Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship

Faculty in the College of the Arts and Media were recently awarded grants from the college to pursue a variety of research projects. Eligible projects would include at least one faculty member outside of their department, incorporate students and have the team interact with an external entity.

Communicating about opioid use

Communications faculty member Kirsten Weber and foundational sciences faculty member Neli Ragina from the College of Medicine are researching opioid use and its impact on those with disabilities in rural Michigan.

Collaborating with two communication student research assistants, Weber hopes to better understand opioid use among people with disabilities living in rural Michigan and to document the access barriers they face when seeking medical services.

Putting knowledge into practice

Heather Polinsky, chair of the broadcast and cinematic arts department; Judy Blebea, a surgical sciences faculty member in the College of Medicine; and Alison Arnold, director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Community Health and Wellness, are collaborating on a project that will include identifying physicians in the medical school who are putting their knowledge of adverse childhood experiences and trauma into practice.

The aim of the project is to create short video and audio podcasts to provide continuing medical education for physicians throughout Michigan who work with CMU medical school students. Audio and video production students, as well as graphic design and animation students, will play a large role in assisting.

Producing a podcast

Broadcast and cinematic arts faculty member Will Anderson will focus on the production of a 13-episode podcast series titled "Ask Answergirl," revolving around a detective character

The project will be directed by theater, interpretation and dance faculty member Keeley Stanley and written and produced by BCA faculty member Chris Csont. Broadcast and cinematic arts students will help with the production, and CMU students and community members will be featured as voice actors.

Anderson hopes to gain national syndication for the series, as well as possibly incorporating it into his current distribution research.

Dancing through life

Eric Limarenko, broadcast and cinematic arts faculty member, received funding for his project, "Dance Film Collaboration." The project will be to create a film that tells the story of an elderly couple as they look back on their lives through dance.

The project will involve broadcast and cinematic arts students, as well as students from theater, interpretation and dance. Limarenko said everyone participating has a unique skill set and incredible experience behind them. He hopes his team can be a solid example to the students of how to collaborate well.