Community-based scholarship has long been a growing presence within higher education as faculty, students, and administrators alike have come to recognize its many benefits, including enhanced scholarship, improved student learning, and strengthened partnerships within their communities.
In this panel discussion, faculty from diverse fields will share their experience undertaking community-based research and teaching. Faculty will discuss the specifics of their scholarship as well as the larger responsibilities incumbent upon scholars who decide to work alongside community partners toward common goals.
Faculty Panelists
Noel Lobley is an Assistant Professor of Critical and Comparative Studies of Music who specializes in ethnomusicology and community-focused sound curation. Noel has collaborated with fellow musicians in South Africa, the US, and Europe on various efforts, such as the Beating Heart Project, to take ethnomusicological sounds recording out of confines of the archives and connect them to the communities whose music they represent.
Rose Nevill is a Research Assistant Professor of Education and Director of the UVA Autism Research Core in the Curry School. Rose is a leader of Supporting Transformative Autism Research, or STAR, an interdisciplinary research initiative dedicated to helping the local autism community through research, personalized interventions for families, and training for area organizations on how best to serve individuals with autism.
Rupa Valdez is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences, where she engages in research, teaching, and advocacy to improve the lives of individuals living with chronic health conditions. Rupa’s outreach work is wide-ranging, encompassing community-based health care in South Africa with Iliso Lamakhosikazi to accessible travel as co-founder of the Blue Trunk Foundation.
Brian N. Williams is an Associate Professor of Public Policy in the Batten School, whose research focuses on the co-production of public safety and order by local law enforcement and community members. Williams has explored this topic with his students both in class and during the Central Virginia Learning Exchange. Brian also oversees the Morris E. and Frances G. Williams Community Engagement Student Assistance Fund which supports Batten students in community engagement efforts.