UMD Hosts Pioneering Faculty Institute
In June, 26 interdisciplinary scholars from across campus and the nation gathered at the University of Maryland for the Intersectional Qualitative Research Methods Institute (IQRMI). Presented by UMD’s Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity (CRGE), this groundbreaking, five-day gathering featured workshops and hands-on training by interdisciplinary faculty in the fields of health inequalities, higher education and family sciences.
The IQRMI featured underrepresented minority (URM) early career scholars from across the nation, including five URM faculty from UMD. The broad goals were to provide methodological, navigational and writing skills in qualitative research methods for advancement in publishing, grant-writing and successful negotiation of academic career paths. Read more about the presenters and participants.
Organized by CRGE Director Dr. Ruth E. Zambrana, Professor of Women’s Studies and interim chair of the Department of African American Studies, the Institute was designed to: provide practical experience in fine-tuning existing research design and data analyses to acquire theoretical knowledge training to gain qualitative research skills; transmit intersectional theoretical and critical role perspectives to apply in project approaches; and create networks of senior and early career scholars in intersectional scholarship to promote grant‐writing and publication of qualitative studies through mentorship.
Members of minority groups were especially encouraged to participate in the Institute, and much of the programming focused on professional development for underrepresented scholars.
The Institute was organized by the CRGE in collaboration with the Maryland Population Research Center, and was partially funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF); a Dean's Research Initiative grant from the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (BSOS); and the UMD Office of Diversity and Inclusion.
“Participants learned through hands-on training using their own research projects,” Dr. Zambrana said. “The featured projects were selected because they contributed to the knowledge base of at least one of the four program areas outlined in the AECF’s mission of helping America’s children have brighter futures: child welfare, criminal justice, economic opportunities and health disparities.”
Several units from University of Maryland community were involved in the IQRMI, including BSOS, the College of Arts and Humanities, the School of Public Health and the College of Education.
“This was a truly cross-campus, interdisciplinary, collaborative endeavor,” Dr. Zambrana said. “This is a pioneering, innovative and entrepreneurial effort among the Committee on Institutional Cooperation [CIC]—there is nothing like this in CIC or any research-extensive university.”
Numerous participants shared their appreciation of and enthusiasm for the Institute—and discussed important lessons learned—in their exit interviews and video testimonials.
“I am so recharged and amped about my research agenda, the impact I believe that my work can effect, and the invaluable people with whom I can now work,” Dr. Erin M. Kerrison, Vice Provost's Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Criminology and the Population Studies Center at the University of Pennsylvania, said of the event.
Dr. Jason Williams, an assistant professor of criminal justice, political science and international studies at Fairleigh Dickson Univeristy, said he learned a great deal from the experience, and will carry the lessons learned and connections he made into his future work.
“As a criminologist committed to social justice work, I was reminded of my role and grave importance as an underrepresented minority in academia. I was also provided immeasurable wisdom from the faculty mentors and guest lecturers regarding how to matriculate academia. My best experience was being able to listen attentively and engagingly with faculty mentors and guest lecturers as they shared their years of knowledge via lectures and during one-on-one moments. As a qualitative researcher, the sessions on qualitative methodology were most helpful to me, as they provided me the language necessary to promote qualitative integrity in my work. Also, the lectures on intersectionality were hugely important to me as a race and crime scholar.
After the event, Dr. Williams was extended a contract from Routledge to write a book using intersectionality regarding policing and race in a historical context.
“Thus, IQRMI has armed me with the tools necessary to not only write my book, but to continue with my intersectional qualitative and social justice work,” Dr. Williams said. “I will forever be indebted to and grateful for the faculty mentors and guest lecturers. IQRMI is a definite game-changer, and it must continue.”
CRGE’s next IQRMI will be held June 5-10, 2016, on the University of Maryland campus.
Published on Mon, Jul 6, 2015 - 12:24PM