Research
The faculty of the College of Arts, Sciences & Education at UM-Flint is continuously engaged in innovative research in their respective fields.
Here is a directory of our ongoing research projects, along with updates on their activities, progress, and results.
Research that matters
Our faculty are engaged in ongoing research and exploration in their respective fields, and you can review their extensive research and publication activity in their faculty directories.
Current Research Projects
Additive and Multiplicative Learning Progressions
Education Research Project
| Project Timeframe | 2024 – 2028 |
| Total Grant Amount | $1,689,167 |
| Grant Source | Institute of Education Sciences |
| Principal Investigator | Elizabeth Cunningham |
| Collaborators | Traci Shizu Kutaka, University of Virginia Caroline B. Ebby, University of Pennsylvania |
UM-Flint’s Cunningham takes the lead in exploring how to bridge the gap between what education researchers were learning about how students learn math and how teachers-in-training were being trained to teach the subject.
Beginning with a full assessment of UM-Flint’s elementary education coursework, the research team is following a group of about 25 elementary education students in their final two years of teaching and their first two years in the profession.
Cracks in the Pavement
Interdisciplinary Research Project
| Project Timeframe | 2025 – 2028 |
| Total Grant Amount | $495,000 |
| Grant Source | Mellon Foundation |
| Principal Investigator | Jacob Lederman |
| Collaborators | UM-Flint Departments of: Fine & Performing Arts Language & Communication Social Sciences & Humanities Sociology, Anthropology & Criminal Justice |
The Cracks in the Pavement Grant was awarded by the Mellon Foundation to the University of Michigan-Flint in 2024. It enables us to examine how democratic cultures flourish in places like Flint, where communities creatively respond to challenges and reimagine democratic participation beyond traditional institutions.
We aim to explore how residents and organizations in our region are reimagining democratic participation beyond conventional forms of governance to foster new cultures of democracy.
Activities related to the grant will take place during the academic years 2025-28 and were kicked off with a community-focused Symposium to exchange ideas, share experiences, and engage in collective creation.
Global Flint Initiative
Interdisciplinary Research Project
| Project Timeframe | 2024 – ongoing |
| Total Grant Amount | $62,340 |
| Grant Sources | UM-Flint TCLT Community Engaged Fellows Grants ($5,000 and $2,040 respectively) Mott Community College Immigrant Student Success Mini-Grant ($5,000) UM-Flint RCA Award ($30,000) UM-Flint CASE Lynch Fund ($8,300) Engage Flint – with support from the Community Foundation of Greater Flint ($9,000 + $3,000 match from Community Foundation) |
| Principal Investigators | Jennifer Alvey Sasha Drummond-Lewis Emily Feuerherm |
| Collaborators | UM-Flint’s Department of Language & Communication UM-Flint’s Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Criminal Justice International Center of Global Flint |
Beginning in March 2024, UM-Flint researchers joined forces with the International Center of Global Flint to support the group’s research needs related to a community-led development strategy focused on making Flint more welcoming and supportive of immigrants.
Current and future activities related to this research project include?
- Working with students in the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program to analyze and write reports on the data that has been collected so far.
- Collaborating with two current students and one former student to develop an article for submission to a peer-reviewed journal
- Developing a presentation for a conference in Siena, Italy in March 2027
- Planning for next steps in our collaboration with ICGF and their GFI. The team will host three workshops in Winter 2027 to actively engage area constituents in a process of data dissemination, shared learning, and SWOT analysis. Workshops will result in data and products that can be used to advocate for evidence-based programming that further advances welcoming community and civic engagement initiatives connecting immigrants and native-born communities around shared commitments and interests.
Inclusive History Project: Blueprints of Power
Interdisciplinary Research Project
| Project Timeframe | 2019 – ongoing |
| Total Grant Amount | $42,000 |
| Grant Source | U-M Inclusive History Project |
| Principal Investigators | Callum Carr-Marquis Benjamin Gaydos |
| Collaborators | Catie Cunningham Megan Pellegrini Frances Willson Thompson Library Genesee Historical Collections Center |
As part of the University of Michigan’s tri-campus Inclusive History Project, Carr-Marquis and Gaydos have conducted archival research on the university’s history and its connection to the 1970s Urban Renewal projects.
The research informed a mobile exhibition, developed in concert with UM-Flint students and alumni, which was on display at the UCEN and UPAV and will be part of an ongoing community engagement initiative.
STEM Education Programming in Flint
Interdisciplinary Research Project
| Project Timeframe | Ongoing |
| Total Grant Amount | $7,500 |
| Grant Source | U-M Phillip J. Bowman Center for Scholarship to Practice |
| Principal Investigators | E. Shirl Donaldson Jennifer LaCosse |
| Collaborators | UM-Flint’s Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Criminal Justice UM-Flint’s College of Innovation & Technology UM-Flint’s Office of Research |
Donaldson and LaCosse are the latest researchers at UM-Flint working to co-create programming to help bridge the gap in exposure to and access to STEM education for Flint’s kids.
The team is engaged in a three-phase research approach, beginning with in-person focus groups to learn more about what Flint’s parents need to support their kids, then continuing with a qualitative survey exploring themes that emerged in the focus groups. Finally, the team plans to present their findings to the community as the basis for collaborative programming development.
Flint parents interested in participating in the second phase of the research survey can fill out an inquiry form to be contacted by the research team.
Recently Completed Research Projects
Sharing Our Stories Through Dance
Fine & Performing Arts Research Project
| Project Timeframe | 2025 – 2026 |
| Total Grant Amount | $13,500 |
| Grant Source | U-M Arts Initiative |
| Principal Investigator | Emma Davis |
| Collaborators | UM-Flint Fine & Performing Arts Detroit Dance Collective Youth Arts: Unlocked |
During the 2025-26 school year, Dance instructor Emma Davis led a multi-pronged research project that engaged the professional dancers of Detroit Dance Collective, local incarcerated youth, and UM-Flint faculty and students to develop a collaborative choreographed dance performance, which was presented at three different times during the year.
While this research project is complete, the videos created as part of it will be submitted to gallery exhibitions and dance film showcases in the future.