Cornell University: New fellows expand community-engaged learning network

Faculty from seven Cornell colleges have been named Engaged Faculty Fellows through the David M. Einhorn Center for Community Engagement, joining a network that is committed to advancing engaged teaching and scholarship at Cornell and in their academic disciplines.

This year’s cohorts also include professional and academic staff who are creating or evaluating community-engaged learning opportunities.

The 16 participants also join one of two communities of practice that meet throughout the academic year. The Faculty Fellows in Engaged Learning focus on designing, refining and enhancing engaged courses and curricula; the Faculty Fellows in Engaged Scholarship develop products of their public work, which may include articles for academic publication, conference presentations, op-ed pieces and manuals.

This year’s projects include community partnerships in Ithaca, Buffalo, Nashville, Detroit and across China.

“Monthly meetings with the Engaged Faculty Fellows are always so rich and generative,” said Anna Sims Bartel, the Einhorn Center’s associate director of community-engaged curricula and practice. “Faculty are reaching across colleges, departments and disciplines to share successes and workshop challenges in ways that create new insights we can’t always access from within our home departments.”

Bartel facilitates the program with faculty co-leads Kristen Elmore, research associate and assistant director of the Program for Research on Youth Development and Engagement (PRYDE) in the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research, and Gen Meredith, professor of practice and associate director of the Master of Public Health program in the College of Veterinary Medicine.

The 2022-23 Faculty Fellow in Engaged Learning projects are:

Expanding Community-Engaged Programming across the ILR School: Brigid Beachler, director, ILR Off-Campus Credit Programs, ILR
Engaged Public Health Communication Course: Amelia Greiner Safi, associate professor of practice, Department of Public and Ecosystem Health, College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM)
Setting Up a Food Microbiology Kiosk at the Ithaca Farmers Market: Kathleen Hefferon, lecturer, Department of Microbiology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS)
AEM 3015 Developing Racial Equity in Organizations: Jennifer Majka, director of diversity and inclusion and visiting lecturer; Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management; Cornell SC Johnson College of Business
Emphasizing “Practice” in Epidemiology in Practice: Corinna Noel, assistant professor of practice, Department of Public and Ecosystem Health, CVM
Community Engagement Methodologies: Jocelyn Poe, provost faculty fellow, Department of City and Regional Planning, College of Architecture, Art and Planning (AAP)
Housing Tactics: Jordan Young, design teaching fellow, Department of Architecture, AAP
Engaged Intercultural Learning: Connie Yuan, professor, Department of Communication, CALS
This year’s Faculty Fellows in Engaged Scholarship projects are:

Challenges Faced by Entrepreneurs Introducing International Foods into the U.S. Market: Ann Charles Vegdahl, extension associate, Department of Food Science, CALS
Statistics and Data Science in Community-Engaged Learning: Sreyoshi Das, assistant professor of practice, Department of Statistical Science, Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science
Co-Constructing Black Girls’ Wellness Using Participatory Approaches: Misha Inniss-Thompson, assistant research professor, Department of Psychology, College of Human Ecology
Engaging Undergraduates and BIPOC Youth to Study Rapid Change in the Critical Zone: Kade Keranen, associate professor, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell Engineering
Shakespeare in Auburn: Critical Reflections on the Prison Classroom: Stephen Kim, curriculum specialist and lecturer, Intergroup Dialogue Project; assistant director, ILR WIDE
Fifteen Years on the High Road: Applied and Engaged Learning in Buffalo, New York: Kristin Ksiazek, High Road Fellowship coordinator, High Road Policy and Engaged Learning, ILR
Methods of Design Engagement: Suzanne Lettieri, assistant professor, Department of Architecture, AAP
Tracking Effect of Engaged Learning Practicum on Graduates’ Self-Authorship as Changemakers: Anke Wessels, visiting lecturer, Dyson School