Faculty spotlights, students scholars, and social justice in uncertain times

For the last decade, the Scholarship and Social Justice Undergraduate Research Conference has been a platform to uplift undergraduate students’ research focused on challenges facing society. The event, co-sponsored by the Center for Public Service and Engaged Scholarship at Harvard College and the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations, connects student presenters with faculty and staff mentors in academia in an inter-collegiate setting.

The annual conference opens 3 p.m. Thursday (April 17) at the Phillips Brooks House Parlor Room with a faculty panel titled, “Environmental Justice in Uncertain Times.” With the support of a Johnson Climate Action Grant, the opening session will bring together renowned scholars who approach the fields of social and environmental justice from diverse interdisciplinary perspectives. Bridgette King, associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Kentucky, researches felony disenfranchisement, administrative discretion, and voter experiences. Marquita Smith, associate dean for Graduate Programs and Research at the School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi, oversees the graduate education program, which includes recruitment, student advising, and community engagement. Wylin Wilson, associate professor of Theological Ethics at the Duke Divinity School, teaches at the intersection of bioethics, gender, and theology. The faculty panel will be moderated by the conference’s faculty chair: Harvard’s Ken Thomas, lecturer on Environmental Science and Public Policy, and Environmental Science and Engineering and resident dean of Cabot House.

The programming continues 9:30 a.m. Friday (April 18) when Maya Trotz, professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of South Florida, will give the keynote address at the Student Organization Center at Hilles (SOCH) Event Hall. Trotz’s work focuses on co-creating knowledge with communities and combining stories with data for action — especially around water. The rest of the day will be filled with student panels heralding from 20 distinct universities, who have traveled up to 6,500 miles to present at Harvard. The conference is free and open to the public (with prior registration) and open to all HUID holders.

To learn more about the faculty, students, and their research as well as register for the conference, visit the conference website.