Current Projects
Current Projects:
*Raising the Next Generation of Community Leaders: Youth Participatory Action Research on the Near Westside of Syracuse, NY *Whose Land? Settlement, Dispossession and Race in Rural and Urban Wisconsin and New York Environmental and gendered dimensions of popular culture and film |
Raising the Next Generation of Teen Leaders
I am a Co-PI with my colleague Maren King, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, on a multiyear youth participatory action research project funded by AmeriCorps entitled "Raising the Next Generation of Teen Leaders: A youth participatory action research project on the Near West Side of Syracuse, NY." Syracuse Peacemaking Project from the Center for Court Innovation is our community partner.
In Phase 1 of the project, a ten member team of teens who live, work, learn, and play on the NWS determined that they wanted to study crime and violence in their neighborhood. The Phase 1 team learned various qualitative methods and took ethics training (similar to CITI) training in order to prepare for data collection. Using placemaking as a framework, the Phase1 team applied various qualitative methods including photo voice, interviews, focus groups, and more to gather data.
In Phase 2 of the project, which ends in October 2020, six of the teen researchers who where part of the Phase 1 team analyzed the data they collected in Phase 1. Our intent is to use the data to develop various action plans related to our findings. Up until the pandemic hit, our team met weekly on the NSW of Syracuse.
Currently, we are working on two action projects. The first is a series of posters to communicate information about our team, the process, and the outcomes of the research with our stakeholders and community. Two SUNY ESF undergraduate students from Landscape Architecture serve as our design consultants. The second is a Gathering Garden at 601 Tully St. which was designed and built by the research team and completed in September, 2020.
As the teens transition to their new role as inaugural members of the Teen Impact Team at the Syracuse Peacemaking Center, we continue to plan action projects and an evaluation in Year 3 of the grant.
In Phase 1 of the project, a ten member team of teens who live, work, learn, and play on the NWS determined that they wanted to study crime and violence in their neighborhood. The Phase 1 team learned various qualitative methods and took ethics training (similar to CITI) training in order to prepare for data collection. Using placemaking as a framework, the Phase1 team applied various qualitative methods including photo voice, interviews, focus groups, and more to gather data.
In Phase 2 of the project, which ends in October 2020, six of the teen researchers who where part of the Phase 1 team analyzed the data they collected in Phase 1. Our intent is to use the data to develop various action plans related to our findings. Up until the pandemic hit, our team met weekly on the NSW of Syracuse.
Currently, we are working on two action projects. The first is a series of posters to communicate information about our team, the process, and the outcomes of the research with our stakeholders and community. Two SUNY ESF undergraduate students from Landscape Architecture serve as our design consultants. The second is a Gathering Garden at 601 Tully St. which was designed and built by the research team and completed in September, 2020.
As the teens transition to their new role as inaugural members of the Teen Impact Team at the Syracuse Peacemaking Center, we continue to plan action projects and an evaluation in Year 3 of the grant.