School of Interdisciplinary Studies and Professional Development
School of Interdisciplinary Studies and Professional Development
Submit by 5 p.m., May 31, 2022
The School of Interdisciplinary Studies and Professional Development (ISPD) and the Center for Community Engagement (CCE) announce a call for proposals for the 2022-2024 Interdisciplinary Investigations Research Series. The aim of this new two-year series is to encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration to address community-identified needs, enhance community capacity to solve pressing challenges, and to prepare the next generation of engaged scholars.
The Interdisciplinary Investigations initiative is underwritten by the Southern Miss Fund for Academic Excellence. We thank the donors for their support of these exciting interdisciplinary projects at Southern Miss. We also thank the Provost for his long-standing commitment to interdisciplinary projects and scholarship. In addition to the upcoming series, the fund paid for the 2019-2020 and 2021-2022 series. |
A successful proposal will involve two to three faculty members from multiple disciplines, with the support of an identified stakeholder from the community. Collaboration across schools, colleges and campuses is encouraged. Research will include up to four undergraduate students identified during the first year of the project.
If you are interested in applying but do not have a community partner identified or would like to brainstorm potential topics, please contact Christy Kayser at christy.kayserFREEMississippi or Ann Marie Kinnell at ann.kinnellFREEMississippi. Potential areas of study important to our region include but are not limited to homelessness, mental health, racial equity, economic mobility, early childhood and maternal outcomes, juvenile delinquency, public health, career readiness, environmental health, and domestic violence.
Proposed research projects should adhere to the principles of community-based research with faculty and community members working collaboratively to conduct research for “the purpose of solving a pressing community problem or effecting social change” (Community-Based Research and Higher Education, Strand et al., 2004, p.3). The collaboration should incorporate best practices and principles of campus-community partnerships (such as those outlined in CCPH’s Principles of Partnership.)
Year One will focus on the planning and development of the project. Year Two will focus on data collection, analysis, and reporting.
Submit proposals in PDF format via email to Dr.%20Ann%20Marie%20Kinnell, Director, ISPD, by 5 p.m., May 31, 2022. Funded proposals will be notified by June 15, 2022. Please contact Dr. Kinnell with any questions. |
The 2021-2022 series, Medical Encounters, was organized by four faculty members:
Information about their two events and their course can be found at their website: https://usmmedicalencounters.hcommons.org/
Proposal: Topics included:
(1) history of uses, including religious, medical, and recreational uses;
(2) sources of drugs, such as opium poppy plants in this case;
(3) the mechanisms of action, or pharmacology, of drugs in reducing pain;
(4) the legal and illegal business of producing, marketing, and selling drugs;
(5) intervention and the treatment of addictions;
(6) the public policy of dealing with drugs, drug users, and drug dealers.
Coordinators: Mac Alford, Biological, Environmental, and Earth Sciences; Ragan Downey, Criminal Justice, Forensic Science, and Security; Michael Madson, Psychology; and Julie Pigza, Mathematics and Natural Sciences
Spring 2020 course: IDS 350-H002 (8505), TTh 1:00p.m. - 2:15p.m.
Topic: Opioids: From Painkilling to Pain Causing, A Multidisciplinary Analysis of
the Opioid Epidemic.
Instructors: Mac Alford (Biology), Michael Madson (Psychology), Ragan Downey (CJ/Forensic
Science)
This class considered opioids and the opioid addiction crisis from the angles of history, medicinal plants, chemistry/pharmacology, pain treatment, addiction interventions and treatments, medical professional training, policies and practice in criminal justice, and societal impact. Students developed a multifaceted view of, and be better prepared to help address, this important and timely public health epidemic.
Proposal: This project investigated civil rights and social justice issues in Mississippi jails through an examination of the conditions within jails and the opportunities for reform. The series included a documentary being made by undergraduate students as well as through panels featuring civil rights leaders, law enforcement officials, reporters, and Southern Miss faculty members.
Coordinators: Douglas Bristol, Humanities; Vincenzo Mistretta, Communication; Team: Deanne Stephens, Humanities; Chris Campbell, Communication; Cheryl Jenkins, Communication/Black Studies; Wes Johnson, Criminal Justice, Forensic Science, and Security; Alan Thompson, Criminal Justice, Forensic Science, and Security; and Michael Wigginton, Criminal Justice, Forensic Science, and Security
Proposal: This project investigated aspects of Native American life and ways in the Gulf South from ancient to contemporary times, using a variety of research methods and sources. Faculty and students examined ethnographic and qualitative data collection as well as perspectives on indigenous life collected from primary colonial sources (Spanish, French, and English)
Coordinators: Tammy Greer, Psychology; Joshua Haynes, Humanities; Jeanne Gillespie, Social Science
and Global Studies; Team: Bridget Hayden, Social Science and Global Studies; Jennifer
Lemacks, Kinesiology and Nutrition; Deanne Stephens, Humanities
Spring 2020 course: IDS 350-H001 (8163), MW 1:00p-2:15p, HYBRID
Topic: In the Footsteps of the Ancestors: Native American Travel, Trade, and Natural
Resource Use in the Gulf South
Instructors: Jeanne Gillespie (World Languages), Tammy Greer (Psychology), Josh Haynes
(History)
Come learn about our American Indian heritage along the Gulf Coast. Did you know Pascagoula, MS has been a city known for boatbuilding for more than 5000 years? Did you know tamales got to Mississippi before Europeans did? Did you know that some of the first contacts between Europeans and American Indian communities occurred in our region and that there are archives filled with documents describing American Indian ways of life and cultures in Spanish, French and English? If you are interested in exploring more about these questions and the lives of our American Indian neighbors, take IDS 350.