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Freedman Fellowships annual forum

Join Kelvin Smith Library for presentations by the 2020-21 Freedman Fellows recipients during a two-day annual forum. The Freedman Fellowships presentations will be Wednesday, May 26, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and Friday, May 28, from 1 to 2:30 p.m.

Since its inception, the Freedman Fellows program has provided more than $200,000 in targeted funding to advance digital scholarship research, teaching and learning at Case Western Reserve University. In addition to financial support, awardees also receive year-long project guidance and technical help from experts at the Freedman Center for Digital Scholarship.

Presentations will occur in two shorter, thematic blocks each day.

The Day 1 (May 26) presentations will be on the movement of ideas and simulation and VR.

The movement of ideas:

  • David Busch, lecturer in the Department of History—“The Gandhian Social Network”
  • Stormy Sweitzer, PhD student in organizational behavior—“Instagram, Images and Interactions: Organization Creation and Identity Formation in the Digital Age”

Simulation and VR:

  • Kevin Inouye, assistant professor in the Department of Theater—”Immersive VR in Training and Performance”
  • Jessica Salley Ricardi, PhD student in communication sciences—”Simulation-Based Assessment for Executive Functions after Childhood TBI”

Register for the Day 1 presentations.

The Day 2 (May 28) presentations will be on mapping Cleveland history and making local impacts.

Mapping Cleveland history

  • George Blake, postdoctoral scholar and the Virginia and Walter Nord Fellow in the Humanities—“Right Before Rock”
  • Alanna Cooper, the Abba Hillel Silver Chair of Jewish Studies in the Department of Religious Studies—“Digital Stories of Cleveland Synagogue Dispersion: Moving Pieces of Congregational Life”

Making local impacts

  • Colette Ngana, PhD student in sociology—“Understanding Social Inequality in Cuyahoga County through Burn Injuries”
  • Elaine A. Borawski, the Angela Bowen Williamson Professor of Community Nutrition with the Prevention Research Center for Healthy Neighborhoods—“Increasing Utility of the Cleveland Food and Tobacco Retail Database”

Register for the Day 2 presentations.