Civic Engagement Research Fund Awards
2010 - 2011
"Civic Engagement and Disability: using advocacy and technology to advance the political participation of people with disabilities"Faculty awardee:
|
"Co Census: Collaborative Exploration of Social Data in Social Spaces"
Faculty awardee:
Leilah LyonsDepartment of Computer Science
College of Engineering
This project proposes to expand the social capacity for making sense of complex data sets by developing an innovative public exhibition that will empower diverse groups of museum visitors to interact with United States census data. The goal is to activate and transform data into useful knowledge to foster democratic inquiry and action. Through the design, prototype development, and study of this exhibit, the researchers will investigate how a technology-augmented space can encourage the kinds of person-person interactions with such data that can lead to active participation in the kinds of critical discussions that are necessary for a healthy democracy.
Executive Summary [Click Here]
Full Report [Click Here]
"Civic and Community Engagement of Filipinos in Chicago"Faculty awardee: Anna Guevarra Department of Sociology & Asian American Studies College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
This project addresses disparities in civic engagement and participation among Filipinos in Chicago. Studies of Filipino immigrant communities reveal that the kind of migration that has prioritized family reunification in the last decade has resulted in a large proportion of Filipinos entering the country with lower levels of educational, linguistic, and financial capital who are funneled to low-wage work with little chance of mobility. Executive Summary [Click Here] |
"The Interplay between Public and Private Actors in Shaping Local Immigration Policy"
Faculty awardee:
Nilda Flores-GonzalezDepartment of Sociology & Latin American & Latino Studies
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
This project is a multi-year, multi method research study analyzing how localities in the Chicago area have responded to high levels of immigration from Latin America over the last 30 years. Local government reactions to increased immigration range from integrative or inclusive policies to extremely restrictive and exclusionary–indeed often ruled unconstitutional–policies. This disparity in local immigration policy across the United States requires an analysis of the political process in order to understand why localities respond in a broad spectrum of ways to demographic changes brought on by immigration.
Executive Summary [Click Here]
Full Report [Click Here]
"Becoming Citizens: Youth e-Engagement in Civic and Public Policy"Faculty awardee:
 Kheir Al-KodmanyDepartment of Urban Planning & Policy College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs
Young Americans are largely disengaged from civic life, especially when considering traditional measures like face-to-face participation in neighborhood activities. However, an increasing number of the youth are technologically savvy, as evident in daily use of online forum and a wide spectrum of electronic means including iPods, iPads, iPhones, e-mails, video, virtual reality, the Internet, Facebook, twitter, etc. This research investigates ways to harness youth's powerful online social networking into public voice, political activism, and community-based participation. Executive Summary [Click Here] |
Research
Helping Citizens Understand Options to Deal with Illinois' Fiscal Crisis
Comments from a reader:
“This is an interesting topic because the “government” has a tendency to not inform the public about different tools that can assist them in this hard time. From personal experience, I know that without proper research you may lose out. This can be tough for people with language barriers or who are not technological savvy.”