In this REU project, the PI-team recruits a diverse group of students drawn primarily from area community colleges for anthropological research projects on neighborhoods in Baltimore utilizing anthropological methods through the lens of a public anthropology that demonstrates the relevance of anthropology to both student researchers and to community participants. Over the course of 6 weeks in the summer, 15 students attend seminars held at Towson University that are led by faculty from Towson and from area community colleges. In addition, participants attend workshops facilitated by community residents and organizers introducing them to field sites in Baltimore's neighborhoods. While working on their own ethnographic projects utilizing visual anthropology, participant observation, interviews and archival work, students simultaneously collect and analyze data with the assistance of, and in cooperation with, community participants. These projects will take many forms, but all include multimedia representations of the lives of people in communities that can be utilized by people in their own efforts to develop their communities. When participants leave Towson, they spend the next months analyzing data and completing their projects for presentation to the community the following May. During this time, they maintain a virtual community with other participants, including faculty and community associates, for additional collaboration and mentorship. After the end of the REU summer, faculty remain in contact with student cohorts in order to facilitate transition to a 4-year university and to assist with efforts to disseminate results.
Intellectual merit: 1) publishable undergraduate research papers; 2) reflexive, documentary multimedia posted online that demonstrate the benefits of university-community partnerships for undergraduate research and for community-defined goals; and 3). a pedagogical model for general education courses that include an original research component.
Broader impacts: 1) multimedia presentations created for public audiences highlighting the lives, problems and aspirations of Baltimore residents in their home communities; 2) electronic networks of students, faculty and community organizers interested in community-based research and dissemination; and 3) a network of faculty from Towson and area community colleges interested in encouraging community college students to pursue research and post-graduate work.
