Harward Center awards Publicly Engaged Academic Project grants
The Harward Center for Community Partnerships has awarded three Publicly Engaged Academic Project grants to Bates faculty members, the first of two rounds of awards for 2007-08. These “PEAP” grants are designed to offer faculty and staff significant support for publicly engaged teaching, research, cultural and other community projects. In the current round, three faculty-led projects received grants totaling $11,223.
“The diversity of the projects funded by these grants underscores the creativity with which Bates faculty link public engagement to their teaching, research and artistic work,” noted David Scobey, director of the Harward Center. “These grants fund work in dance, cultural studies and environmental research. The range of publicly engaged academic work represented in these grants is impressive.”
The three PEAP recipients and their proposals are:
• Myron Beasley, visiting assistant professor of American cultural studies and African American studies, for “What Androscoggin County Eats,” a Short Term course that will investigate local foodways across different cultural communities and stage a “performative meal” at the Bates Mill in partnership with Museum L-A;
• Carol Dilley, assistant professor of dance, for “FAB: Franco-American Bates Dance Showcase,” a regional dance showcase co-produced by the Bates dance program and the Franco-American Heritage Center, including Bates student dancers and leading Maine choreographers and presenters;
• Mike Retelle, professor of geology, for “An Environmental Archive of Seawall Beach,” which will pair Bates students and Midcoast conservation advocates to monitor and research the historical effects of climate and tidal changes on beach, dune and salt marsh ecosystems at the beach near Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area.
“It’s exciting that these projects not only connect faculty with community partners, but also involve Bates students in important public work,” Scobey said. “I’m proud that the PEAP grants can support such innovative parts of the Bates education.”
The Harward Center has offered the second round of PEAP grants for this year. New proposals are due on April 18. For more information, please visit the Harward Center website, or contact David Scobey.
