Two Binghamton University professors shared their stories from working to engage the local area in “Stories from the North of Main: The Challenges of Community-Based Teaching and Research.”

On Thursday in Glenn G. Bartle Library, Siobhan Hart, a professor in the anthropology department, and George Homsy, a professor in the College of Community and Public Affairs, presented their findings from qualitative research that dove into the struggles of the Binghamton community located north of Main Street, which is typically non-students. This was the first installment in a three-part speaker series hosted by the Center for Civic Engagement (CCE), which aims to present strategies for strengthening partnerships between the University and the Binghamton area.

According to Homsy, the duo first got the idea for this research while touring Binghamton’s West Side through a neighborhood watch group called Safe Streets, which aims to improve the quality of life in the city.

Hart and Homsy are utilizing the community as a research tool as both professors and city residents in order to gain a better understanding of the issues of the community and to help it grow in its sustainability efforts.

“I feel an obligation to work in my home community,” Hart said. “The mutual care for the people we live with and among is important. Studies like this help make those bridges.”

Hart and Homsy have been engaging both graduate and undergraduate students in the research through the classes they teach. Hart teaches a heritage-based class and Homsy’s class is about community sustainability. To get a hands-on approach, the professors train their students to interview residents and community members through Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI), a module that gives students certification to do research with human subjects.

Homsy said the students’ study has collected 14 interviews thus far. In these interviews, students speak with residents and community members to gain a better understanding and collect data on the area. This information is available on their website, along with a geographic information system (GIS) map to show the area that their study is taking place in.

According to Homsy, this project gives students the opportunity to actively communicate and engage with the West Side Binghamton communities.

“It’s good for students to get into the neighborhood and engage and think about the sustainability issues,” Homsy said.

Katelyn Frisone, a sophomore majoring in biomedical engineering who attended the talk, said she plans to live in the West Side next year and thinks that Hart and Homsy’s study can be a good thing for the community.

“I think that one day the community could really benefit from the feedback from the community and the statistics that the students are obtaining,” Frisone said. “I found it interesting that the interviewees were so open with the students about how they feel about their community.”

The CCE chose Hart and Homsy to begin the series because of their integration of research and teaching into the community. Jessica Arends, the faculty engagement associate for CCE, said Hart and Homsy’s project is one that will be utilized as a model for faculty.

“Both Siobhan and George are great examples of community-based practice as far as teaching and research goes,” Arends said. “They have really spent a lot of time identifying what the community needs and have worked really hard listening to the community and hearing how the community chooses to communicate their issues and problems.”