What if we thought about democracy not only in terms of voting practices and political parties, but through the ways we spend our daily lives and inhabit the place we live? This project will explore “Everyday Democracy” by building a new Core X-level course titled “Portland and the Public Imagination” that aims to connect students to new ways of understanding the city of Portland and their relationship to its past, present, and future. The course, to be offered for the first time in Spring 2025, will investigate Portland beyond the headlines and pop culture references to instead develop interdisciplinary ways of looking at a place we may have thought we knew. In the fall semester, the team will research civically engaged curriculum at UP and other institutions and cultivate connections with local organizations and opportunities to help create the course. In the spring, the team will build on the work they did in the fall by developing a long-term civic-engagement project between UP and a community partner and assessing the outcomes of the course.
Molly Hiro is Professor of English and a co-founder of the Public Research Fellows program. She teaches courses in American, African American, and multi-ethnic American literature, and she has published on race, feeling, pedagogy, and the engaged humanities in books and in journals such as Novel, Arizona Quarterly, and Arts and Humanities in Higher Education.
Jen McDaneld’s research focuses on suffrage literature, U.S. women’s rights movements, and the engaged humanities, with essays published in journals like Legacy, Signs, Feminist Teacher, Pedagogy, and Arts and Humanities in Higher Education. One of the founders of the Public Research Fellows, she serves as the program’s Director and teaches the PRF courses, Engaged Humanities Fundamentals and Engaged Humanities Futures, in addition to courses in American literature and the core curriculum in the English department. She is one of the PIs on a 3-year NEH grant project to build an Engaged Humanities Hub at UP. She holds a Ph.D. in American literature from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Graduate Certificate in Feminist Studies from Duke University.
Year: Senior
Major/minor: Political Science and Global Affairs and Environmental Ethics and Policy
Hometown: Canby, OR
Why PRF: As a political science major, the PRF theme this year really resonated with me, which is initially what drew me into applying. I have never been a part of a research program, and this year it seemed to all fit in my schedule. I am so excited to work alongside Dr. McDaneld and Dr. Hiro, while also giving back to UP as it has brought me so many great opportunities over these past few years.
Year: Senior
Major/Minor: Political Science and Global Affairs with a minor in Constitutional Studies
Hometown: Eugene, OR
Why PRF: I'm interested in working on this project as part of PRF because I'd like to expand my knowledge and apply the skills I have learned in my college career. I'm excited that I get to work with faculty outside of my discipline who I otherwise might never cross paths with. I want to make an impact here at the university because it's my last year of undergrad.
University of Portland
5000 N. Willamette Blvd.,
Portland, Oregon 97203-5798
503.943.8000
