Congratulations to Dr. Olivia Blackmon for winning a Nashman Center Faculty Grant for Community-Engaged Scholarship to design an interdisciplinary course and study abroad program to connect real-world needs with student based learning outside of the classroom.
Blackmon, the assistant program director and faculty member in the Integrated Information, Science and Technology (IIST) program, will use the one-year grant to expand the international learning experiences available to GW students, hopefully including her IIST students. Currently seniors are offered the opportunity to engage in a service learning program to provide support to domestic non-profit organizations in the D.C. metro area, and more recently internationally.
Over the next year, she will expand fledgling community partnerships with World Vision International, West Africa Research Center, Kenya Connect and US-Ignite to develop education technology in Central America, Senegal, Kenya and throughout the United States.
Her cross-departmental curriculum will focus on teaching students Community-Based Participatory Research, program evaluation and field research around technology and humanitarian aid. The curriculum will also integrate cross-disciplinary topics of critical need for these communities, like clean water and hygiene concerns.
She will work collaboratively across departments to develop the program and plans to offer the course for IIST and other GW students during the summer of 2018. She anticipates travel grants will be available for students through a competitive application process next spring.