In 2012, I founded a community-based research project called the Little Rock Congregations Study (LRCS), which engages students in hands-on research with places of worship in Little Rock. The LRCS seeks to understand how congregational community engagement impacts the community, places of worship, and their members. In 2023, the American Political Science Association awarded me their Distinguished Award for Civic and Community Engagement for my work on the LRCS.
Our project website (ualr.edu/lrcs) is full of results, resources, and media coverage. For a quick summary of the research findings, check out this this clip from an interview I did with the American Political Science Association, or this recording of my fall 2017 convocation speech. The results of our 2020 study are available in this executive summary. Working together with our Clergy Advisory Board, we decided to focus on faith-based racial justice and reconciliation for our 2020-2024 research cycle. An infographic of our findings on race and faith so far is included below.
Photo by BENJAMIN KRAIN —09/30/19—
From left, Gerald Driskill, Jessica Olson, Jasmine Pugh, Kaylyn Hager and Rebecca Glazier are researching how partnerships between churches and nonprofit organizations can provide services to the community. Dr. Glazier, professor in the UA Little Rock School of Public Affairs, and Dr. Driskill, professor of applied communications, are leading students, Olson, Pugh and Hager in the project.
On the LRCS project website you will also find infographics, an interactive map, and highlights of the great work Little Rock’s religious organizations are doing in the community.
Check out the Religion section of my Research page for the academic work I have published from the Little Rock Congregations Study.
In 2017, I was interviewed by the American Political Science Association about this research, which was funded in part through an Alma Ostrom and Leah Hopkins Awan Civic Education research grant. In this clip, I talk about involving students in the research. In this clip, I talk about how our community partners made the research possible.
