Funded Projects
| Project Title | Overview of the Project |
|---|---|
| Internship and attendance at conferences for new course proposal, The Birth of Psychology $2000.00 |
I am proposing a new course for the German Department called The Birth of Psychology. It will explore some of the origins of the discipline of psychology in German philosophies. It will expose German students to some classic texts and discuss topics related to some of psychology's major questions, including perspectives on "the unconscious" and how it contributes to neuroses and to therapeutic processes, as well as to modern developments in the interplay between philosophy, medicine and various psychological methods. To develop curriculum for this course next summer, I would like to observe treatment sessions at a clinic to expose myself to a variety of relevant practices used today in the German-speaking world. Afterward, I would like to attend the 26th International Congress of Individual Psychology in Paris: "Precarity, Conflicts, Violence, a challenge to the Healing and Training processes". I will also attend the 2nd Conference of the International Society for Psychology as the Discipline of Interiority in Berlin: "The Psychological Difference", where I will learn about some of the latest discussions on psychology in a philosophical context. After these experiences, I will be better able to tie together historical and modern trends of thought in my course, working to define what psychology has become. This will raise important questions for students in their self-identity and in their education. It will also be valuable for the maintenance of my professional German skills to spend quality time in Germany, soaking up the language and culture. |
| Benton MacKaye and the Appalachian Trail $1150.00 |
In support of research on the history of the Appalachian Trail, this proposal seeks funding for travel to the Rauner Special Collections Library at Dartmouth College. An interdisciplinary book-length history of the trail—drawing on planning, history, and environmental studies—is the ultimate ambition of this project. Specifically, this research trip will focus on the authorship of the article that first proposed an Appalachian Trail, written by a man named Benton MacKaye and published in 1921. Two overall questions will organize the research: 1) What influenced MacKaye in developing the trail idea along the lines that he did? His article, "An Appalachian Trail: A Project in Regional Planning," described an exercise in community building that was much more ambitious than a mere venue for adventure. How did he arrive at this formulation, and how did he react to the subsequent watering down of his ideas? 2)How was the early trail work organized? In the years immediately following MacKaye's article, there was widespread enthusiasm for the project, but very haphazard organization of the monumental task of actually blazing and clearing the trail. How did these unfocused efforts eventually coalesce into the kind of multi-state effort necessary to build the trail? |
| Teaching with Technology, in the Presence of Life's Challenges Gavin LaRose LSA - Mathematics $1375.00 |
Technology is used extensively in a wide range of manners both in and outside of today's collegiate classroom, with varying degrees of success and varying knowledge of what that success actually is. This grant proposal will allow me to travel to the Joint Mathematics Meetings in Baltimore in January, 2014 to organize a paper session titled "Teaching with Technology: Impact, Evaluation and Reflection," and to present a talk titled "Some Thoughts About Teaching in the Presence of Technology and Life" which I was invited to give as one of the recipients of the Mathematical Association of America's Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics. These will have a direct impact on my professional development, providing both visibility in the mathematical community and a forum for communication about and reflection on the wide variety of uses of technology to enhance student learning. |
| Presenting at the Conference on College Composition and Communication Convention in March 2014 and the American Society of Engineering Education Annual Conference in June 2014 Stephanie Sheffield Engineering $2000.00 |
I am requesting funds to support my attendance at two professional conferences: 1) the Conference on College Composition and Communication Annual Convention (March 19–22, 2014), at which I will be co-presenting the results of research conducted within a first-year, project-based engineering course, and 2) the American Society of Engineering Education 2014 Annual Conference (June 15-18, 2014), for which I have submitted a presentation proposal (co-written with two of my teaching partners) to share results of our research into effective teaming and collaboration in our co-taught first-year engineering course. |
| Attendance at academic conferences on engineering education and technical communication Elaine Wisniewski Engineering $1585.00 |
I am requesting funding from the CRLT Lecturers' Professional Development Fund to attend two academic conferences that encourage pedagogy in engineering education and in technical communication. I am specifically requesting funds to attend the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing (ATTW) conference on March 19, 2014 and the 2014 American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) conference from June 15-18, 2014; both conferences will be held in Indianapolis, Indiana. I have submitted presentation proposals (under review) to both of these conferences to share my research findings on the "flipped classroom" approach. I am currently conducting a study and restructuring one of my large lecture courses to follow the flipped classroom approach; the focus of the study is to analyze the effect of this approach (i.e., students watch video lectures and participate in group discussions to extend their knowledge during class sessions) on student engagement and performance. I also expect that both conferences will also have other sessions and workshops that discuss this pedagogical approach, and attending these talks will help inform my teaching. |
| “Mess, Wildness, and New Sight: Using the Journal in the Classroom.” A panel discussion to occur at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) annual conference in Seattle, WA, 2/14 $1935.00 |
Writing is a tool for thinking, but how often are students writing in the writing classroom? The New England Literature Program [NELP], a two-month living-learning program run via the University of Michigan, makes journaling integral. Students write in one contiguous stream during class, on hiking trips, and everywhere else. The journal is central to NELP's pedagogical imperatives and captures the narrative arc of intellectual growth. Accepted already for the 2014 AWP Conference in Seattle, this panel discussion will illustrate how imaginative writing instructors have integrated NELP journaling into brick-and-mortar college classrooms. |
| 2014 AWP Conference & Book Fair James Walker LSA $740.00 |
I'm requesting a grant to help fund my trip to the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Conference in Seattle. The conference, which runs from February 26 to March 1, 2014, will further my professional development in several key ways. First, I plan to attend a number of panels (on Emily Dickinson, on John Berryman, on the lyric essay) that will encourage me to investigate both my practice (as a poet) and my pedagogy (as a Lecturer). Second, I'm scheduled on the first day of the conference to read from my new poetry manuscript, The Self-Styled No-Child (currently under consideration at the Waywiser Press). Third, I'll have the opportunity to meet with editors from the Waywiser Press (based in London) and Ooligan Press (based in Portland, and publisher of Alive at the Center: An Anthology of Poems from the Pacific Northwest, an anthology I co-edited). Fourth, I'll have the chance to re-establish (or strengthen) ties with many Pacific Northwest poets and educators with whom I once worked or studied. I've attended the AWP Conference for the past five years; I always feel recharged by the experience. A Lecturers' Professional Development Grant would help to counterbalance the conference's one downside: the financial toll it takes on faculty who lack department-sponsored travel support. |
| Social Work in a Global Setting: Learning from the Hong Kong Model Katie Lopez Social Work $2000.00 |
The goal of this proposal is to fund a trip to Hong Kong that will enable me to learn about social work in an international context. During this trip I propose visiting the University of Hong Kong Department of Social Work and Social Administration, the Hong Kong Social Workers Association, as well as local social work agencies. My position as a lecturer at the School of Social Work centers on working with students preparing for, engaging in, or returning from international social work experiences. I am proposing this visit 1) to gain a better understanding of a social work education structure outside of the US, 2) to learn about the social welfare structure in another country, 3) to strengthen personal relationships with institutional and agency partners, and 4) to gather feedback about how the School of Social Work can better prepare students undertaking a global professional internship. The U-M School of Social Work has long prioritized educating our master students to engage and practice at an international level. This makes our school one of the few MSW programs that offers semester long, funded global field placements. As one of two individuals primarily responsible for creating, maintaining, and managing these programs I would greatly benefit from this opportunity to learn firsthand about social work in foreign country. As a licensed social worker this would be an incredible professional development opportunity. Additionally, the students I teach would also benefit from my enhanced understanding of global social work. |
| Opportunities to deepen instructional knowledge, innovate course design, discuss pedagogy, and form professional connections at the 2014 AMTE Conference. $1540.00 |
The mathematical preparation of teachers is of national importance to our country's education system. I work as the sole full-time math teacher educator in the Department of Mathematics and my duties include: designing the math courses for future teachers, teaching the math courses for future teachers, and mentoring other instructors in teaching these courses. I seek professional development opportunities and professional connections to better equip me to serve these important functions within my department. The annual conference of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators is a meeting devoted to the bringing math teacher educators together for presentations, discussions, and collaborations. The program includes over 150 presentations, lectures, and open discussions on issues surrounding curriculum, pedagogy, and technology in courses for future teachers, and research about the mathematical education of teachers. The sessions I attend at the conference and the professional connections I make will serve as resources as I continue to design these courses, refine my pedagogical strategies, and train new instructors in these specialized courses. |
| Media Arts Self-Directed Creative Residency at the Banff Center for the Arts to do editing work on an experimental documentary video entitled Uncle Jesse White: A Detroit Blues Legend. $2000.00 |
The funds from the Lecture's Professional Development Fund would be used to offset the costs and fees of a 4-week Media Arts Self-Directed Creative Residency at the Banff Center for the Arts in Alberta, Canada, from May 29 through June 30, 2013. The residency would be used to complete editing work on an experimental documentary video entitled Uncle Jesse White: A Detroit Blues Legend. This residency would directly benefit my professional development both as a media producer and as a teacher of film and video students. |
| Support for Conference Attendance and Editorial Assistance for Research Project, "Philanthropic Foundations as Policy Actors in Public Education" Megan Tompkins-Stange Public Policy $1815.00 |
This proposal requests funds for two professional development activities. The first portion of the request is for funding to attend the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA)'s annual conference in November 2012. At the conference, I will be chairing a panel that will explore the policy-related engagement of private foundations in the field of K-12 public education. I will also present a paper on how foundations manage their grantees' political activities in the context of legal restrictions on foundation-funded advocacy efforts, and participate in a special Teaching Section on effective and innovative methods for teaching about nonprofit management. The second portion of the request is for funding to obtain editorial assistance for a book manuscript that I am completing as an outgrowth of my dissertation. The book draws on nearly 50 interviews to analyze how philanthropic foundations approach policy influence in the field of K-12 education in the U.S., focusing on four of the largest and most influential foundations active in this area. Both of these activities facilitate my professional development as both a teacher and researcher, as my research grounds and informs my teaching on nonprofit organizations and public policy. Opportunities to grow as a researcher and to publish my own work will not only facilitate my development as a scholar in the field of nonprofit studies, but will, most importantly, enhance my teaching by expanding my knowledge of recent empirical work, enabling me to share cutting-edge knowledge with students. |
| Gaining a Hands-On “Maker” Experience and Transferring That Experience to the Classroom Mark Brehob Engineering $1900.00 |
Since joining the University as a lecturer in Engineering in 2000, I have taught a wide variety of courses. But in the last five years, my teaching load has shifted heavily to teaching embedded systems design classes. My department offers five instances of such undergraduate courses a year and I've been teaching three of those five for the last two years, one of them a class I've created. During that time I've had to not only learn a lot about embedded systems, but I've also had to advise students on the manufacture of prototypes. This typically involves the creation of mechanical systems and enclosures. And having never taken a shop class or been particularly skilled or interested in that field, I find that my skills in that area are not where I need them to be in the classroom. Conveniently, about a year-and-a-half ago "Maker Works" opened up in Ann Arbor . They have the equipment and training that I'm looking for. With this training I would be able to provide much better advice for my project groups and, at least as long as I have a membership, be able to help manufacture parts those groups might need. Finally, one of my service assignments is to run an embedded-systems training facility on campus—a small-scale Maker Work's like activity. I have hopes that working with Maker Works will help me in organizing and running our facility. |
| Workflow $1875.00 |
Workflow consists of 10-12 detailed precedent studies of recently constructed buildings across a variety of scales from diverse locations around the world. The course coordinator will interview the project managers and consultants of the various buildings to collect documentation of the construction process as well as any coordination anecdotes. This information will be standardized through statistical and graphical analysis to clearly demonstrate the variables in cost, scale, scope, type, trades involved, local codes and conditions, etc.For the purposes of teaching, the course is distinguished by its connection to the real work experience of the project manager. Implicit in this focus on project management is the understanding that students will not likely own their own practice upon graduation but should be pursuing the mid-level role of the project manager as the next step in their career in architecture. Thus the class not only provides new and in-depth information about high profile building projects, but also identifies a "role model" for the students in the person of the individual project manager. For my own purposes as a teacher, development of this course is the culmination of years of professional experience in New York and China. By making use of the contacts that I made in the years before teaching, and formalizing the embedded information of their and my experiences into a packaged form, the work would effectively bridge the gap between my experience in practice and my ambitions in teaching. |
| "Stainlessness" Stephen Turpin Architecture and Urban Planning $2000.00 |
My recent contribution to the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning "FellowsExhibition" (April, 2012) including a series of four large format drawings printed with a printing press,and their attendant steel printing plates. This project, exhibited under the title "Stainlessness," depictsthe history of steel and its role in the industrialization of the United States. This exhibition materialwas developed from my archival research in the Bentley Historical Library's Albert Kahn Papers andthe Hatcher Graduate Library's Joseph A. Labadie Collection, both at the University of Michigan. Myproposal for the Lecturer's Professional Development Fund is to continue with this archival researchby first, gaining access to digital copies of much of the as-yet unpublished material from the KahnPapers, and second, to begin to match these historical photographs with contemporary images takenfrom the same location, particularly in Rouge River, Dearborn, Willow Run and Detroit. These pairs ofphotographs – the first scanned from the Kahn collection and then paired with its contemporarypartner image – will be developed over the course of this academic year (2012-2013) and included inthe larger solo exhibition Stainlessness, as it travels over this year and next to accompany the releaseof the attendant publication Stainlessness (Berlin and New York: JOA+P Press, forthcoming 2013).These images will also be of tremendous value for my teaching in the history and theory ofarchitecture, and for the broader dissemination of the excellent Kahn Papers collection held by theUniversity of Michigan. I am confident that my proposal for the digital scanning of the archival imagesand the camera equipment to pursue the corollary images for the expanded exhibition project willbenefit not only my scholarship and teaching, but also help promote the University of Michigan Kahncollection. |
| Developing Reading and Writing Assignments Packets for Beginning Level Learners Masae Yasuda LSA $2000.00 |
I am seeking this grant to help me develop supplemental study materials for first year Japanese students. These packets will help to build strong fundamental reading strategies and writing skills. I am planning to develop these packets during the Fall 2012 and Winter 2013 semesters, and revise them over Summer 2013 based on instructor and student feedback. I am seeking this grant to cover the cost of research materials, development time, and attendance to two conferences that will help me learn how to improve the study packets. The American Association for Teachers of Japanese (AATJ) conference that will be held in San Diego, California on March 21, 2013. The AATJ conference is one of the most respected conferences in the field, and will have many presentations about reading and writing guidance that I can learn from. I plan to present my findings at the The 20th Princeton Japanese Pedagogy Forum (PFPF) that will be held at Princeton University on May 11-12, 2013. |
| "I Am America: The Bardic Voice of Allen Ginsberg" Netta Berlin LSA - Classical Studies $535.00 |
I will be presenting a paper, "I Am America: The Bardic Voice of Allen Ginsberg," at the "Classics and the Beat Generation" conference on November 16-17, 2012. The conference is being hosted at the University of Pennsylvania in conjunction with the University of St. Andrews. A volume of papers based on the conference is planned for publication. I am seeking funds to cover my travel expenses for this conference. |
| A Comparison of Student Nurses' Self-assessed Clinical Judgment Skills Compared to Observed Clinical Judgment Abilities during a Simulated Activity. Cynthia Fenske Nursing $2000.00 |
The purpose of this study is to determine how closely student nurses' perceptions of their clinical judgment skills match their demonstrated clinical judgment skills when participating in a simulated clinical situation. The evidence suggests there are disparities in the student nurses' ability to make accurate and timely clinical judgments, along with the lack of recognition that the judgments were incomplete or incorrect. I will begin this research study on November 15, 2012 using the undergraduate nursing students in my junior level Adult Illness nursing courses in the fall and winter semesters. I believe the results of this study will be ground breaking, regardless of the findings because of the lack of research in this area. The problem is apparent, but there is a lack of solid evidence to clearly identify the salient issues, It is imperative that nursing faculty become aware of the issues surrounding student nurse self perception of performance, as it compares to their actual abilities, in order to develop appropriate methods to assess, evaluate, and eliminate any inequities discovered. The Lecturer's Professional Development Fund monies would allow me the opportunity to disseminate the findings of this study to nursing faculty at a large national conference. The Drexel Nursing Education Institute is a heavily attended conference that focuses on research and innovation in nursing education. The conference in 2013 will be held on June 18 through June 21 in New Orleans, Louisiana. I will be submitting an abstract for consideration for a podium presentation at this conference. |
| Research, teaching, and advising in Spanish as a second language: Promoting professional excellence through conference attendance $2000.00 |
The goal of this proposal is to fund attendance to the American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL) conference in Dallas, Texas in March 2013 and at the Second Language Research Forum (SLRF) in Provo, Utah in October 2013. These are the two most important venues in my major fields of expertise, that is, Second Language Acquisition, Psycholinguistics, and Study Abroad research. Of note, both conferences place equal emphasis on empirical research and classroom-based practices. On the one hand, I will attend research talks based on data-driven second language acquisition research that will inform me of the state-of-the art research in my areas of scholarly expertise. On the other, I will attend talks in the applied tradition that will inform me of the most beneficial classroom practices that promote successful language learning and second language acculturation. Also, these conferences are an excellent opportunity to present my original research from my ongoing project on the development of fluency (i.e., oral performance) and cognitive abilities by second language learners in study abroad and traditional foreign language learning contexts. The courses that I have designed for 2012-2013 draw heavily on my own research, so it is paramount that I receive the best feedback on my findings from experts in the field. Finally, AAAL and SLRF will be offering specialized workshops on study abroad programming (i.e., costs, sites, requirements) that will also benefit me in my role as Study Abroad advisor in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures. |
| Mobile Green Screen Studio for Classroom and Community Projects Melanie Manos Art & Design $1946.00 |
The development of a mobile green screen studio that would be utilized in Detroit Connections, an Engagement Course at the School of Art & Design. University of Michigan students would learn green screen pre/post production and editing skills for photography, video and projection projects. The Detroit Connections class travels weekly to Bennett Elementary School in Detroit to work on collaborative art projects with 4th graders in a school system with limited funding and minimal art classes. The 4th and 5th graders we have worked with over the years frequently express themselves by making wearable items, costumes, and masks; they are often natural storywriters, and display a consistent curiosity and eagerness to use the cameras brought in by their college partners. The mobile green screen studio would allow the School of Art & Design Detroit Connections students to create projects with the 4th graders that involve a greater degree of technology while incorporating their instinct for performance. As an instructor and artist, I would like to create assignments involving the mobile green screen studio for other courses I have taught at the School of Art & Design including Digital Studio, and Concept, Form and Context, as well as developing new photographic and video projects for exhibition, public spaces and electronic arts festivals. |
| LANDFORMS: Gob Piles and Culm Dumps $2000.00 |
With support from CRLT, I will research the technological processes and forms produced by natural resource extraction. Of central focus to this research is the geographic forms made by mining processes, specifically the extraction and deposition of waste materials onto the landscape. My undergraduate studio course this fall, Mining Lake Michigan (ARCH 432), is focused on subterranean and extractive technologies as the basis for new architectural form, engagement with contemporary ecological debates, and investigation of material processes. The end result of the CRLT-funded research will be an online database that catalogues land-making systems and presents to students new methods for thinking about how land is formed and manipulated by technology. This database will be a resource to my teaching this year, will provide the basis for my winter term course (ARCH 442, Wallenberg Studio), and will be available to those outside the University of Michigan. The CRLT-funded research will also compliment and support my ongoing investigation of large-scale man-made landforms and mining's form-making possibilities, part of an ongoing research project supported by the Muschenheim Fellowship at the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning.* A gob pile is a slang term for a spoil tip (a man-made landform created of spoils, or material discarded from mining operations) and a culm dump is a hill made of coal mining refuse. |
| Morphfaux: Recovering Architectural Plaster Through Custom Robotic Tools Matthew Schulte Architecture and Urban Planning $2000.00 |
This grant application requests funding to present a paper titled: Morphfaux: Recovering Architectural Plaster By Developing New Robotic Tools which I co-authored with my colleagues Prof. Steven Mankouche (University of Michigan) and Prof. Joshua Bard (Carnegie Mellon University), at the ROB│ARCH 2012 conference in Vienna, Austria in December, 2012. The requested funding would cover the cost of conference fees and help to offset the cost of air travel to and from the conference venue and workshop.ROB│ARCH 2012 is the first in a series of conferences hosted by the Association for Robots in Architecture, devoted to the use of robotic fabrication in architecture, art and design with the aim of creating an open platform for sharing current research endeavors and linking industry professionals with cutting-edge research institutions. ROB│ARCH 2012 is a highly selective, peer-reviewed conference and the proceedings will be published by Springer Wien/New York. Attending the conference will:1. Expose me to a broad range of alternative research trajectories and allow me to personally connect with professionals and academics across international and cultural borders.2. Help me to locate the high water mark for teaching and scholarship relative to the emerging field of robotics in architecture.3. Help me to develop and refine my goals and teaching strategies for a proposed series of robotic design and fabrication course to be taught at Taubman College.4. Provide an opportunity to gain international exposure for work and research funded by Taubman College and The Office of the Vice-President for Research. |
| Enhancing the Practicum in Japanese Translation $2000.00 |
I successfully launched a new Japanese translation course in the Winter 2012 semester (ASIANLAN 441: Practicum in Japanese Translation). In order to enhance this course, I am planning to join the American Translators Association, a professional association founded to advance the translation and interpreting professions, and obtain their certification of translation in 2013. The preparation for the exam will allow me to improve my translation skills. More importantly, the certification will demonstrate that I meet certain standards of the translation profession as an instructor of the course. I will also attend conferences for translators and interpreters in order to take advantage of the latest intelligence on the subject matter, as well as to communicate with professionals in the field. |
| Stars on Thars: A Solo Performance in Cross-Media Alvin Hill LSA $2000.00 |
In the multimedia performance "Tri0" I co-composed, programmed and performed a collaborative work that investigated the nature of improvisation and interactivity in cross-media performance. The primary line of inquiry explored how different forms of media, when performing together in an interactive, real-time context, can incorporate "soloist" roles, support roles and composed and improvised parts in the same manner as an ensemble of human acoustic musicians. The media utilized included audio (vocals, live trumpet, live drums and electronics performed using Ableton Live), still image, video, and light, all of which were manipulated in real time by three performers, or controlled by each other using programmed triggers. In creating the piece, I worked with two jazz musicians who played trumpet and drums. We explored the ways improvising musicians create structure through harmonic and rhythmic systems, through assigned roles within the band and by interpreting and manipulating pre-composed information while simultaneously creating new content on the spot. In the "Tri0" performance, changes in audio created reactive changes in the projection, which in turn cued reactions by the drummer. Different media elements led the ensemble at different moments, while the other elements supported—and yet, at other times, we discovered collective improvisation amongst the elements. The final performance took place in North Quad's Space 2435. |
| Searchable History of African American Architecture Website Craig Wilkins Architecture and Urban Planning $1975.00 |
This project will address the conspicuous lack of representation of people of color in the history and discourse of architecture. To date, there have been less than two-dozen books written by and/or about practitioners of color, only one African-American architectural critic to have written for a major metropolitan newspaper and zero editorial positions at the major architectural publications; this, for a history in a field that dates back to the 17th century. In collaboration with other interested faculty, this project endeavors to establish an interactive wiki-type database for the identification, collection, categorizing and distribution of material related to the study and practice or architects of color in the United States dating from the 1600s to present as part of an ongoing effort to situate such work within the historical timeline of architecture and the American society. |
| 2013 AWP Conference & Book Fair James Walker LSA $1516.00 |
I'm requesting a grant to help fund my trip to the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Conference in Boston. The conference, which runs from March 6-10, 2013, will further my professional development in several key ways. First, my press (The Waywiser Press, with offices in London and Baltimore) will have a table at the conference, and the press's editors have asked me to be available for a book-signing and a poetry reading. (My poetry collection, Shuffle and Breakdown, was published by Waywiser in the fall of 2008.) Second, I plan to attend a number of panels that will encourage me to investigate both my practice (as a poet) and my pedagogy (as a Lecturer). Third, I'll have a chance to establish (or strengthen) ties with other poets and educators with whom I share interests. I've attended the AWP Conference the past several years, and I've found it to be wonderfully invigorating. A Lecturers' Professional Development Grant would be a boon and a blessing. |
