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2006-2007 Faculty Seed Fund Awardees
GCI Faculty Seed Fund awards go to University of Illinois
at Chicago faculty working on interdisciplinary urban-centered projects
with applied components. The following four UIC faculty members received
Seed Fund grants:
Glenn Hedman
Clinical Associate Professor, Disability and Human Development
College of Applied Health Sciences
Characterizing Accessible Pathway Surface Smoothness in
the Built Environment
Accessibility of pathways in public places is an integral component of the
Americans with Disabilities Act, however, the relative smoothness of a pathway
is acknowledged to have an impact on their utility for individuals with
disabilities. This project attempts to measure the relative smoothness of public
pathways using Fractal Geometry in partnership with Access Living and Progress
Center for Independent Living.
Christine Helfrich
Assistant Professor, Occupational Therapy
College of Applied Health Sciences
Understanding the Paths of Homelessness: Narratives of People
with Mental Illness
This project is designed to illuminate the life history narratives
of people with mental illness who have been homeless in order
to understand how mental illness and the process of becoming
homeless have impacted their lives. Specifically, the project
uses qualitative interviews to investigate how members of this
population came to their current living situation, what their
experiences were before episodes of homelessness, what types of
services they did or did not access, and what services they found
helpful in preventing episodes of homelessness. The project is
in collaboration with Lawson House YMCA, the largest single
room occupancy provider in Illinois.
Pamela Anne Quiroz
Associate Professor, Policy Studies
College of Education
From 'Thin' to 'Thick' Trust? After-School Networks and
the Development of Latino
Student Identities As 'Math Learners'
The purpose of this project is to map the social networks and
cross-generational relationships between twenty fourth-grade
Mexican students and their parents, teachers, university
researchers, and peers involved in an after school mathematics
program designed to promote competency through recognition
and the use of language and culture. The study uses on site
observations of child-adult interactions and student surveys to
collect data on these relationships. The study will provide valuable
information for the teaching and learning of mathematics both
in and out of school, and the central role that cross-generational
relationships, culture, and language play in this process.
Dick Simpson
Professor, Political Science
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Chicago City Council Report and Great Cities Chicago Politics
Web Site
This project has two goals, to issue a new City Council Report
with an analysis of all roll call votes between 2003 and 2006,
and to work with GCI staff to improve the Chicago Politics
Web site. The report will be of help to the media, community
organizations, civic groups, and individual citizens in evaluating
the current (the 2006-2007 academic year) aldermen. Students
collect data on every vote by the city council, and run a statistical
analysis of that data. This information is not currently available
from any other source.
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