The University of Central Arkansas Foundation awarded five grants totaling $12,550 to faculty programs and projects for the Fall of 2010.
The UCA Foundation awards grants each year to faculty for programs that enhance learning opportunities at UCA. These grants, generally in amounts less than $3,000, are intended to encourage creative programs that may serve as “seeds” for future programs and provide for deserving programs and activities.
Cliff Beacham, Sociology, and Emileigh Selman were awarded $3,000 for “Urban Farming Project.” The grant will allow Beacham and students to continue the development and growth of a community garden project that was a joint effort of students of the UCA Sociology Club and the Honors College. The project, which began last spring, resulted in more than 300 lbs. of food being donated to the area food bank.
Paige Rose and Ryan Fisher, Music, were awarded $3,000 for “Music Education Professional Development Series.” The grant will provide start-up funding for a UCA-sponsored series of professional development events in music learning for 2011. These events often bring hundreds of people to the campus, sparking and renewing interest in the music program.
Daniel Barrington, Early Childhood and Special Education, was awarded $2,550 for “Development of UCA Summer Enrichment – 2011 Summer Program.” The grant will allow Barrington to restructure and enhance the UCA Summer Enrichment Program, which has been an asset to the graduate program and a service to the community by providing services to young students with exceptional learning needs.
Drs. Brian Campbell and Alison Hall, Sociology, were awarded $2,000 for “Anthropology Lab Upgrade.” The grant will provide for new lighting and storage supplies for the new anthropology lab that was allotted space this year in Burdick Hall. The new lighting and supplies will benefit students who are supervised by Drs. Campbell and Hall as they work on a variety of projects from research on heirloom seeds to the gathering of data for the West Mexican Shaft Tomb collection.
Dr. Mary Ruth Marotte (Executive Director of the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre), English, was awarded $2,000 for “AST Alliance with English Department Annual Literature Conference, Topic for 2011 Conference: Shakespeare: Pedagogy, Scholarship and Performance.” The grant will allow Marotte to secure Dr. Jacqueline Vanhoutte as the featured speaker for the conference. Vanhoutte has published a number of essays on early English drama and court culture. The conference is expected to have a local and regional draw and it will help promote the upcoming AST season.