UNIVERSITY AFFAIRS
The rise of public scholarship

Surrounded by a vast expanse of evergreen forests on three sides, scenic views of the ocean and within walking distance to the beach, the University of British Columbia's campus is a world away from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, marked by disproportionately high levels of drug use, homelessness and poverty. But for UBC student Lianne Cho, the hotels along East Hastings Street have become the classroom, and its residents partners in a research project known as the Community Brain Art Initiative. Together with her research team, Ms. Cho is seeking to apply the findings from the Hotel Study - a 15-year UBC project that investigated the intersection of physical and mental health, drug addiction and access to public health providers - directly back into the community experiencing homelessness or precarious housing. "We're doing research that aims to understand the experiences had in the community, and it's really important to involve those voices - to physically go and have those conversations," said Ms. Cho, who is completing her MD/PhD.

Funded by UBC's Public Scholarship Initiative which encourages students to engage the public through innovative and non-traditional PhD formats, the project consists of three phases. The first involved creating infographics on what should be kept in mind while caring for individuals experiencing homelessness and distributing materials to clinicians and health care providers in the Downtown Eastside. Phase two took the form of facilitated community art sessions where residents could create visual art and engage in conversations about brain health. For the third and final phase of the project, Ms. Cho's research team worked with local Cree artist Jesse Gouchey to design a mural conveying the themes that emerged from the art sessions. By supporting projects like hers, UBC's Public Scholars Initiative is "sending the message that we're invested in this community, and we want to be engaged and do good," said Ms. Cho. "I think that message counts for something."

Read the full article