Community Partnerships and Engaged Research
The Department of Social and Critical Inquiry aims to build a global reputation for innovative research and critical engagement. Our work is interdisciplinary and community-focused, bridging research and real-world impact.
We collaborate across the overlapping geographies of gender and sexuality; indigeneity; U.S. empire and transnationalism; and the emergent field of global Asias and transpacific studies. We also collaborate with programs across UConn and community partners at the local, state, Tribal, regional, and national levels.
Current Initiatives
Connecticut K-12 Education
The Department supports the development of Connecticut’s K-12 teaching and curricula. Our faculty serve as subject matter experts for courses in the areas of American studies; Asian American and Pacific Islander studies; Indigenous and Native American studies; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other sexual orientations and gender identities studies; and racism.
Curriculum Lab
The Curriculum Lab is a collective hosted by the Asian and Asian American Studies area to enable collaboration across stakeholders in primary and secondary education. The coalition includes high school students, pre-teaching college students, public school teachers, administrators, scholars, community leaders, government officials, and state department of education staff. In this space, we have collaborated on the new social studies standards, K-8 social studies curriculum design, professional development events, long-term community of practice, and the Early College Experience teacher certification. The Curriculum Lab Advisory Board provides transparency and feedback for implementing K-12 education change.
Early College Experience
We partner with the UConn Early College Experience (ECE) Program to offer American Studies and Asian and Asian American Studies courses to students at more than 30 Connecticut high schools. These courses allow motivated high school students to get a head start on earning credit toward their college degree. Students take UConn courses and earn both high school and college-level credit.
Transformation, Equity, Access, and Sense of Belonging (TEAS) Project at UConn Hartford
The TEAS project is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions Program. This project focuses on increasing student performance, retention, and graduation through Asian American studies academic programs, peer mentoring, mental health supports, and community partnerships.
Tribal Education Initiative
The Tribal Education Initiative is a living account of the historical and ongoing efforts by Native and Indigenous students, faculty, staff, and their critical allies to establish an institutional presence at the University of Connecticut. This work aims to hold UConn accountable to its history as an institution founded through Indigenous dispossession and to its unrealized promise and potential as a Land and Sea Grant university.
UConn Partnerships
We partner with entities like the UConn Humanities Institute, the Human Rights Institute, and the Collaboratory on Just Innovations for Climate Equity to address critical issues facing people and communities in Connecticut and beyond. We also sponsor or co-sponsor talks with wide-ranging topics that appeal to the local community.