Community Based Research

How do I create responsible and meaningful community research? What role does co-creation play in my research design? How do my own identities and personal history shape my research interests? How do I meld my interests with that of my community partners’?

Offered as both a service learning two-part course (Fall 2021 ANTH A525/Spring 2022 ANTH A526) and single-semester course (Spring 2022 ANTH A525) this course challenges and explores what it means to be “community engaged” and how to develop engagement that is receptive to and structured around community input. In ANTH A525, we will focus on theoretical discussions about hierarchical structures of power, legacies of colonialism, and developing methodologies that center equity and ethical and sustainable collaboration. When taught as a two-part service-learning course, a key component of the course will put theory into practice through weekly participation in local community projects as observers and volunteers. The first semester (ANTHA-525) will be used to build relationship with the community partner, while the second (ANTH A-526) will be dedicated to designing and executing a collaborative community-driven research project. This course will equip students from broad research backgrounds with the tools to formulate research rooted in Community Based Research methodologies.