Brice Nordquist, founder of the Engaged Humanities Network, welcomed guests to the inaugural EHN Showcase at the Salt City Market in Downtown Syracuse.
The research and collaborative work of teams from Syracuse University in partnership with community organizations was front and center at the Engaged Humanities Network (EHN) showcase held in Downtown Syracuse’s Salt City Market on May 3.
The event marked EHN’s first open-house style celebration of community-engaged projects, courses and creative scholarship generated by interdisciplinary groups from the University and their local partners (view a full list of participants at the end of the article).
Guests perused information tables and chatted with researchers to learn more about their respective projects. Throughout the day, presenters took the stage to provide an overview of their research and share their team’s accomplishments.
Sarah Nahar, a Ph.D. candidate in religion in the College of Arts and Sciences and environmental studies at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, served as the emcee throughout the day and introduced each presenter.
The Engaged Humanities Network, which was founded by Brice Nordquist, Dean’s Professor of Community Engagement in the College of Arts and Sciences and a professor of writing and rhetoric, has been seeding and supporting innovative opportunities for faculty and students to engage in research, teaching and learning that immerses them in the community. By applying their knowledge and skills to these initiatives, members of EHN help build relationships of trust and mutual support across communities.
This commitment to cultivating scholarly work for the betterment of society ties directly to human thriving and experiential inquiry, key areas of distinctive excellence in the University’s Academic Strategic Plan. Over the past four years, EHN has helped to foster collaborations that have connected teams at the University with 35 community-based organizations. In addition, EHN has supported 14 courses, 35 active projects and over 350 faculty, staff and students who are engaged in community work.
Phil Arnold (second from left), associate professor of religion in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Sandy Bigtree (second from right), a citizen of the Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne, talked with guests about the Indigenous Values Initiative.
The student, faculty and community teams at the EHN Showcase included Project Mend (Syracuse University with Center for Community Alternatives); Write Out (Syracuse University and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, with YWCA); Doctrine of Discovery (Syracuse University with Skä•noñh Great Law of Peace Center); Breedlove Readers (Syracuse University with South Side Communication Center); Narratio Fellowship (Syracuse University with North Side Learning Center); La Casita Mother’s and Women’s Group; Listening to the Elders (Syracuse University with Skä•noñh Great Law of Peace Center and Onondaga Nation); Spanish in Action (LLL with La Casita); Data Warriors (Syracuse University with Nottingham High School); Environmental Storytelling CNY (EHN with SUNY ESF); Syracuse University Research in Physics (Syracuse University with Syracuse City School District); The Turning Lens Collective/Family Pictures Syracuse (SU with P.E.A.C.E, Inc.); Natural Science Explorers Program (Syracuse University with North Side Learning Center); CODA Educational Support Program (SU with Deaf New Americans Advocacy, Inc.); Photography and Literacy (PAL) (Syracuse University Art Museum with Mercy Works); Teens with a Movie Camera (VPA in collaboration with Nottingham High School); along with members of the inaugural Engaged Courses Initiative: ENG 420: Everyday Media and Social Justice (Professor Roger Hallas and students), LIN 300: Linguistics at Work (Professor Amanda Brown and students) and WRT 114: Creative Non-fiction: Writing and Translating Courses (Professor Sevinç Türkkan and students).
Learn more about the Engaged Humanities Network.
For more photos and videos of the event, visit the College of Arts and Sciences’ website.
