Spring 2017 Ball State Immersive Learning Projects
Ball State faculty, students, and community partners are working together this spring on a number of immersive learning projects in and around Muncie.
Abandoned Housing Policy Analysis
Community Partner: Muncie Redevelopment Commission
Faculty Mentor: Chip Taylor, Department of Political Science
Advancing ecoREHAB Through Story and Strategy
Community Partner: ecoREHAB of Muncie, Inc.
Faculty Mentors: Kate Elliott, Department of Journalism; Paul Gestwicki; Department of Computer Science
Assessing Heat Leaks in the 8twelve Target District
Community Partner: Muncie 8twelve Coalition
Faculty Mentor: Jason Yang, Department of Geography
Engaging the Next Generation of Leaders: Character and Leadership Development at the Boys & Girls Club of Muncie
Community Partner: The Boys & Girls Club of Muncie
Faculty Mentor: Peggy Fisher, Department of Communication Studies
Maring-Hunt Community Garden Pavilion
Community Partner: Maring-Hunt Library, Thomas Park/Avondale Neighborhood Association
Faculty Mentor: Pam Harwood, Department of Architecture
Minnetrista Neighborhood Action Plan
Community Partner: Minnetrista Neighborhood Association
Faculty Mentor: Lisa Dunaway, Department of Urban Planning
Rehabilitating Houses
Community Partner: Greater Muncie Habitat for Humanity
Faculty Mentor: Janet Fick, Technology
Story Maps from and for “South-of-the-River” Neighborhoods in Muncie
Community Partners: Forest Park Neighborhood Association; Thomas/Avondale Neighborhood Association
Faculty Mentor: Jörn Seemann, Department of Geography
Sustainable Food Production: Integrating Collaboration within the Community
Community Partner: Muncie Food Hub
Faculty Mentor: Gerry Waite, Center for Peace and Conflict Studies
2017 IDEA Conference Resources
2017 IDEA Conference Resources
Take a look at some of the great presentations and materials from the 2017 IDEA Conference:
- Grant Writing 101 – Quick Tips to Get a Grip
- Ten Tips for Competitive Grant Writing
- On the Mark for the City
- Muncie Arts and Culture Council Presentation
- Neighborhood Revitalization and Building a Neighborhood Coalition
- Back in Muncie with IDEAs from Centreville, Maryland
- Playing with Ball State – Working with students, staff, and faculty at Ball State
- Welcome to Working Together
- RNO Treasury Function Highlights
- Power of 10 – A Tool for Initiating the Placemaking Process
- Power of 10 Description
- Power of 10+: Applying Placemaking at Every Scale
Urban Garden Committee
Urban Garden Committee Meetings:
- Future meetings TBA
Local Farmer’s Markets:
| Flavor Fresh Mobile Market Tree Hill Farms Tuesdays, Thursdays & Fridays (Locations, start times, & options vary) |
Landess Farm Market Daleville Sunday-Friday | 10am-6pm (WIC/SFMNP) |
| Minnetrista Farmers Market Saturdays | 8am-212pm (WIC/SFMN_ & IU Health Bucks) |
Muncie Makers Market Saturdays | 4pm-7pm (SNAP) |
| Northern Tropics Greenhouse Monday-Saturday | 12pm-6pm |
Open Door Farmers Market Tuesday-Thursdays | 11am-2pm (Open July 18th | WIC/SFMNP) |
| Yorktown Farmers Market Wednesdays | 4:30pm-7pm (SNAP & WIC/SFMNP) |
Click here to visit a map of local urban garden resources
Shafer Leadership – Community Needs Assessment
Shafer Leadership Academy partnered with this immersive learning project to enumerate the current leadership needs and capacity of the Muncie community. Through gathered need and capacity data, students conducted secondary source research and surveys. The data gathered will help the Shafer Leadership Academy to design appropriate programming and seek relevant funding. In addition to developing research skills, the project team connected with and increased empathy for the Muncie Community and learned about the value of community leadership.
Faculty Mentor: Melinda Messineo
Department: Sociology
Community Partner: Shafer Leadership Academy
Students: Drew Apanavicius, Emmalie Hodge, Audrey Meade, Casey Misner, Zoe Sutton
Riverside-Normal City: Portrait of a Middletown Neighborhood in a Post Industrial Age
This project conducted an ethnographic study of the Riverside Normal City (RNC) neighborhood, which is the area east of Ball State University in Muncie. Using participant observation, oral history, archival research, photography and semi-structured interviews, students provided an interdisciplinary analysis of how this neighborhood has changed over time. Students attended monthly RNC neighborhood meetings, interviewed neighborhood residents, scanned residents’ photos while collecting stories, reading about the history of Muncie and documenting the neighborhood today. In analyzing this data, students were asked to consider the economic, sociocultural, and political causes that changed this neighborhood overtime and how these changes have impacted local residents. The findings were published in a book.
Faculty Mentor: Jennifer Erickson
Department: Anthropology
Community Partner: Riverside-Normal City Neighborhood Association
Students: Iesha Alspaugh, Simran Bhinder, Abby Clark, Joseph Coachys, Alejandra Diaz-Fernandez, Barbara Dickensheets, Kathleen Harper, Amber Janzen, Savannah Myers, Mia Nickelson, Kathryn Powell, Alexis Smith, Bevin Snyder, Leslie Thomas