Center for Social Science Research

EIP students engage in social science research

Colleen Rich — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 15:54:15 +0000

EIP students engage in social science research Colleen Rich Fri, 02/17/2023 - 10:54

��AV’s new Youth Research Council (YRC) is a collaborative and community-based research partnership between the Center for Social Science Research (CSSR) in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and Mason’s Early Identification Program (EIP), which invites ninth through twelfth graders into the field of social science research. Over the course of the program, students design, conduct, analyze, and present their research.

Youth Research Council participants in discussion. Photo provided

EIP has, since 1987, offering an innovative, multi-year college preparatory program that helps middle and high school students from traditionally marginalized communities and first-generation college-bound students navigate high school academics and the college application process.

Khaseem Davis, EIP’s executive director, said that the YRC was a great opportunity for EIP participants. Davis is one of the co-directors of the YRC, along with Meagan Call-Cummings, associate professor of qualitative methodology, College of Education and Human Development, and Mason sociology professor Amy Best, CSSR director.

“Meagan and I had been having conversations around figuring out ways to engage EIP students in research, but it really hit me during our scholarship process,” Davis said. “Without a doubt, the overwhelming majority [of EIP participants] were speaking about how they were impacted by microaggressions, racism, all of these different things. It became apparent that they were having these conversations among themselves as youth but did not necessarily feel equipped or comfortable having those conversations with adults.”

Youth Research Council participants share their ideas. Photo provided

The council gives these students an opportunity to take part in a community-based research project of their own. It launched in the summer of 2021 with 34 founding Youth Research Council fellows from 20 high schools across Arlington, Loudoun, Prince William, and Fairfax Counties, as well as the cities of Alexandria and Falls Church.

“We really try to approach it from an appreciative perspective,” said Call-Cummings. “We’ll convene you all, we’ll find space, we’ll provide you with some ideas of activities you can do, but really, just as Khaseem said, we know that these students are experts on their own lives, on their own experiences. We just need to provide space and opportunities for amplification, and they will fill that space.”

“Social science research is critical to democracy, so this is really a way to cultivate the set of competencies that can be used for civic goals,” added Best. "It’s really about community capacity building and making sure that youth are stakeholders in community development and community capacity from the beginning.”

Topics

Students

Early Identification Program (EIP)

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Center for Social Science Research

Research

Personal, intellectual growth highlight graduate’s Mason experience

Colleen Rich — Mon, 12 Dec 2022 15:45:29 +0000

Personal, intellectual growth highlight graduate’s Mason experience Colleen Rich Mon, 12/12/2022 - 10:45

Topics

Center for Social Science Research

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Laying the Foundation for our Future in the Next System Fellows Program

Wasiq Muhammad Muhammad Ali — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 17:30:18 +0000

Laying the Foundation for our Future in the Next System Fellows Program Wasiq Muhammad… Fri, 11/04/2022 - 13:30

Amid the complex challenges facing our world, now is a crucial time for young people to apply their talents toward building the future. As a leader in research innovation and civic engagement, ��AV prepares students to explore actionable solutions to political, economic, environmental, and more global challenges. The Next System Fellows Program is an inquiry-based, experiential learning opportunity for students eager to build a more just and sustainable global order for the future.

The Next Systems Fellows Program introduces Mason students to the emerging field of Next System Studies, connecting them with community changemakers working right now on alternative systems. Next System Studies is an interdisciplinary academic field that brings together scholars and practitioners committed to reconstructing our economy, legal system, politics, and culture at local and global scales. In seeking a more just social order, the field prioritizes empowerment of marginalized communities and democratization of decision-making processes.

Dr. Ben Manski, faculty lead for the Next System Fellows Program and Assistant Professor of Sociology, emphasizes the importance of bringing Next System Studies to Mason students: “We connect students with transformative community initiatives to both aid the initiatives directly through engaged research and the labor power of students as workers, but also to better equip students to move on to become leaders in building Next System initiatives.”

Through the program, students will spend the Spring semester asking questions, learning theories, applying methods, and closely examining real-life cases, while contributing to local efforts. The program prepares participants for future careers leading change in their respective fields. In fact, Next System fellows are among some of the first around the world to be actively exploring the area, a testimony to Mason’s ranking among the top 10 universities nationally for innovation. Living in a center of the global political economy like the D.C. metropolitan area, Manski explains, fellows are well positioned to apply knowledge and skills for building our futures.

The program follows the cohort model of all Arlington Fellows Programs: a cohort of 15 to 25 students will enroll in four courses totaling 15 credits. These courses orient students to Next System Studies, probing system designs, system change, and systemic movements, all in a small seminar environment where peer fellows build close relationships.

Fellows will pursue an internship with a partner engaged in Next System work, bolstering their professional development with hands-on collaborative learning. Partners are drawn from a variety of different nonprofits, NGOs, and advocacy groups, including national organizations CODEPINK, Public Citizen, local organizations like the Virginia Solidarity Economy Network, and Next System’s very own Democratizing NOVA.

Spring 2022 Next System alum and Honors College student, James Condo, found this dimension of the program especially rewarding. “During my college career,” he recounts, “I had this deep-seated conviction that the system that we live in is not sustainable, and I wanted to do something about it, but a lot of the humanity’s problems felt completely insurmountable.”

Learning about the Next System Fellows Program, then, was an answer to his urge to take action. “I saw Next System Studies as a much more hopeful field. I wanted to see if there was an alternative to our system, what that would practically look like, and what the practical implementation of a next system would actually be.”

As a fellow, Condo interned with Democratizing NOVA (DNOVA), an original community-engaged research project of Next System Studies at Mason that connects multiple pro-democracy initiatives in the region. In addition to a group project creating a database of Northern Virginian democratization–with over 150 initiatives identified so far–Condo developed an individual research project on cooperatives in Northern Virginia. Through the internship and the research project, Condo was exposed to many organizations effecting change locally, an experience that has since shaped his academic and career interests. Condo has continued beyond the program serving as the Next Systems Communications Specialist, which involves managing their social media and a newsletter that reaches Next System scholars and practitioners around the world.

“For those who are from here, or who intend to stay here, they can think about the Next Systems Fellows Program as a route to creating a new identity and purpose for this region–being involved in setting the future for Northern Virginia, instead of having it set for you. They can become part of building their own future and the world they are going to inhabit,” Manski says.

From community collaborations to organizing workshops, plenty exciting opportunities are in store for the Spring 2023 cohort. Those interested in the field should also look out for a Next System minor, available in the near future. Apply to be a fellow today!

Topics

Next System Fellows Program

Center for Social Science Research

Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Arlington Fellows

Center for Social Science Research

EIP students engage in social science research

Topics

Personal, intellectual growth highlight graduate’s Mason experience

Read More Graduation Stories

Topics

Laying the Foundation for our Future in the Next System Fellows Program

Topics