Community Engagement

A cadre of UNC Charlotte students this summer worked alongside homeowners and local masons in Ahuachapán, El Salvador to build foundations for new homes, through a partnership with Habitat and with support from donors. The program offered hands-on experience building affordable housing, integrated with academic course content designed to develop deep understanding of complex social problems.

As the new director for UNC Charlotte’s Center for the Study of the New South, Ashli Quesinberry Stokes will draw upon her research expertise and knowledge, along with her leadership and community engagement experiences, to lead the Center in its work.

In the wake of the shooting of nine black worshipers at historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, faculty from UNC Charlotte’s College of Liberal Arts & Sciences are providing context and resources at the regional, national and global levels.

When people consider biodiversity, they often think of far-flung Amazon rainforests or vibrant coral reefs in tropical seas. While biodiversity ranks high on the global scale, it is also vital to the health of humans and the environment at the local level, something that UNC Charlotte doctoral student Angelique Hjarding is addressing through her research and creation of the Butterfly Highway project.

Susana Cisneros has received the President’s Volunteer Service Award from the Corporation for National and Community Service in recognition and appreciation for her volunteerism in the Charlotte region.

Footage of an immersive digital art installation designed by UNC Charlotte writing instructor Heather Marcelle Crickenberger will be featured for the coming year in a video that greets N.C. State University Hunt Library visitors.

UNC Charlotte writing faculty are working with supporters of military veterans to provide a welcoming place for the veterans and their families to write, as a way of processing their experiences. The next meeting of the Charlotte Veterans Writing Group will be Saturday, May 2 at Charlotte Bridge Home, 2200 E 7th Street.

UNC Charlotte journalism students won a 2014 Mark of Excellence Award from the Society of Professional Journalists for the website created from student work for the 2014 course, “Covering Poverty in America.”

With a theme of “Art, Environment and Race,” this year’s Africana Artist-in-Residence Tommie Robinson will work with students and faculty from UNC Charlotte, along with the broader community.

Students go hungry every day at UNC Charlotte. To address this critical need, a team of students, faculty and staff have opened a campus food pantry. College of Liberal Arts & Sciences faculty and students are leaders in the effort.