SIUESUCCESSFULCOMMUNITIESCOLLABORATIVE

SIUE SUCCESSFUL COMMUNITIES COLLABORATIVE

siue.edu/successful-communities

CODES:Community-OrientedDigitalEngagementScholars

CODES, a three-year project that will implement a general education pathway that introduces underserved students to digital community engagement, has received $100,000 in funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. CODES’ first cohort of scholars will begin in fall 2022.

The project is led by principal investigator (PI) Jessica DeSpain, PhD, professor in the Department of English Language and Literature and co-director of the SIUE Interdisciplinary Research and Informatics (IRIS) Center, and co-PI Connie Frey Spurlock, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Sociology and director of the SIUE Successful Communities Collaborative (SSCC).

“Designed for first-generation, Black, Latinx and/or Pell-eligible students, CODES aims to help students understand the integral role of the humanities in transdisciplinary problem solving at the earliest stages of their college careers,” DeSpain said.

DeSpain will handle most of the project’s curricular design and administration, while Frey Spurlock will focus on building community partnerships. CODES Scholars will work in small research teams that focus on a seemingly unsolvable problem, such as climate change or poverty’s manifestations across rural and urban environments.

The CODESproject blends and builds on multiple successful initiatives that make SIUE stand out regionally and nationally. The IRIS Center introduces more than300 students to digital humanities methods through programming and classroom support eachyear. The SSCC pairs community organizations and municipalities withfaculty and students to address environmental,social and economic needs.