Hi all! We hope your summer has been enjoyable. In this newsletter, we share some insights from the 2025 ICER, upcoming grant opportunities, and another Alumni spotlight. Please continue to share any information that you think the broader\u00a0ICER\u00a0community might be interested in!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We want to bring attention to Peter Levine\u2019s blog post<\/strong><\/a> reflecting on 2025 ICER at UCLA this past summer. Peter shares some important thoughts on the state of CER in the discipline. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Community Action Research Initiative (CARI) Grants (Deadline 8\/28\/2025)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The American Sociological Association invites applications for CARI grants for projects that bring social science knowledge and methods to bear in addressing community-based problems. Note that a co-applicant must have a PhD in sociology to be eligible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sociological Initiatives\u2019s Community-Based Participatory Research Projects Up to $25K (Deadline 8\/15\/2025)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Proposals are invited for community-academic partnerships that link an explicit research design to a concrete social action strategy. Projects should have specifically stated social change goals. In the past, SIF has funded projects in civil rights, community organizing, crime and law, education, health, housing, immigration, labor organizing, and language\/literacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Elizabeth “Jordie” Davies <\/p>\n\n\n\n Assistant Professor, Political Science, and Faculty affiliate member of the UCI Culture and Theory Ph.D. Program, University of California, Irvine Project Summary:\u00a0My book-in-progress, Alienated Activism: The Process and Promise of Black Social Movements,\u00a0<\/em>proposes the framework \u201cAlienated Activism\u201d as a new model of Black social movements. This model asserts that anti-Blackness creates alienating conditions for Black people. Experiences with anti-Black racism, violence, and exclusion make Black people feel that they “have to do something” because the political system will not work for them without additional pressure and advocacy. Thus, these alienating conditions prompt Black people to seek out the Black political organizing and education traditions. Through these traditions, alienated activists gain political opportunities and learn new political values, including identity affirmation, collective action, and transformation.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n My core case is the Black Lives Matter mass movement, particularly in Chicago. Through interviews with 75 activists and organizers from racial justice and progressive groups, I tell the story of the BLM movement in the city. In particular, I consider how Black alienated activists took the injustice of anti-Black police violence and mobilized a city wide movement. In particular, I focus on the organizational stories of the BYP100, the Chicago Alliance, and BLM Chicago, also drawing upon organizational archives, political education materials, and news articles.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n What have you learned about CER through that research?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Relationships are at the core of the Black political organizing tradition. To do difficult political work, you need to trust your fellow organizers. Similarly, I find that trusting relationships are important for civically engaged researchers. It took time for me to connect with the organizers and activists I needed to speak to, and I did that by getting to know people. Honesty, communication, and, sometimes, just\u00a0being around<\/em>\u00a0are key to building community around a research project.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Any ethical considerations in pursuit of that research?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Always! I think it’s important to let people know what the project is about, as well as how you will use their words and characterize their responses. It is a profound privilege to be entrusted with people’s stories. In light of that trust, attending closely to accuracy, care, and transparency with participants are important foundations for the work.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Thank you to Jordie for sharing this important research!<\/strong> We need more resources for civic engagement teaching materials!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Do you have resources that we could share on our website? We\u2019re looking to collect a wide range of materials, including syllabi, teaching exercises, classroom activities, and assessment tools. If you have resources to contribute, please share them in this\u00a0Google Form<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hi all! We are excited to share the latest updates and opportunities for the\u00a0ICER\u00a0community as we head into summer.\u00a0We encourage you to continue sharing opportunities and events with us for our newsletter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Strategies for Teaching American Politics During Turbulent Times (6\/5 at 1 pm EST)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Join the panel next week for a webinar with expert panelists for a discussion on teaching American Politics in times of political uncertainty and crisis. Participation is free, but registration is required. Responding to the current political environment in the United States, the panelists will share how they are rethinking the Introduction to American Politics class. Panelists will address overarching questions about structuring the course, incorporating insights from Comparative Politics, and teaching particular topics. Panelists will also share specific strategies or activities they use in their classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n APSA Summer Centennial Grants Open (Due 6\/15)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Summer cycle of the Centennial Center Research Grants supports research in all fields of political science conducted by political scientists in non-tenure track or contingent positions; political science faculty of all ranks who are employed in departments that do not grant PhDs, including community college faculty and graduate students in political science disciplines. Individual grant proposals may not exceed $2,500. Applications are due on June 15, 2025! <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The American Political Science Association (APSA) and the Japanese Political Science Association (JPSA) are pleased to announce a Call for Applications for early-career scholars from the United States or Japan who are interested in conducting civically engaged research related to issues of demographic change. The second annual JPSA-APSA Working Group on \u201cCivically Engaged Research for Critical Issues in Society\u201d will be held alongside the 2025 JPSA Annual Meeting in Tokyo, Japan from October 9-12. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The program is an opportunity to share and improve research towards publication, develop new scholarly networks, and explore the use of civically engaged research in investigating some of the critical issues facing our societies. The 2025 Working Group theme is \u201cPolitical Transitions in Aging Societies\u201d. Organizers will cover participation costs (including airfare and accommodation) for up to 20 qualified applicants.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Applications are due June 1st.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Graham Bullock <\/p>\n\n\n\n Associate Professor, Political Science, Davidson College<\/p>\n\n\n\n ICER\u00a02019 Alumni<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n As a member of the inaugural ICER cohort in 2019, I was interested in thinking through and getting feedback on a project idea that I had been working on with some colleagues and students back at Davidson College, where I had recently received tenure. Presentations and comments from other ICER members, the organizers, and our guest speakers provided important food for thought as I mapped out more thoroughly my civically engaged research plans.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Six years later, those plans are still being implemented through Davidson\u2019s Deliberative Citizenship Initiative (DCI)<\/a>, which is dedicated to creating opportunities for Davidson students, faculty, staff, and members of the wider community to productively engage with one another on difficult and contentious issues facing our community and society. I have served as its Faculty Director since its inception and have worked closely with our college and community co-conveners to host deliberative forums, guest speakers, a small group deliberation series, a deliberation facilitator\u2019s training program, a student fellows program, a Deliberative Pedagogy Collaborative for faculty, and more. We have had hundreds of people from on and off campus participate in our programs and have received incredibly positive feedback about them \u2013 97% of participants at our most recent forum, for example, said they were likely or highly likely to recommend participating in a DCI Deliberative Forum to a friend.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n We have been collecting data on participants\u2019 experiences along the way and are in the process of compiling and analyzing the results since we ran our first events in 2020. Following our approved human subjects research protocol, we have also recorded the conversations of our small group discussion series and review them regularly for ideas about what is working well and what we can improve in terms of how we design and facilitate these conversations. We have gained important insights about deliberation and the mechanics of deliberative democracy that we are actively applying through the initiative and I am excited to share with others engaged in similar efforts.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Suffice to say, I have learned a lot about civically-engaged research through this work. My primary lesson learned is that it is not easy to do both the civic engagement and research components of CER well at the same time. It is particularly difficult when you continue to teach in the classroom and aim to institutionalize the program you have developed. Working closely with partner groups throughout the process, developing rigorous training programs, and creating robust background materials for participants while also systematically designing and deploying data collection instruments and building a durable and sustainable \u201ccivic infrastructure\u201d takes a lot of time, attention, and energy.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n While I have given presentations about the DCI at numerous conferences and workshops, I have not yet had the additional bandwidth to take the next step of publishing the results and conclusions from our work. My solution has been to take a long-term view of the project that prioritizes the civic engagement and data collection components while delaying the research dissemination piece until later. My hope is that in the next year or two, I will find the time to lean more into this important part of the CER process.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n So for those out there facing similar tradeoffs, you are certainly not alone! My advice, for what it is worth, is to try to take a long-term view, don\u2019t take shortcuts that you might regret later, and keep good notes along the way so when it comes time to write things up, it will be that much easier. Good luck to everyone engaged with this challenging but critically important work. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n ICER will be held at UCLA this year from July 7-10. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Alex J. Moffett-Bateau <\/p>\n\n\n\n Associate Professor, Political Science, John Jay College of Criminal Justice – CUNY<\/p>\n\n\n\n ICER 2021 Alumni<\/p>\n\n\n\n Project Summary: My book, Redefining the Political<\/em> (Temple University Press, 2024), documents the political life of a community of Black women living below the poverty line. I spent a year interviewing residents of a public housing development on the far South Side of Chicago about their politics, political communities, and how they create collective power. I use radical Black feminist political theory and develop a framework called the political possible-self, which argues that belonging to a community and developing political imagination foment change. These women employ grassroots efforts to subvert oppressive power structures by protesting institutions within their communities, addressing the benign neglect of their housing development, organizing community art shows and meals, volunteering at local public schools, and holding meetings to increase the political confidence of public-housing tenants by educating them on navigating government bureaucracies. Ultimately, Redefining the Political<\/em> shows how political engagement at both the individual and community levels can be fruitful for nontraditional political contributions. This book was evaluated by the Knowledge Unlatched Selection Committee and was chosen as one of their KU Select 2025. (For more information about the KU funding award, this Taylor and Francis-created librarian resource<\/a> does a nice job of describing the KU Select process.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n What have you learned about civically engaged research through this project? (If applicable, what ethical considerations have you had to contend with in pursuit of this research?)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One of my central concerns during the publication of Redefining the Political<\/em> was the inaccessibility of many academic books. After being confronted with the cost of book and article publication, I came to believe in open-access scholarship, especially for those of us who are invested in civically engaged research. Ultimately, the real value-add of civically engaged research is its capacity to engage publics inside and outside of the academy. Open-access research and open educational resources are critically important. As an educator, I prioritize OER texts in my classrooms, and as a researcher and writer, I prioritize the accessibility of Redefining the Political <\/em>(access here<\/a>) as well as in my other research<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Because of the KU Select 2025 award, Redefining the Political <\/em>will be open-access and freely available to anyone in the world with internet access! More than anything, I am the proudest of this achievement. It is critically important that the women, whose experiences I documented, can access and use the research in service of their own political hopes and dreams. Below, I\u2019ve provided a link to the full citation for the open-access eBook. The eBook can also be downloaded for free from major eBook retailers, or Temple University Press directly: <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Moffett-Bateau, Alex J. Redefining the Political: Black Women Living Below the<\/em> Poverty Line in Chicago, Black Feminism, and the Politics of Everyday Life<\/em>. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. September 6, 2024. (Knowledge Unlatched Open Access Edition.) https:\/\/openresearchlibrary.org\/content\/7a407201-7861-40f1-a909-0afc4ba96667<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n We are excited to share the latest updates and opportunities from the ICER community this spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Applications are still being accepted for ICER Summer 2025! (Deadline 4\/21)<\/p>\n\n\n\n ICER will be held at UCLA this year from July 7-10. For more detailed information, see the call for applications document here<\/a>. Please share with those in your network and encourage scholars at all career stages to apply!<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n In this new PGI issue, check out lots of great work (many from ICER alumni) on civically engaged research. We encourage you to amplify this research within your networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAlumni Research Spotlight<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\nJune 2025<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
JPSA-APSA Working Group on \u201cCivically Engaged Research for Critical Issues in Society\u201d<\/a>\u00a0(Due 6\/1)<\/strong> <\/h6>\n\n\n\n
Alumni Research Spotlight<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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May 2025<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Applications are closed for ICER Summer 2025! <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Thinking about participatory research and are in early stages? Consider these great resources to guide you.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Alumni Research Spotlight<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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March 2025<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Check out the Politics, Groups, and Identities Civically Engaged Research Special Issue!!!<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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