2016-17 Funded Projects

Pilot Projects

Bringing CERA to Campus: An Environmental Monitoring Array for Teaching, Learning, and Research

Contact: Andrew Graham, assistant professor of biology; Peter Jacobson, professor of biology; Vince Eckhart, Waldo S. Walker Professor of Biology; Kathy Jacobson, professor of biology; Elizabeth Hill, CERA manager and Center for Prairie Studies outreach coordinator

The project will install an array of environmental monitoring tools at the Conard Environmental Research Area (CERA), develop data-rich learning activities utilizing the array, and increase virtual and physical access to the area. This will positively impact existing courses, promote multi- and inter-disciplinary faculty/student collaborations across natural and data sciences, and open up new research opportunities.  It will provide students with opportunities to make meaningful contributions to solving local and global environmental problems.

U.S. Course Embedded Travel

Contact: Elaine Marzluff, professor of chemistry; Sarah Purcell, L. F. Parker Professor of History; Stephen Andrews, associate professor of English

This project will develop a program for domestic course-embedded travel by supporting U.S. trips to enhance student learning and provide for faculty/staff development.  The program will allow a more diverse array of faculty, staff, and students to experiment with integrative learning approaches outside of the campus context.

Meskwaki Students and College Access

Contact:  Deborah Michaels, associate professor of education

This project will connect the students, faculty, and staff of the Meskwaki Settlement School with the Grinnell College community through a series of inter-community exchanges.  It will create a college access summer camp of liberal arts courses for a group of Meskwaki high school students.  The project will also provide the opportunity for faculty to develop curriculum and teach students from a different cultural, linguistic, and ethnic background than is currently represented on our campus.

Vivero: Digital Scholarship Student Fellows Program   

Contact: Elizabeth Rodrigues, assistant professor, Library; Carolyn Herbst Lewis, assistant professor of history

This project will create a trained cohort of student fellows in the digital liberal arts by combining a program of intensive training with comprehensive mentorship.  The program will develop a sustainable support system for digital scholarship on campus and will encourage a diverse group of students to pursue transformative, innovative digital research.

More information is available at the Vivero project website.

Curricular Implementation of the Digital Liberal Arts

Contact:  Erik Simpson, professor of English; Sarah Purcell, L. F. Parker Professor of History

This project will develop and provide curricular support for Digital Liberal Arts courses that will function as pilot projects for a proposed implementation of a new interdisciplinary concentration in digital studies. The project will support a faculty summer workshop for generating this proposal.

Inclusion Inspires Innovation: Developing Accessibility Expertise with Primary Users

Contact: Eliza Willis, Faculty, professor of political science; Autumn Wilke, coordinator of disability resources

This project team will create a group of on-campus experts that will review physical and programmatic barriers that prevent disabled members of the College community from participating fully in campus life.  The project will support training of both students and faculty/staff as “primary user experts” to study accessibility and then in turn train other individuals to carry the work forward. More information is available at the project website Innovation Inspires Inclusion.

Planning Projects

Racing Iowa

Contact: Stephanie Jones, assistant professor of education; Deborah Michaels, associate professor of education

This planning project will identify and connect Grinnell College students and faculty to State of Iowa resources that can serve to enhance and inspire courses on issues related to race and improve the social networks and sense of belonging for Grinnell students of color. The project team will collect statewide resources related to Black, Latino/a and Native American communities; connect Grinnell’s students of color with relevant groups at other institutions to foster collaboration; and build a digital website featuring relevant resources for faculty, students, and staff at Grinnell College.   More information is available on the Racing Iowa project website.

Grinnell College Immersive Environments Lab (GCIEL)

Contact: David Neville, digital liberal arts specialist

This planning project will explore the idea of a laboratory for designing, developing, evaluating, and distributing immersive three-dimensional (3D), virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR) environments for use in teaching and research contexts.  The project will support a faculty summer workshop about immersive environments.

Developing Robust 3D Printing Capabilities at Grinnell College

Contact: Joshua Sandquist, assistant professor of biology

This planning project will consider specific ways to make 3D printing more broadly accessible across campus.  The project will investigate innovative ways to use 3D printers in the liberal arts curricula and achieve pedagogic advances for the technology on campus.

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