March 2, 2020
Four faculty win COE Diversity Mini Grants
Four College of Education faculty received the first COE Diversity Mini Grants for two projects that relate to issues or topics relating to diversity.
Drs Jennifer Gallagher and Melissa Wrenn won one of the grants for their project, Living Texts: Studying the Holocaust in Europe.
During the first summer 2020 session, Drs. Wrenn and Gallagher will lead a study abroad program to central Europe that is designed to explore the Holocaust as a living text. ECU students will learn about the Holocaust, conduct inquiry into their own learning and plan to support an integrated curriculum inquiry of their future students. An integral part of the study abroad curriculum is student-led book talks about young adult literature related to the Holocaust.
This project represents a nexus of complex theories related to literacy and social studies. The book talks, specifically, will embody dialogic pedagogy, critical disciplinary literacy and discourse around social justice.
Drs. Anne Ticknor and Mikkaka Overstreet received a grant for their project, Promoting Pre-Service Teachers’ Affirming Attitudes and Understanding of LGBTQ+ Communities and Issues to Better Support Students and Families in Elementary Classrooms.
Drs. Overstreet and Ticknor plan to hold a series of workshops that will promote affirming attitudes for and building understandings about LGBTQ+ inclusive practices to better support and respect students and families in elementary classrooms. The workshops will offer direct access to LGBTQ affirming faculty in the teacher education program and will include interactive and literacy-based activities to build pre-service teacher knowledge about LGBTQ+ communities to promote more inclusive classroom spaces.
The COE Diversity Mini Grants are intended to support COE faculty in professional development, research, teaching, or service activities related to diversity topics. Collaborative projects with other COE faculty are accepted.
For more information about the Diversity Mini Grants, visit the ECU College of Education diversity website.
Two faculty projects won the COE Diversity mini grants. From left, Dr. Anne Ticknor, Dr. Mikkaka Overstreet, Dr. Melissa Wrenn and Dr. Jennifer Gallagher received the grants.