2020 Recipients of Grants to Support Research and Scholarship for Change

The Grants to Support Research and Scholarship for Change program provides an opportunity for members of the U-M community to collaborate on innovative ideas that will positively impact academia and society. Project topics may include, but are not limited to, diversifying staff, faculty, and students; transforming campus and departmental culture; leading through diverse cultural frames; addressing critical issues through intergenerational collaborations; and highlighting marginalized voices. For more information, please click here.

This year, the NCID funded eight projects, including:

Migrant Farmworkers Project

A significant gap exists in scientific knowledge in the understanding of labor exploitation and forced labor, and even less is known about the health impact of these factors on migrant and seasonal farmworkers or how labor exploitation and forced labor relates to occupational and environmental exposures in the workplace. In Fall of 2019, in partnership with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, Farmworker Legal Services, and the Office of Migrant Affairs, the research team conducted 55 in-depth interviews with farmworkers and key stakeholders on the experiences of seasonal and migrant farmworkers in Michigan regarding occupational hazards, working and living conditions, labor exploitation and labor trafficking, and health and wellness. Over the next year, the research team will conduct analyses of their interviews, with the long-term goal of using this research to inform programs and policies to improve the working conditions of migrant and seasonal farmworkers in the state of Michigan, who play an essential role in the state economy.

Alexis Handal (Associate Professor, Epidemiology, University of Michigan), Marie O’Neill (Professor, Public Health, University of Michigan), Lisbeth Iglesias-Rios (Postdoctoral Fellow, Epidemiology, University of Michigan), Paul Fleming (Assistant Professor, Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan), Mislael Valentín-Cortés (Research Associate, Public Health, University of Michigan), Dale Freedman (Director, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and Office of Migrant Affairs), Kara Moberg (managing attorney, Farmworker Legal Services), Diana Marin (supervising attorney, Michigan Immigrant Rights Center)

Critical Intersectionality and Intergenerational Supports Foregrounding Black, Same-Gender-Loving, Gay, and Bisexual Older Men

Little research has been conducted explicity on or about Black, same-gender-loving, gay, and bisexual older men, but scholarship and data on health disparities, aging, homophobia, and metal health suggest this population may benefit from unique supports and services. This project seeks to foreground this population as part of two longer term initiatives: 1) emerging collaborations between researchers and community partners in Detroit focused on addressing health, housing and well-being within older adults, in general, and older LGBTQ+ populations in particular, and 2) developing and applying methodological approaches for research that enacts critical intersectionality frameworks. This project is critically important given the scarcity of research on Black, same-gender-loving, gay, and bisexual older men and the knowledge gained by including their voices in diversity research.

Beth Glover Reed (Professor, Social Work and Women’s Studies, University of Michigan), Angela Perone (Doctoral Candidate, Social Work and Sociology, University of Michigan), Cornelius Wilson (Founder, Men of Color Motivational Group)

Study on the Impact of Gender, Race and Class on Women's Criminal Processing for Homicide

Criminal processing by law enforcement, legal and judicial systems in the United States is rooted in both gender and race inequities. The gap in the discourse and research on gender, despite the fact that women’s rate of incarceration has grown at more than double that of men’s in the past three decades, is now at a critical stage with more than 200,000 women incarcerated in US prisons, including 7,000 serving life or long sentences. This study examines a large number of court records and archives for the first time to analyze statistical and pattern evidence of the criminal processing of women’s convictions for homicide in Michigan.

Carol Jacobsen (Professor, Women’s and Gender Studies and School of Art & Design, University of Michigan)

Out-group Minority Bias And The Persistence of Stereotypes in Sexual Consent

This project relies on a novel and incentive compatible survey protocol to identify the impact of implicit race, gender and sexual orientation bias on beliefs (in the form of student norms) and behavior (in the form of choices in an game played with financial incentives) in the context of college students’ consent seeking behaviors. It will explore “affirmative explicit” and “implicit” consent. Affirmative consent is "a clear and unambiguous agreement, expressed outwardly through mutually understandable words or actions, to engage in a particular activity." However, implicit consent is defined as a case where consent is assumed to be implicitly granted by a person's in/actions and the facts and circumstances of a particular situation. This research will explore the questions: What behaviors are viewed as implicit and explicit consent? What beliefs do students share regarding when explicit consent should be sought? How does implicit bias within and towards minority groups affect those beliefs?

Erin Krupka (Associate Professor, Information, University of Michigan)

Femme Dance Africa

This research project focuses on gender and sexuality as seen through an Afrocentric, body-centered lens. Its primary objectives are: to expose Ann Arbor and University audiences to high-level West African dance performance; to expand what is understood as “contemporary dance” in the Dance Department curriculum; to consider how women and femme identified musicians and dancers navigate and reimagine the possibilites of gender and sexuality through an Afrocentric lens; and to have public discussions with students and audiences who experience the performance that focus on expanding awareness of Afrocentric conceptions of gender and sexuality and how racism and Eurocentrism shape accepted notions of gender and sexuality. This project is part of Dr. Croft’s curatorial research program, Daring Dances, which considers how dance - both making and watching it - can ease people into necessary, difficult conversations.

Clare Croft (Associate Professor, Dance, University of Michigan), T. Ayo Alston (Founder, Executive Director, Composer, and Choreographer, Ayodele Drum and Dance), Jasmine Elizabeth Johnson (Assistant Professor of Africana Studies, University of Pennsylvania)

Ethnic-racial Socialization and Socio-political Stressors of Mixed-Status Latinx Families and their Impact on Adolescent Mental Health

Foregrounding the experiences of undocumented Latinx parents and their adolescents, this study will shed light on how mixed-status families navigate hostile social contexts while preparing their children to face the realities associated with belonging to a disenfranchised ethnic-racial group. The findings will have the potential to highlight the processes by which parents share information with their children regarding undocumented status and its related inequities as well as how this information impacts children. This project will advance social justice by improving our understanding of important issues affecting understudied and disadvantaged populations at a critical juncture in the history of our country.

Fernanda Cross (Transitional Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Social Work, University of Michigan), Deborah Rivas-Drake (Professor of Psychology and Education, University of Michigan), Daphne C. Watkins (Professor of Social Work, Director of Director of the Vivian A. and James L. Curtis School of Social Work Center for Health Equity Research and Training), Gabriela Santiago-Romero (Policy and Research Director for We The People Michigan), Adnrea Mora (Ph.D. student, Social Work and Developmental Psychology, University of Michigan), Saraí Blanco Martinez, Ph.D. student, Combined Psychology and Education, University of Michigan), Jasmin Aramburu (Masters student, Social Work, University of Michigan)

What is Person-centered Care for Women with Physical Disabilities: A Qualitative Inquiry

Given the shift in health care sectors towards a person-centered approach and the integration of social services into health care services, this pilot study will explore key aspects of person-centered reproductive health and pregnancy approaches from the perspectives of women with disabilities. The specific aims of this study are: to understand how women with disabilities perceive their underlying social determinants of health and how it affects their reproductive health, preconception care, and prenatal care; to explore what the key aspects of person-centered care are in relation to reproductive health and healthy pregnancy, from the perspective of women with disabilities; and to understand how social determinants of health could be integrated into health care to promote reproductive health and prenatal health among women with disabilities.

Shu-Fang Shih (Research Assistant Professor, Public Health, University of Michigan), Cheryl Moyer (Associate Director of Global REACH, Medical School, University of Michigan)

Case Study on Reporting Abuse to and by Muslim Religious Leaders

In the Fall of 2018, a Muslim rape survivor disclosed online her disappointing experience seeking help from her mosque when she came forward about her sexual assault. Many people from her city knew the abuser and were affiliated with the implicated mosque, causing a loud controversy in their community. Facing Abuse in Community Environments (FACE) was called in to help facilitate conversations on community responses, and, with the consent of the survivor, launched an investigation into what happened regarding her disclosure. This case study will compile and analyze data captured over the subsequent six-month investigation and collect additional current data to bring closure to the case after emotional responses have calmed. It will shed light on the immediate aftermath of her sexual assault disclosure to mosque representatives, her public disclosure one year later, the subsequent community response, restorative techniques and safeguards employed, unanticipated outcomes, victim impact, and finally current community mechanisms in place.

Nancy Khalil (LSA Collegiate Fellow, American Culture, University of Michigan), Alia Salem (President, Founder, and CEO, Facing Abuse in Community Environments)