Creighton University and Arizona State University have been awarded a $149,497 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to support a joint project aimed at creating new pathways for first-generation students to pursue healthcare professions.
The project will design a humanities-based curriculum for a freshman summer bridge program and first-year experience. The funding for this project, titled Humanities and Health Justice Pathways: Forming First-Generation Professionals, runs through January 2025 and is expected to directly benefit 80 participating students (15 at Creighton and 25 at Arizona State per year). “Creighton University has recently made significant investments in the medical and health humanities,” said Mardell Wilson, EdD, Creighton University Provost. “The NEH award will extend this work to our undergraduate students in exciting ways. I am especially pleased that this project is designed to complement our institutional commitments to equity, diversity and inclusion by providing educational and social support for underrepresented students.” The project aims to provide resources and support before students even begin their first college class, helping them acquire the social and cultural capital they need to succeed.
Humanities and Health Justice Pathways will provide students at Creighton and ASU better access to health professions careers.— Tracy Leavelle, PhDAfter the initial funding period, the project will expand to include additional community building within and across cohorts, curriculum mapping, advising and mentoring for students throughout their degree program. “Humanities and Health Justice Pathways will provide students at Creighton and ASU—institutions with a growing partnership and shared commitments to community—better access to health professions careers as well as the knowledge and skills required to address persistent issues of justice in health,” said Tracy Leavelle, PhD, director of the Kingfisher Institute for the Liberal Arts and Professions at Creighton and co-director of this grant project. “We look forward to building the pathways and appreciate the confidence shown in us by the National Endowment for the Humanities.” Creighton University and Arizona State University have both been designated First-Gen Forward Institutions for their demonstrated commitments to serving first-generation students. The institutions have designed this project to help first-generation college students pursue healthcare careers because having a diverse healthcare workforce is essential for providing equitable healthcare to all communities. “This award reflects the hard work of an interdisciplinary team of faculty and staff from ASU and Creighton,” said Alan Rawls, PhD, associate professor of genomics, evolution and bioinformatics in the School of Life Sciences, executive director of clinical partnerships in the Office of the University Provost at Arizona State University and co-director of this grant project.
“We are committed to providing interprofessional education opportunities that will better prepare our students to be leaders in healthcare at the state and national levels."
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