The Engaged Scholar E-Newsletter

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January 2024

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Message from the Vice Provost

Kwesi Brookins, Vice Provost for University Outreach and Engagement

Looking Back and Moving Forward

As we begin a new year, many of us will take time to reflect on the joys and challenges of the past 12 months and the opportunities for growth that lie ahead. That’s especially true for me, as January 1 marked one year since I returned to MSU to become vice provost for University Outreach and Engagement.

What I have most enjoyed also happens to be what matters most to me: relationships. It’s been rewarding to get to know our diverse, talented team here at UOE and, by extension, our partners on campus and across the community. I have also appreciated the warm welcome from our students, faculty, staff, and senior leadership at MSU.

Looking back, I am proud of the ways UOE has engaged with the broader community this past year. We have introduced several initiatives, including ... read more

Featured MSU Engaged Scholars

Science teacher Shirley Brezzell (left, at picnic table) shares her experiences with other teachers who participated in a professional learning community as part of Teaching Science Outdoors: Urban Partnerships.

Teaching Science Outdoors: Planting the Seeds of Curiosity

Gail Richmond, Ph.D.
Associate Chairperson and Professor
Director of Teacher Preparation Programs
Department of Teacher Education
College of Education

When Detroit public school teacher Shirley Brezzell introduced a unit on squirrels and their habitats, she took her eager third graders outside.

The children looked all around the school grounds, but they did not see a single bushy tail. She asked them to think about why.

“They realized that there were no trees,” she recalled. “So there were no squirrels.”

Brezzell took matters into her own hands, launching a transformation of the school grounds that has provided her students with an outdoor oasis where they can learn about science—and just be kids ... read more

The HeardAI team includes scholars, students, and community members representing diverse backgrounds, including (from left): Nihar Mahapatra, Jia Bin, Caryn Herring, Anne Marie Ryan, Megan Arney (project manager), J. Scott Yaruss, and Hope Gerlach-Houck.

Building Voice AI That Works for Everyone

Nihar Mahapatra, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering

Ann Marie Ryan, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Psychology, College of Social Science

J. Scott Yaruss, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BCS-F, F-ASHA
Professor, Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, College of Communication Arts and Sciences

For people who stutter, Siri, Alexa, and other voice-activated artificial intelligence (AI) technologies can feel like foes rather than friends.

These technologies—hailed by most for their efficiency and convenience—fail on all counts for people who stutter like Jia Bin, an MSU doctoral student from China who leads the East Lansing chapter of the National Stuttering Association and belongs to the World Stuttering Network.

“It’s daily,” said Bin of her frustrations using automated ... read more

Mekong River with small grassy islands dispersed throughout the river with mountainous hills in background.

Amplifying the Voices of the Mekong River Basin

Amanda Flaim, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Sociology
James Madison College

Department of Sociology
College of Social Science

The Mekong River has long been referred to as a “biological treasure.” The river winds through six countries in Southeast Asia—China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam—providing an abundance of resources, including fresh water, food, and transportation, for the nearly 60 million people who live along its 2,700-mile-long bank. The biodiversity of the river is said to rival that of the Amazon, with thousands of species of plants, fish, birds, mammals, and more calling the Mekong “home.”

In recent years, the river has begun to experience the detrimental effects of industrializing agriculture, water grabbing (unequal distribution ... read more

Announcements and Events

Community-Engaged Scholarship Write-Ins
MSU Office for Public Engagement and Scholarship
January 12, 2024 (Virtual and East Lansing, Michigan)
February 2, 2024 (Virtual and East Lansing, Michigan)
March 8, 2024 (Virtual and East Lansing, Michigan)

Writing Winning Grants (Virtual Webinars)
MSU Office of Research and Innovation
Day 1: January 26, 2024
Day 2: February 2, 2024

Creating or Refining Your Community-Engaged Learning Syllabus (Virtual Workshop)
MSU Center for Community Engaged Learning
February 8, 2024

Turning Community Work Into Publications (Virtual Workshop)
Engagement Scholarship Consortium
February 9, 2024

Outreach and Engagement Practitioners Network Energy Boost (Virtual Workshop)
Engagement Scholarship Consortium
February 15, 2024

Fundamentals of Publishing Your Community-Engaged Scholarship
MSU Office for Public Engagement and Scholarship
East Lansing, Michigan
February 16, 2024

Community-Engaged Scholarship Writing Retreat
MSU Office for Public Engagement and Scholarship
East Lansing, Michigan
February 26-28, 2024

Preparing for the 2026 Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement (Virtual Workshop)
Engagement Scholarship Consortium
February 28, 2024

The Community-Engaged Learning Student Experience (Virtual Workshop)
MSU Center for Community Engaged Learning
March 11, 2024

Selecting a Journal for Your Community-Engaged Scholarship
MSU Office for Public Engagement and Scholarship
East Lansing, Michigan
March 15, 2024

MSU Science Festival
MSU University Outreach and Engagement
East Lansing and statewide, Michigan
April 1-30, 2024

Science Olympiad 2024 National Tournament
MSU University Outreach and Engagement
East Lansing, Michigan
May 24-25, 2024

Summer Intensive on Community-Engaged Scholarship
East Lansing, Michigan
June 3-7, 2024
Applications due: April 5, 2024

Outreach and Engagement Resources

MSU Graduate Certification in Community Engagement
This program prepares graduate students for academic careers that integrate scholarship with community engagement. It offers students a transcript notation indicating that they have completed the program.

Community Engagement Toolkits
Designed by the Center for Community Engaged Learning to guide and support MSU faculty, students, staff, and community partners.

Transformations in Higher Education: The Scholarship of Engagement Series
Available from Michigan State University Press

The Engaged Scholar Magazine

The 2021 issue of the Engaged Scholar Magazine looks at how Michigan State University faculty, students, and staff and their community partners adapted to work with each other during the pandemic to create a "new normal" that we can all live with into the future.

View the latest volume

Looking for Community Partners?

Collaboration and partnership with communities are at the core of engaged scholarship. In all of its work, University Outreach and Engagement emphasizes university-community partnerships that are collaborative, participatory, empowering, systemic, transformative, and anchored in scholarship. If you are a faculty or academic staff member wanting to establish a community partnership, University Outreach and Engagement may be able to help you. Our staff and researchers have connections across the state in areas such as education, mental health, human services, business, and government. For more information, contact Burton Bargerstock, Executive Director of the Office for Public Engagement and Scholarship, at (517) 353-8977 or bb@msu.edu.

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We would like to hear from you. Contact us with comments, suggestions, announcements, or “engaged scholar” project information for future e-newsletters. Send to: cit@msu.edu.

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