Digital Community Engagement Pathway
FAIN: AKA-260418-18
Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville (Edwardsville, IL 62026-0001)
Jessica DeSpain (Project Director: October 2017 to September 2019)
Design of a curricular pathway for undergraduate
students, integrating humanities research, digital humanities, social science
methods, and community engagement.
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and Lewis and Clark Community College will plan a Digital Community Engagement Pathway to unite faculty and students in research teams beyond the classroom’s traditional boundaries. The Pathway will recruit a cohort of underserved students as fellows who will work in teams of five with one faculty member and a community partner to address large-scale social problems using methods central to the digital humanities and social sciences. Teams will meet with others in their cohort to increase their interdisciplinary focus. The Pathway will explore direct applications of the humanities and social sciences while providing underrepresented and first generation students meaningful learning experiences to increase retention rates and student success. The committee will conduct relevant research, visit comparable programs, collect survey data, develop a recruitment plan, create a sustainable model for community partnerships, and finalize curricula.
Associated Products
Digital Community Engagement at SIUE: How a Regional University can have a Global Impact (Conference Paper/Presentation)Title: Digital Community Engagement at SIUE: How a Regional University can have a Global Impact
Author: Katie Knowles
Author: Ben Ostermeier
Abstract: The IRIS Center at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) partners digital humanities scholars with the public through cross-disciplinary initiatives that encourage innovative solutions to global problems. SIUE is located in Illinois near St. Louis–a diverse region of urban, suburban, and rural areas, divided along racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic lines. IRIS brings digital humanities programming to the region by embedding itself in the community through partnerships with local organizations. IRIS works with middle and high schools through projects such as Digital East St. Louis, Conversation Toward a Brighter Future, and the STEM meets Humanities initiative’s digital humanities clubs–all helping local youth develop independent perspectives and devise solutions to issues important to them. Students document their work through oral histories, podcasts, videos, photographs, and other digital formats that are shared online. These students have created everything from interactive area water quality maps to podcasts about the culture of their hometowns to digital stories about instances of intergenerational conflict in their schools and their proposed solutions. Despite SIUE’s status as a regional university, IRIS has managed to have a significant international impact.
Date: 03/22/2018
Primary URL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bR86KbXb3gPrimary URL Description: Link provides a YouTube video of the presentation.
Secondary URL:
https://iris.siue.edu/pathway/presentations/Secondary URL Description: Link provides slides from the presentation.
Conference Name: Global Digital Humanities Symposium 2018
NEH Humanities Connections and the Digital Community Engagement Pathway (Public Lecture or Presentation)Title: NEH Humanities Connections and the Digital Community Engagement Pathway
Abstract: In this webinar for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities , Jessica Despain presented details about the Digital Community Engagement Pathway project funded through the National Endowment for the Humanities Humanities Connections program. DeSpain discussed best practices for forming interdisciplinary partnerships, securing institutional buy-in, and designing a model that will successfully support underserved students.
Author: Jessica DeSpain
Date: 08/22/2018
Location: online
Primary URL:
https://iris.siue.edu/pathway/presentations/Primary URL Description: Link provides access to webinar slides.
Digital Community Engagement at a Regional University (Conference Paper/Presentation)Title: Digital Community Engagement at a Regional University
Author: Jill Anderson
Author: Jessica Despain
Author: Kristine Hildebrandt
Author: Katie Knowles
Abstract: At a regional, masters-comprehensive university located in a county characteristic of the rust belt’s declining industries and falling populations, significant creativity is needed for a digital humanities center to develop innovative projects that engage a variety of communities while attempting to combat the digital divide. The panel will begin with a brief overview of the center’s projects and methods that foster collaboration and creation of local and international communities through digital humanities programming. Center faculty will then provide specific examples of community-focused initiatives.
One collaborative effort is Conversation Toward a Brighter Future 2.0, involving partnerships with a public humanities center and local schools, which aims to mitigate intergenerational conflict by studying concepts of aging alongside social and cultural narratives on these topics and by creating digital storytelling projects about personal and local experiences. The Digital Community Engagement Pathway directly recruits underserved students to take their education outside the walls of the classroom by partnering with community organizations to address major social problems through digital humanities methods. The Manang Languages and Nepal Earthquakes projects highlight the unique challenges of international community engagement and how technology obstacles can reshape the meaning of community collaboration.
When working with any community, we provide training and facilitate program activities in a way that gives participants agency and, by extension, greater ownership over projects they create. We will conclude by examining how these projects provide people opportunities to use digital humanities methods to ensure their voices are heard regarding issues that directly affect their communities.
Date: 10/04/2018
Primary URL:
https://iris.siue.edu/pathway/presentations/Primary URL Description: Link provides slides from talk.
Conference Name: Digital Frontiers, 2018, Kansas University
Digital Community Engagement Pathway Website (Web Resource)Title: Digital Community Engagement Pathway Website
Author: Jessica DeSpain
Author: Katie Knowles
Author: Connie Frey Spurlock
Author: Jennifer Cline
Abstract: The Digital Community Engagement Pathway Website provides an environmental scan studying assets and needs at Southern Illinois University and Lewis and Clark Community College. In addition, the site provides access to all presentations, curricular materials, and resources developed throughout the course of the planning year.
Year: 2018
Primary URL:
https://iris.siue.edu/pathway/Primary URL Description: Link to website
DCEP121: Communicating Globally and Locally (Course or Curricular Material)Title: DCEP121: Communicating Globally and Locally
Author: Jessica Despain
Abstract: a syllabus for the entry-level, skills-based course in the Digital Community Engagement Pathway. The course emphasizes multi-modal writing, systems thinking, and problem mapping.
Year: 2019
Primary URL:
https://iris.siue.edu/pathway/syllabi/Primary URL Description: Link to the sample syllabi created during the grant period.
Audience: Undergraduate
DCEP123: Research and Systems Thinking (Course or Curricular Material)Title: DCEP123: Research and Systems Thinking
Author: Jen Cline
Abstract: A sample syllabus for the second-semester required research methods courses for the Digital Community Engagement Pathway.
Year: 2019
Primary URL:
https://iris.siue.edu/pathway/syllabi/Primary URL Description: Link to the sample syllabi on the Digital Community Engagement Pathway website.
Audience: Undergraduate
DCEP221: Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Scientific Method (Course or Curricular Material)Title: DCEP221: Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Scientific Method
Author: Michael Hankins
Abstract: A sample syllabus for the third-semester core skills-based corse in the Digital Community Engagement Pathway emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches to the scientific method.
Year: 2019
Primary URL:
https://iris.siue.edu/pathway/syllabi/Primary URL Description: Link to sample syllabi on the Digital Community Engagement Pathway website.
Audience: Undergraduate
Common Problem Workshop (Conference/Institute/Seminar)Title: Common Problem Workshop
Author: Dr. James Liszka
Abstract: Last year a committee at SIUE was awarded National Endowment for the Humanities funds to plan the Digital Community Engagement Pathway, a program for students who will take a set of core courses emphasizing interdisciplinary research and problem-solving methods. The committee has brought in Professor Liszka to share his work on the similarly designed Common Problem Project.
The Common Problem Project is a consortium of five State University of New York campuses, and is funded by the National Science Foundation, the State University of New York and Teagle Foundation. The purpose of the project is to promote cross-disciplinary teaching and learning, while developing problem-solving skills and civic engagement in students. Faculty from different disciplines are paired and their relevant, existing classes are coordinated to include a joint project, focused on a problem or problems of common interest. The problem can be either local, regional, or wider still. Students work in cross-disciplinary teams to devise solutions to the problem(s). Community partners and instructors serve as expert sources, but emphasis is placed on the self-direction of the learning in student teams.
The talk will give an overview of the pedagogy, practice and logistics of doing common problem projects. Several examples will be used to illustrate the variety of projects and their impact on students and communities, including SUNY Oswego’s “Good Neighbor” project, promoting local business, the “Sustainability in the Schools” project at SUNY Oneonta, involving a collaboration of elementary, secondary, and college students. The “Sustainability and Film” project at SUNY Plattsburgh, and the “Stigma in the Opioid Crisis,” a collaboration among SUNY Queensbury, SUNY Plattsburgh, and Roosevelt University in Chicago. Several other classroom collaborations will be discussed.
Date Range: 03/21/2019
Location: Center for Faculty Development and Innovation at SIUE
Primary URL:
http://www.siue.edu/facultycenter/events/2019/03/James_Liszkra_03_21_19.shtmlPrimary URL Description: Link to information advertising the workshop.
Digital Community Engagement Pathway Training (Conference/Institute/Seminar)Title: Digital Community Engagement Pathway Training
Author: Jessica DeSpain
Author: Connie Frey Spurlock
Author: Michael Hankins
Author: Howard Rambsy
Abstract: A three-day workshop to discuss research team methods, teaching courses with African American content, mentoring underserved students, designing service learning assignments, developing community partnerships, teaching students about digital ethics, and integrating digital pedagogies into classroom assignments.
Date Range: 07/22/2018 to 07/24/2018
Location: SIUE's Center for Faculty Development and Innovation
Primary URL:
http://www.siue.edu/facultycenter/events/2019/07/dcep_workshops.shtmlPrimary URL Description: Website advertising the Pathway training and allowing user registration.