology $500.00 |
From October 21-26, 2019 I will be hosting a symposium in tandem with my newly devised course, Special Topics in Choreography: Art & Ecology. This interdisciplinary symposium will bring together renowned artists and scholars across the fields of dance, science and technology studies, and women’s studies who are currently working at the intersections of performance, art, and ecology. It will consist of six workshops, one professional panel, one student panel, and five live performances. Through all of these activities we will be examining the relationship between the arts and sciences during what is often referred to as ‘The Anthropocene,” meaning the current epoch in which human impact on Earthly geography is undeniable and irreversible. We will investigate our roles and responsibilities as artists and scholars making work in response to our current political-social-ecological climate. In dialogue with current critical discourse between art, science, and feminist theory, specifically the work of Donna Haraway and Karen Barad, this symposium merges dance and choreographic inquiry with studies in ecology, infrastructure, postcolonial theory, and queer and feminist approaches to art-making. In doing so we are collectively asking the question: In what ways can we design choreographic/art-making processes and practices that reflect and challenge broader quotidian movement systems, such as urban ecosystems, activism models, systemic inequalities, and interspecies relationships? All events are free and open to the public. |
| the 2019 ACTFL Annual Convention and World Languages Expo $500.00 |
I would like to attend the 2019 ACTFL Annual Convention and World Languages Expo, where language educators from around the world meet to learn about foreign language education. The conference goal is to provide a comprehensive professional development experience that will have an impact on language educators at all levels of teaching and in turn help their students to succeed in their language learning process. By attending the research-oriented paper session on study abroad programs, I will be able to become better at guiding students to social networks and helping them become language learners who can set learning goals and chart their progress towards language and intercultural proficiency while in Japan. The other session I would like to attend is titled “Tips and Tools to Promote Learner Agency in the Japanese Language Classroom.” Student agency refers to learning through activities that are meaningful and relevant to learners, driven by their interests, and often self-initiated with appropriate guidance from teachers. I have been trying hard to obtain such skills to improve my communication with my students as well as my teaching methods, but I am not confident in them yet. Thus, I believe that this presentation will aid me in achieving my goals. Attending this conference will be meaningful for myself, my students, and the Japanese program at the University of Michigan. |
