2007-2008 Temple University Provost's Interdisciplinary Research Seed Grant Recipient
The JP Film Project is among 19 interdisciplinary Temple faculty research projects to have been awarded seed grants by the Office of the Provost. The one-year seed grants, are part of a new initiative to expand two types of collaborative work at Temple: multidisciplinary research and clinical translational research. Forty-six scholars representing 12 different schools and colleges at Temple will participate in research projects supported by the grants. “These research projects tackle some of the toughest and most complex challenges facing humanity today, from cancer to urban violence — the kinds of problems that can only be tackled by a multidisciplinary approach,” said Lisa Staiano-Coico, Temple’s provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. Research eligible for seed grants may be theoretical or applied, and collaborations involving faculty members in the performing and studio arts are encouraged. A major goal of the program, Provost Staiano-Coico said, it to encourage pilot research that will help generate subsequent additional funding. Ideal seed grant projects demonstrate "synergistic interactions between collaborating faculty members" and a high probability that the research will continue beyond the seed grant period.
National Science Foundation ITEST Program Support
The JP Film Project has partnered with the BITS Program, an NSF ITEST Grant that fosters increasing middle and high school student information technology and geographic information science skills through inquiry and project based learning. Alumni from the BITS Program have joined the IT outreach staff of this program. During the past four years, BITS students have learned about the geographies of physical disabilities through the Enabling Spaces curriculum, developed by Mike Dorn, one of the project directors of the JP Film Project. Through learning about Enabling Spaces, BITS Students have gained a more nuanced understanding of the experiences and geographies of persons with disabilities in the local surroundings of Temple University. The JP Film Project builds on this through extending the Enabling Spaces curriculum and observational studies to include perspectives of families and communities confronting mental disabilities.