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Planning Grants Awarded to Faculty and Staff for Early-Stage DEIJ Projects

Investigators Will Speak on Projects at Sept. 27 Proposers Day Event
August 29, 2022

Eight teams led by staff and faculty members have been awarded WPI planning grants of up to $4,000 for early-stage research and creative projects focused on diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice.

The teams will use funds from the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Planning Grant Program, which the Office of the Vice Provost for Research announced in May 2022, to examine subjects ranging from mentoring for graduate students to data visualization across languages and cultures. The grants are aimed at exploring issues of marginalized groups or inequities at WPI or in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

“These projects will bring together interdisciplinary teams to collaborate on issues of DEIJ, which is a focus of WPI’s strategic plan,” said Bogdan Vernescu, vice provost for research. “I look forward to seeing how these early-stage projects lead to external funding and partnerships for initiatives that will make a difference in this important field.”

Principal investigators of the teams will speak about their projects Sept. 27 at a Proposers Day luncheon. The event will be open to all who applied for the grants, as well as faculty and staff with an interest in DEIJ.

Award recipients and their projects:

 

Holger Droessler, assistant professor in the Department of Humanities and Arts, “Bridging the Disciplinary Divide with DEIJ Research Interest Groups”

 

Rory Flinn, assistant dean of graduate studies, “Building Community and Reducing Attrition Through the Development of a Mentoring Program for WPI Graduate Students from Underrepresented Groups”

 

Lane Harrison, associate professor in the Department of Computer Science, “Data Visualization Across Languages and Cultures”

Courtney Kurlanska, assistant professor of teaching in the Department of Integrative and Global Studies, “Responsible Representation: Assessing Cultural Competency for Equity and Inclusion in Student Posters”

 

Arnold Lane,  director of Multicultural Education and Community Engagement, “Creation of a Bridge to WPI Program Using the Connections Academic Immersion + Pre-Orientation Program Model”

 

Benjamin Pollard, assistant teaching professor in the Department of Physics, “Ungrading in Higher Ed: The Experiences of Marginalized Students”

Stacy Shaw, assistant professor in the Department of Social Science and Policy Studies, “Balancing Rest and Work at WPI: Experiences of First-Generation Students, International Students and Transfer Students”

Hermine Vedogbeton, assistant research professor in the Department of Social Science and Policy Studies, “Black Student Success Program”

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Topics

Ben Pollard
Ben Pollard
Affiliate Research Scientist, Physics
Dr. Pollard’s research focuses on teaching and learning in physics laboratory courses. He is also involved in community building and organization to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice in STEM, including as a core organizer in The Access Network. Previou [...]
read more
Courtney Kurlanska
Courtney Kurlanska
Assistant Professor of Teaching,
Department of Integrative and Global Studies - DIGS
I am an economic anthropologist who conducts both interdisciplinary and applied research. I study global issues from an ethnographic perspective examining local phenomena and placing it within their global context. My work has covered a variety of topics from spirituality and hea [...]
read more
Holger Droessler
Holger Droessler
Associate Professor,
Humanities and Arts - HUA
I am an historian of the post-Civil War United States, with a special focus on imperialism, capitalism, labor, and Oceania. In my first book, Coconut Colonialism: Workers and the Globalization of Samoa (Harvard University Press, 2022), I argue that the globalization of Samoa at t [...]
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Rory Flinn
Rory Flinn
Assistant Dean, Graduate Studies, Graduate & Professional Studies
As the Director of Graduate Student Professional Development, my mission is to design, facilitate, and lead high quality professional development programming that meets the needs for WPI’s amazing graduate students so that they are best equipped to identify their best career fit [...]
read more
Stacy Shaw
Stacy Shaw
Assistant Professor, Social Science & Policy Studies
Stacy Shaw’s research focuses on understanding creative thinking in mathematics, how anxiety and other threat experiences affect mathematical cognition and reasoning, as well as how classroom experiences can affect performance and learning in STEM. Recently she has become interes [...]
read more
Bogdan Vernescu
Bogdan Vernescu
Vice President and Vice Provost for Research and Innovation,
Office of Vice President and Vice Provost for Research and Innovation
Bogdan Vernescu is professor of mathematical sciences and academic leader. His research is in applied mathematics for multiscale materials sciences, focusing on the characterization of material properties of composites, porous media, suspensions, emulsions and electrorheological/ [...]
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