End of 2019 letter from Director Joe Hoereth
Looking back at Fall 2019, and forward into 2020
Friends of IPCE,
I hope everyone has had a wonderful 2019 Fall semester! I'm excited to share what we here at the Institute has been up to this semester as well as provide a bit of a vision into our 2020 activities.
We hosted two engaging Civic Engagement Lunch Talks this semester. The first was held on West campus in the School of Public Health with Dr. Sage Kim. She presented her research on community organizations that serve predominantly Black and Brown poor communities and their ability to increase neighborhood social capital by linking community members to resources to improve health care.
We also hosted Dr. Yamilé Molina of the School of Public Health and their community partner Araceli Lucio from ELLAS and the Resurrection Project, who discussed opportunities to support marginalized and resilient populations’ participation in community and political discourse. Their research focused on groups of older Latinas in Pilsen, Little Village, South Chicago, and East Side communities and their access to breast health care.
IPCE is happy to announce four new Civic Engagement Research awardees: Nicole Nguyen, Kathleen Yang-Clayton and Janet Smith, Thea Crum, and Ning Ai. These talented academics will be covering a range of topics in their research, including mental health effects of anti-terrorism initiatives, Census 2020 readiness, participatory budgeting in Chicago Public Schools, and food waste and resource sharing. We are excited to see the products of this research next year.
We are also happy to announce the return of our Discourse Awards, which are awards for UIC faculty and staff who plan and execute a public discourse event on policy-related subjects. This year, we awarded Therese Quinn, Joy Hammel, Cindy Klein-Banai, and Jeni Hebert-Beirne. Stay tuned to IPCE’s website and social channels to learn more about these public discourse events and to get involved. For more information about Discourse or Civic Engagement Research Awards, visit our website under the Engagement and Research tabs respectively.
This year, IPCE celebrated our 10th Year Anniversary with a lovely ceremony and reception in University Hall. We recognized individuals who have been integral in getting the Institute to where it is now, and have contributed to our mission throughout the years. To see photos and memories from this event, check out our Facebook album, “IPCE’s 10th Year Anniversary Celebration.”
We have also featured great work from across campus, including a lunch talk with Dr. Jalene Shoener who runs an advocacy and legislative engagement program for medical student and a workshop with Dr. Kathleen Yang-Clayton who spoke on ways to get involved in Census 2020 as well as what is at stake for Illinois. We are always excited to partner with practitioners of civic engagement and to highlight their work.
You can keep up with the Institute through our semester newsletters, our website, and our social channels to see what we’re up to. We hope to see you around online or at one of our events.
Civically onward into 2020,
Joseph K. Hoereth, PhD