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CUMU & CityLab

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Louisville, KY, skyline at night
Last week, Drs. Conroy and Campbell went to the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities Annual Conference in Louisville, Kentucky.  While there they offered a roundtable discussion session entitled "CityLabs & the Possibilities of Faculty-Student Research." 

The roundtable came out of the department's current thinking about how to expand the operations of our Vincent "Jake" Powers CityLab by using it more as a research institute, archive, and the department's publishing wing. 

This plan has been in the works for a while.  Earlier this year, for example, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette donated dozens of Worcester City and House Directories to CityLab.  Just this week, the university library donated some de-accessioned reference materials that are relevant to the study of Central Mass.  A list of these combined resources will be posted here soon. 

Meanwhile, initiatives to coordinate and publish the work of interdisciplinary research teams of WSU faculty, students, and community partners has also begun.  Last semester, CityLab published a parking study of the McGrath Municipal Parking Lot in Downtown Worcester.  Currently, Urban Studies professors and students are working on a project exploring Latino suspension rates in the Worcester Public Schools.  Early next year we will publish some of the department's Capstone projects through CityLab, too. 

We are in the process of creating an Editorial Board and a Community Advisory Council to help guide and accomplish CityLab's work.  To find out more about CityLab or these boards, contact us at urbanstudies@worcester.edu.  Stay tuned for more developments.
    

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