CCRE Hosts 2 Panels at Engage NJ Conference - Seton Hall University

Timothy Hoffman and Amalia McEvoy after their presentation.

On February 25th, the Center for Community Research and Engagement (CCRE) participated in the 4th Annual THRIVE Student Conference hosted by Engage NJ at Middlesex College in Edison, New Jersey. CCRE hosted two panels during breakout sessions and brought students from across the University community to participate in the conference.

The conference featured a wide range of opportunities for students to connect and learn from one another about their experiences with engaging in communities through research, volunteering, community-engagement or service-learning, civic leadership, environmental clubs, voter campaigns, and more. Students also had the ability to participate in an Opportunity Fair, which provided an interactive space for students to learn from and work with professionals to develop skills, interests, and pathways to meaningful careers focused on public service and social justice.

The CCRE team hosted a session titled "Service-Learning in Action: Learning How to Provide Impact with Communities", which was led by CCRE’s student staff members Anthony D’Angelico and Melanie Liriano, with additional comments provided by CCRE’s Director, Timothy Hoffman '15/MPA '16. The aim of CCRE’s session was to highlight the center’s work around social justice and promoting democracy. The presentation highlighted the tremendous efforts of the CCRE to provide service-learning opportunities for more than 500 students annually during the past few years. The presentation discussed the center’s resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic, where service-learning pivoted entirely to a remote format. The presenters also highlighted CCRE’s central focus of working within communities on community-identified needs as well as some of its newest programs focused on promoting democracy. Special attention was given to a new Fall 2022 program, which gave students the opportunity to serve as poll workers during the 2022 Elections, where students actively participated in the administration of elections in their voting districts in New Jersey. This gave students insight on the importance of the work that goes into making our democracy function and upholding voting rights and access. The presenters also highlighted CCRE’s innovative Social Justice in Action Certificate Program for residents of local communities including Newark, East Orange, and other communities across the region. The presentation also showcased CCRE’s work in elevating democracy on campus through its hosting of Civic Engagement Workshops for undergraduate students to help them learn about ways to engage in their communities and explore careers in government and nonprofit organizations.

The CCRE also hosted a session titled "Green Power: Responding to Disinformation and Misinformation Surrounding Environmental Racism with Digital Humanities", which provided a forum to present on the work of CCRE’s newest initiative, PolicyLab. Amalia McEvoy, a graduate student, presented along with PolicyLab’s co-founders, Joseph Pastino '12/MPA '22 and Timothy Hoffman '15/MPA '16. During the fall 2022 semester, Amalia McEvoy worked with Joseph Pastino, who serves as a Fund Development and Research Consultant with CCRE and as an adjunct professor within the Department of Political Science and Public Affairs, to conduct research on community gardens in Newark, New Jersey. As a student in Professor Mary Balkun's Introduction to Digital Humanities class, McEvoy spoke with community garden volunteers, nonprofit leaders, and city officials to understand the functionality of community gardens, the policies that led to their creation, and their role in addressing the inequalities stemming from environmental racism. She also developed a website, Green Power, to house her research and bring the work of the community gardens to a larger audience. The presentation explored the utility of the website and focused on the importance of bringing community-level research to broader audiences to help combat misinformation and providing resource areas for community-powered information. The website helped showcase the great work happening in Newark’s community gardens.

The CCRE, founded in 1997, operates out of the College of Arts and Sciences and coordinates the activities of the University as it implements service learning and community-based research on campus.

To learn more about service learning and the CCRE, click here or contact Timothy Hoffman at [email protected].

For more information about the CCRE’s PolicyLab, contact Joseph Pastino at [email protected].

For more information about Digital Humanities, contact Mary Balkun at [email protected].

Categories: Education, Nation and World, Research