community engagement – College of Arts & Sciences

UA Academic Advisors Study Abroad in South Africa

July 14, 2022

From the July 2022 Desktop News | In May, Dr. Pamela Young, Director of Community Engagement and Economic Development, and Dr. Lisa Pawloski, Associate Dean for International Programs, led a group of UA professional academic advisors and faculty on a study abroad capacity-building trip to South Africa. The trip, the culmination of a faculty-centered skills-building initiative that began in 2019, had a two-fold goal of equipping advisors to better engage students seeking experiential learning opportunities and diversifying the study abroad participants […]

Sculpture Class Creates Functional, Collaborative Community Art

July 6, 2022

From the July 2022 Desktop News |Over the past semester, Craig Wedderspoon and his students in his Beginning Sculpture class installed uniquely designed benches at the Hill Hospital in York, Alabama. Wedderspoon believes that the service-oriented, function-driven character of art is often amplified during the execution of collaborative, community projects. Wedderspoon was introduced to the Hill Hospital through the work of Engage Alabama, who commissioned the bench project as a part of their 2022 initiative. “I have always […]

Art and Art History Receives CDC Foundation Grant to Promote Vaccine Education and Acceptance

February 16, 2022

From the February 2022 Desktop News | The University of Alabama Department of Art and Art History recently received a grant to create innovative and accurate poster designs that will harness the power of the arts to engage audiences of all ages in overcoming COVID-19 and influenza vaccine hesitancy. With support from the CDC Foundation, the messaging will promote vaccine education and acceptance in four rural Black Belt counties in west Alabama. Jason Guynes, department chair and professor, and […]

UA Researchers Creating Digital Exhibition of Birmingham Artist’s Work

October 11, 2021

A man in a hard hat and mask posing next to a piece of metal with writing on it

From the June 2021 Desktop News | At first glance, Joe Minter’s backyard looks like an assortment of metal and building materials. But for Minter, a found-object artist in Birmingham, this sea of rust and steel tells the story of his life, and a cultural movement, in a collection he calls “African Village in America.” And now, researchers at The University of Alabama are helping Minter preserve his stories forever. Minter is supported by Souls Grown Deep, an organization that […]

Center for Youth Development and Intervention Sets the Standard for Community-Engaged Research

September 23, 2021

Members of the CYDI in front of their office.

From the September 2021 Desktop News | Over the past several years, the Center for Youth Development and Intervention (CYDI) has become an example on UA’s campus of successful community engagement. Through community-based research, scholars at the center hope to improve life for those around them and throughout the world. “One in five children and adolescents in the US need mental health services,” said Dr. Susan White, psychology professor and Director of the CYDI. “In fact, most mental health disorders […]

UA Professor Uses NSF Grant to Explore Evolution and Facilitate Diversity

September 23, 2021

From the September 2021 Desktop News | Dr. Alberto Pérez-Huerta, a professor of geological sciences at The University of Alabama, hopes to change the way people think of geology’s role in the emergence of life on Earth. In July 2020, Pérez-Huerta received an EAGER grant from the National Science Foundation to help him not only make that happen, but to bring Stillman College students with him along the way. Pérez-Huerta’s research focuses on the hypothesis that the biomolecules that eventually […]

2021-2022 Faculty and Staff Community Engagement Fellows Announced

September 23, 2021

From the September 2021 Desktop News | The University of Alabama College of Arts and Sciences recently selected the inaugural class of Faculty and Staff Community Engagement Fellows. The program supports faculty and staff as they develop community-engaged research, creative activities, teaching and learning initiatives. Each fellow is selected based on the potential of their project’s positive impact on the community and society as a whole. The 2021-2022 fellows bring together a diverse group of scholars from a variety of backgrounds and fields. Throughout the year they will participate in monthly special topics seminars, work on pilot projects, strengthen community partnerships, and create an environment where researchers and […]

New College Internship Allows Students to Get Involved in Walker County

August 26, 2021

From the August 2021 Desktop News | For 11 years, a select group of students at The University of Alabama have spent their summers immersing themselves in the underserved communities of rural Walker County. As part of New College’s Walker County Civic Engagement Internship Program, these students live and work in and around Jasper, Alabama, working directly with the Walker County Community Foundation, serving as interns for local nonprofit organizations, and gaining invaluable lessons in community development and civic engagement. […]

Spanish Outreach Program Allows UA Students to Give Back

August 24, 2021

From the August 2021 Desktop News | Students in The University of Alabama’s Spanish program are taking their language skills outside of the college classroom and into local schools. Each semester, around 15 students with Spanish majors or minors participate in the Spanish Outreach program, a course where they spend at least six hours per week mentoring and tutoring local Hispanic students. Founded in 2003 by Dr. Michael Schnepf, now an emeritus professor of Spanish at UA, Spanish Outreach was […]