Sponsored Research and Programs

Ernest Cole, John Dirk Werkman Professor of English, recently received a $7,274 award from the Great Lakes Colleges Association Global Crossroads Themed Course Program. The project is titled Stories We Tell about Mental Health, Disability, and Trauma: Readings from African and Indigenous American Literature and Psychology.

In collaboration with Dr. Erin Henshaw of Denison University and Dr. Sara Newman of the Universidad San Francisco in Quito, Ecuador, this project will develop a globally connected course around the theme of stories, or narratives, and their use in understanding mental health, trauma, and disability.  The course will combine the lessons found in the literature of Africa and Indigenous Americas with core theories of clinical psychological science.

Congratulations on your award, Ernest!

David Keep, Assistant Professor of Music, and Greg Lookerse, Assistant Professor of Art, recently received a $17,336 award from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Teacher-Scholar Grant Program. The project is titled Art Helps Faith: Contemporary Music, Visual Art, and Christmas.

This project will explore how challenging one’s artistic comfort zone can deepen one’s theology and spiritual life. Through the development of an online Advent Calendar that features visual art and music, congregational art interpretation events in local churches, and collegiate panel discussions, the project team will engage theological truths, particularly through the incarnation, through the arts.

Congratulations on your new award, David and Greg!

Lindsey Hanson, Assistant Professor of Dance, recently received a $12,000 award from the Michigan Council of Arts and Cultural Affairs and Arts Midwest. The project is titled Third Rail Projects Residency: Phase 2.

This project will involve Lindsey Hanson as the creative/lead partner, Jennine Willet as the collaborating artist, and Latin Americans United for Progress (LAUP) as the community partner in the creation of a community-based performance sharing untold stories of Holland. The project will consist of creative intensives, workshops, and research projects with Hope College dance students and community residents, culminating in a free public showing of a site-specific piece for the community.

Congratulations, Lindsey, on your new award!

Richard Ray, Professor of Kinesiology, Provost Emeritus, and Co-Director of the Hope-Western Prison Education Program, recently received a $120,000 award from Jobs for the Future, Inc.  The project is titled Hope-Western Prison Education Program Ready for Pell Initiative.

This project will seek to develop the capacity of Hope College and Western Theological Seminary to provide programming, services, and supports to students in the Hope-Western Prison Education Program. This includes the development of trauma-informed pedagogy and the expansion of financial aid counseling, career counseling, and disability services to students within the program. This is in preparation to offer Pell Grants to students enrolled in the program with the 2023-2024 academic year, when the federal government will reinstate eligibility for incarcerated students under the program.  

Congratulations on your award, Richard!

Ernest Cole, John Dirk Werkman Professor of English, recently received a $3,772 award from the Great Lakes Colleges Association Global Crossroads Themed Course Program. The project is titled Cultural Representations of Mental Health and Disability: Readings from African and Indigenous American Literature.

In collaboration with Dr. Sara Newman of the Universidad San Francisco in Quito, Ecuador, this project will develop a globally connected course titled Cultural Representations of Mental Health and Disability: A Cross Cultural Literacy Perspective, which will focus on mental health narratives and cultural representations of mental illness in selected African and Indigenous American novels.

Congratulations on your award, Ernest!

Kristin Dittenhafer-Reed, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, recently received a $540,035 award from the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER). The project is titled CAREER: Mitochondrial genome regulation by nucleoid proteins involved in redox sensing and one carbon-metabolism.

The overall objective of the proposed research is to uncover biochemical mechanism that control the mitochondrial genome and allow cells to respond to energetic demand and is expected to provide significant advances related to the mechanisms that control mammalian cell function. The educational objectives of this project involve the development of a biochemistry lab curriculum designed for short class periods and minimal resources.

Congratulations, Kristin, on your new NSF award!

Kate Finley, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, has received a $17,869 award from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Teacher-Scholar Grant Program. The project is titled Mental Disorder & Psychological Stability in Christian Churches.

This project will address the Christian views of mental disorder (e.g., depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, etc.), how these views are communicated through aspects of congregational life and church practice (i.e., sermons, corporate prayer, worship), and how these views can be challenged and informed by a more integrated, empirically-informed view of mental disorder.

Congratulations on your new award, Kate!

Mike Pikaart, Associate Professor of Chemistry, recently received a $94,136 award from the National Science Foundation Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Education and Human Resources Program. The project is titled Collaborative Research: Role of Flexible Design and Instructor Supports in Implementing Sustainable Course-based Research Experiences Across Diverse Institution Types.

This project will expand the BASIL Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE), which is a flexible curriculum consisting of both computational and wet-lab modules. CURE will be expanded to to a diversity of institutions in order to a) identify the supports and barriers to CURE implementation across institution types; b) characterize the relationship between institutional context and CURE implementation; and c) facilitate implementation and sustainability across institutions through faculty development.

This project represents a collaboration between investigators at Rochester Institute of Technology, Grand View College, California Polytechnic State University, University of Richmond, Hope College, SUNY College at Oswego, Washington State University, Nova Southeastern University, and Ursinus College.

Congratulations on your new award, Mike!

Robert Hunt, Grounds Manager, received a new Eaton Conservation District – Michigan Arbor Day Alliance award of $2,000 to support tree plantings on the Hope College campus.

This project will result in 44 new tree plantings on campus.  These tree plantings will represent approximately 14 different species of trees, and all will be placed in the northeast entrance to Hope College along Lincoln Avenue, 10th Street, and Columbia Avenue. The plantings will beautify this area of campus following the recent street reconstruction and utility work.

Hope College recognizes the generous contributions of the Eaton Conservation District – Michigan Arbor Day Alliance Program for this project. Congratulations on your new award, Bob!

Susan Ipri Brown, Director of ExploreHope and Assistant Professor of Engineering Instruction, received a $14,848 award through the Army Educational Outreach Program via the Rochester Institute of Technology. 

This project will support the participation of four high school students in faculty-led research projects at Hope College during the summer of 2022.  Participating faculty members include Brooke Odle, Assistant Professor of Engineering; Natalia Gonzalez-Pech, Assistant Professor of Chemistry; Farrah Madison, Assistant Professor of Biology; Omofolakunmi Olagbemi, Assistant Professor of Computer Science; and Matthew Smith, Associate Professor of Engineering. Final laboratory placement for each high school student occurs closer to summer 2022.

Congratulations, Susan, on your new award!