Kenan Creative Collaboratory Funds Projects

The Kenan Creative Collaboratory has announced selections for its first grants to incubate and advance partnerships among researchers, teachers, practitioners, performers and artists to find connections in the collective work of the four Kenan Institutes and their host institutions – the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the William R. Kenan Jr. Institute for Engineering, Technology and Science at North Carolina State University, the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University.

The Kenan Creative Collaboratory provides funding for innovative research, teaching and problem-solving at the intersection of private enterprise, engineering, technology and science, arts and ethics. Awards ranged from $7,500 to $93,000 per project. To be eligible for funding, project proposals drew participants from two or more of the four universities that house Kenan Institutes.

“The grants provide a platform for creative teams of problem-solvers from across science, business, the arts and humanities to make a lasting impact,” said Dan Drake, President of the William R. Kenan, Jr. Funds. “By encouraging collaboration between the four Kenan Institutes and their four host universities, we are advancing new knowledge, inventing new pedagogies, enhancing economic development, and proposing new solutions based on creative synergies.”

Eight projects were funded:

• The “Science, Ethics, Identity and Human Rights” project by NC State and Duke will identify key challenges for applying scientific technologies in human rights contexts, with an initial focus on identifying human remains and reunifying migrant children with families on the U.S.-Mexico border. Leading the project are Seth Faith of NC State and Sara Katsanis of Duke.
• The “Smart Economics for the Environment and Human Development” project by NC State, Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill and UNCSA will establish a diverse working group that brings together cross-disciplinary expertise and perspectives from all walks of life to create more comprehensive indicators to measure smart development and progress. Leading the project is Dirk Philipsen of Duke in collaboration with Roby Sawyers of NC State, Brent Lane of UNC-Chapel Hill and Corey Madden of UNCSA.
• The “Ancient North Carolinians: A Virtual Museum of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology” project by UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State will create an interactive, state-of-the-art resource which will be publicly available online. Leading the project is Vincas Steponaitis of UNC-Chapel Hill in collaboration with Brent Lane of UNC-Chapel Hill and Elaine Franklin of NC State.
• The “Innovate NC: A Cross City Learning Collaborative” project by NC State and UNC-Chapel Hill will create a multi-city innovation learning collaborative to help five North Carolina communities make major gains in building and sustaining a new innovation model. Leading the project are Anita Brown-Graham and Sarah Langer of NC State and Jim Johnson of UNC-Chapel Hill.
• The “Community Environmental Empowerment” project by Duke, NC State and UNC-Chapel Hill will develop community capacity to address environmental injustices and identify best practices for incorporating environmental equity into local environmental decision-making. Leading the project is Kay Jowers of UNC-Chapel Hill in collaboration with Kofi Boone of NC State and Deborah Gallagher of Duke.
• The “North Carolina Venture Lab” by NC State and UNC-Chapel Hill will blend three elements of entrepreneurial education into a model: Pedagogy, experiential education, and a research clinic. Leading the project are Steve Markham of NC State and Ted Zoller of UNC-Chapel Hill.
• The “ARDEO” project by the UNCSA and the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center at UNC Health Care will work with theater faculty and students, doctors and patients to support the research, writing, development and presentation of a play based on personal narratives from doctors and patients that highlight the power, impact and significance of narrative medicine. Leading the project is Jacqueline E. Lawton of UNC-Chapel Hill in collaboration with Bruce Cairns of UNC-Chapel Hill and Carl Forsman of UNCSA.
• The “Developing Frameworks for IP Commercialization in Entertainment Technologies” project by NC State and UNCSA will help faculty to work with industry and develop policies, guidelines and frameworks that address legal, ethical, entrepreneurial, and financial dimensions of the digital gaming technologies. Leading the project are Michael Young of NC State and Susan Ruskin of UNCSA.