We Are Making a Difference in Our Communities​

Through partnerships with schools, community-based-organizations, patients, healthcare providers, and other stakeholder groups, community-engaged research at The UNM College of Arts & Sciences is:

  • Incorporating lived-experience insights into questions, hypotheses, or data interpretation.
  • Designing research for easy translation to real-world health settings and situations.
  • Improving cultural- and language-appropriate communication and interventions.
  • Encouraging participant recruitment, enrollment, and retention by community interactions.
  • Mitigating risk to the specific community by developing appropriate protections.
  • Building greater trust between academic researchers and communities, which may lead to additional collaborations.
  • Reaching under-represented and under-served populations.
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Families in Pueblo Pottery: Regenerating Art, Experience, and Practice

A half century ago, the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology produced Seven Families in Pueblo Pottery, an exhibit that not only recognized Pueblo pottery as art for the first time, but also represented its makers as artists, emphasizing generational knowledge and practice. 

Learn more about Families in Pueblo Pottery
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Improving research to understand the link between holistic wellbeing of Diné children and families, and Diné bizaad

By nurturing a sense of cultural identity among Diné children, referred to as "t’áá Diné," this project identifies key indicators of thriving in a "t’áá Diné" environment in order to ensure the wellbeing of Diné children, strengthen the connection between language learning and wellbeing, and advocate for the value of "t’áá Dinéjí" through empirical data.

Learn more about the link between holistic wellbeing of Diné children and families
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Nihiyázhí bizaad: Investigating Navajo Child Language Development

In collaboration with the Saad K’idilyé Diné Language Nest, the Navajo Language Program, and the Lobo Language Acquisition Lab, this project is the first of its kind to document and examine Navajo child-directed speech from infancy in order to preserve the Diné Bizaad language.

Learn more about Navajo Child Language Development
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Re-Envisioning Diversion Through Community Engagement

Traditional diversion programs through the criminal legal system have significant pitfalls related to design and implementation, which often disadvantage those of lower socioeconomic status and minoritized racial/ethnic groups. Through a community-based approach, this project addresses those barriers in an effort to reduce the negative consequences of criminal legal system contact.

Learn more about Diversion Through Community Engagement