Author: Smith, Rachel

SGCI Launches Online Faculty Affiliate Directory

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screenshot of FA directory

The SGCI is happy to announce that our long-anticipated online Faculty Affiliate directory is now up and running! This is an important milestone for the SGCI’s initial messaging strategy, as we hope to make it easier than ever for colleagues and members of the public to find scholars and researchers of urban topics at UConn.

In addition to contact information, our new directory prominently displays research themes, self-described research interests, project descriptions, and recent cities-related publications for our 80+ Faculty Affiliates, who represent 30 departments and 6 colleges and schools. The directory can be viewed alphabetically by last name, or sorted by each Affiliate’s self-selected primary Research Theme.

The breadth of expertise among our Faculty Affiliates is one of the strongest arguments for a strengthened focus on city-related research at UConn, and the SGCI is dedicated to developing a long-term messaging strategy that will promote their collective work to both internal and external constituencies.  For our next phase of development, we plan on incorporating a more thorough listing of recent cities-related publications for each Faculty Affiliate.  Online profiles are added and updated on a rolling basis; if you are a Faculty Affiliate who wishes to add more information to their SGCI online profile, email us at sgci@uconn.edu. To learn more about the SGCI’s Faculty Affiliates program, visit our FA Program overview page.

 

UConn Co-sponsors Interdisciplinary Symposium on GIS and Geohumanities

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Symposium announcement - Frontiers in Historical GIS

The Frontiers in Historical GIS, the Geohumanities, and Narrative Visualization Symposium is an interdisciplinary, cross-institution event co-sponsored by UConn, Trinity College, and Capital Community College that will take place in Storrs and Hartford on February 27 and 28.

Event highlights include: On Thursday, 2/27, UConn Associate Professor of History and SGCI Faculty Affiliate Fiona Vernal will be presenting “Race, Ethnicity and Community Succession in Post-War Hartford: Using Historical GIS to Explore the Racial Dynamics of Neighborhood Change,” followed by a roundtable discussion involving Dr. Vernal, Chris Vials, Ken Foote, and Peter Chen (all of whom are SGCI Faculty Affiliates) as well as other visiting scholars.  On Friday, 2/28, an afternoon presentation will be held at the Trinity College Action Lab, located in Constitution Plaza in Hartford — a short walk from the UConn Hartford Campus.

Please click here or the image above to view a PDF detailing the full agenda of the two-day Symposium.  The Symposium is free and open to the public.  An RSVP is requested for all attendees who plan to participate in lunch on Thursday.  For information on how to RSVP, please visit the official Symposium event page or call Maria Winnick at (959) 200-3771.

 

 

SGCI Sponsors “Writing Hartford” Undergraduate Essay Prize

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The SGCI is proud to announce the “Writing Hartford” Undergraduate Essay Prize for the 2019 – 2020 academic year!

Developed in collaboration with UConn Hartford’s “Writing Hartford” initiative, the prize will be awarded to two undergraduate authors whose projects engage with the city of Hartford (its people, places, or other city-related issues) in some significant way.  The “Writing Hartford” initiative has had incredible success in encouraging students to venture forth, explore, and write about all that the city of Hartford has to offer, and the SGCI is proud to further support these efforts by sponsoring a monetary prize for exemplary student work.  Our thanks to Scott Campbell, Associate Professor of English and coordinator for Writing Hartford, for his help in designing and implementing this competition.

There will be one prize awarded in each of two categories: First Year (freshmen authors) and Undergraduate (open to all undergraduates regardless of year).  For the purposes of this competition, “writing” is broadly defined; submissions may be written essays and/or may include multimedia components as well.  Undergraduate students may submit their own work, or a faculty member may submit it on their behalf.  For full details, or to submit an entry, visit the official Writing Hartford Undergraduate Essay Prize page or click the image below.

While the subject matter concerns Hartford, we want to emphasize that this competition is open to ALL undergraduates students at all UConn campuses!  The final date for submissions is June 1, 2020.

writing hartford undergraduate essay prize poster

UConn Hartford Joins the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities

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As recently announced by the UConn Hartford Director’s Office, UConn Hartford is now one of the newest institutional members of the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU), the longest-running and largest organization committed to serving and connecting the nation’s urban and metropolitan universities and their partners.

CUMU’s press release reflects the optimism and dedication to community felt by many of the higher ed professionals who call the campus home: “The Hartford campus serves as a model of community engagement and success for urban schools and will attract many new community partnerships with the city—as well as boosting the local economy and resurgence of their home community.”

Membership in CUMU includes access to several benefits and resources designed to help colleges and universities embrace their role as anchor institutions and better serve the urban communities in which they are located.  Members of the UConn Hartford community (faculty, staff, and administrators) can subscribe to CUMU’s online mailing list in order to receive updates about CUMU’s annual conference, their peer-reviewed journal Metropolitan Universities, their “Because Place Matters” newsletter, and other announcements and opportunities.

The full press release announcing UConn Hartford’s new role as a member of CUMU can be read on CUMU’s website.

 

SGCI Launch Reception at UConn Hartford

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The SGCI held a reception on October 29 at UConn Hartford to formally commemorate its “launch” to the greater UConn community (consisting of faculty, researchers, and staff), marking an important milestone in its first year of operation.  The primary goal of the reception was to increase visibility, gather feedback from UConn community members, and cultivate university-wide support for the SGCI’s goal of becoming formally incorporated as a permanent university research institute.

Several dozen attendees filled the SGCI suite, located on the 5th floor of the Hartford Times Building.  Brief remarks were shared by Mark Overmyer-Velazquez (UConn Hartford Campus Director), Daniel Weiner (Vice President for Global Affairs), and Bob Wilson (Interim Director, SGCI) while a looping slideshow presented information about the SGCI and its recently-launched Faculty Affiliates program. As of October 29, the Faculty Affiliates program already has over 70 registered UConn faculty members – an encouraging sign of university-wide excitement about a new unit focused on cities-related research!

This particular launch event was attended exclusively by UConn affiliates; talks are already in the works about having a more public and outward-facing launch event sometime in the Spring 2020 semester to introduce the SGCI to potential community (government, nonprofit, and corporate) partners.

The slideshow presented at the event, seen below, contains several interesting facts about the SGCI and the diversity of its first 70 Faculty Affiliates.  The slideshow can also be downloaded in its entirety from the SGCI Reference Materials page.

 

SGCI Launch Reception Slideshow, October 2019

Welcome to the new SGCI website!

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Welcome to https://cities.hartford.uconn.edu, the new online home of the Sustainable Global Cities Initiative!  Over the course of the next few months, we hope to greatly expand our digital presence by adding downloadable resources, an online directory of our Faculty Affiliates, a news page, links to current academic and community events, and more.  Stay tuned!

If you have any questions or comments about the SGCI or our website, please contact us at sgci@uconn.edu.