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W.M. Keck Foundation

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Undergraduate EducationGrants awarded prior to new criteria and geographic restrictions as of August 2008.

2009
Recipient  California Polytechnic State University
City  San Luis Obispo, CA
Description  The project will develop an integrated, multidisciplinary, undergraduate curriculum in molecular forensics to promote an undergraduate research community and prepare students for careers and graduate study. Initially focused on producing a working database of E. coli sequences, this curriculum will be delivered to over 1,000 students each year in lab-based courses in the Colleges of Science and Mathematics, Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences, and Engineering. Combining analytical procedures from microbiology, molecular biology and bioinformatics, the program will engage undergraduates in applied, cutting-edge research with broad potential in the areas of food and water safety. The requested pyrosequencing equipment, capable of rapid, sequence-based analysis of microbes, is key to the project aims: integrating explicit pedagogic, research and product development goals into the curriculum from introductory to advanced courses and senior capstone projects. The equipment fosters an experimental mindset and provides a platform for student involvement in developing a microbial forensics database to sub-type strains from a variety of sources. The proposed instrumentation will transform the way students experience the application of technology in scientific discovery and will contribute to the development of other applied research directions across campus. (Amount Awarded: $249,504) Raul Cano

Recipient  Lewis & Clark
City  Portland, OR
Description  As it seeks to shape the future of its programs in the mathematical and natural sciences, Lewis & Clark College will take advantage of the inherent flexibility of the liberal arts setting to make significant changes in its science curriculum and its research environment. Within the next three years, Lewis & Clark will develop the academic discipline of nanoscience through enhanced curriculum, the hire of postdoctoral researchers/teachers, acquisition of a new scanning electron microscope, and support of new and established faculty research projects in this area. Lewis & Clark's proposed nanoscience program development is unique among regional liberal arts institutions as the aim of program is to advance undergraduate liberal arts education in which students have access to hands-on research opportunities in nanoscience at a level far beyond average offerings. Lewis & Clark will benefit from this project for decades after the proposed grant period expires, as this project lays the foundation for faculty research programs sure to succeed, courses that will allow students to understand the technology and science of the future, and access to cutting-edge equipment by generations of students. (Amount Awarded: $250,000) Julio de Paula

Undergraduate Education - Liberal Arts

Recipient  Mount St. Mary’s College
City  Los Angeles, CA
Description  Mount St. Mary's College seeks to increase the use of film as a campus-wide pedagogical tool while expanding its program in film and social justice, a unique undergraduate major that uses the power of filmmaking to promote active learning across academic disciplines, engages students in the local community, and, ultimately, develops strong-voiced leaders who will contribute to positive social change. The program has demonstrated its ability to give students the skills both to make powerful films that address important social justice issues and to gain entry into the entertainment industry - where, as women from diverse ethnic backgrounds, they are vastly underrepresented. With a fully developed curriculum, established internship relationships and newly constructed production and editing studios, the film and social justice program is poised to expand. The requested funds will primarily support: a) expansion of two part-time faculty positions to full-time over the three-year grant period; b) reassigned time for the program director; and c) acquisition of film production equipment. The goals are to build enrollment in the program, further integrate the program into other departments, develop a strong online presence, and expand the program's impact beyond the College through partnerships with high schools and community-based organizations, and - ultimately - to increase diversity in the film industry. (Amount Awarded: $250,000) Pam Haldeman

Recipient  University of Redlands
City  Redlands, CA
Description  LEarNing Spatially (LENS) is a campus-wide initiative promoting spatial literacy as a foundational component within an undergraduate liberal arts curriculum. LENS harnesses the integrative power of geography with technologies to help faculty and students visualize knowledge, solve problems, and understand relationships through a spatial lens. We create opportunities for faculty and students from diverse liberal arts disciplines to use maps, mapping and spatial perspectives in order to develop new understanding and insights for their teaching and research. Our approach targets faculty development through fellowships and workshops, student opportunities through internships and collaborative research, and enhancements to existing technical support and infrastructure. We emphasize graphicacy skills among students, adding “critical viewing” expertise to the other competencies in writing, reading, speaking and thinking that are cultivated during higher education. LENS moves beyond teaching simply a tool or suite of technologies; it represents a global first for how 21st century geospatial technologies can be linked to the greater pedagogic objectives of critical thinking and problem-based learning. (Amount Awarded: $250,000) Diana Sinton

Recipient  Whittier College
City  Whittier, CA
Description  Whittier College seeks support for the establishment of two Centers: for Science, Health, and Policy; and for Interdisciplinary Collaborations with the Arts. These Centers will maximize student learning by advancing the College's deep commitment to interdisciplinary curricula, collaborative teaching, undergraduate research and internships, and the integration of student learning experiences within local, national and international communities. A centerpiece of the project will be the Keck Undergraduate Fellows Program which will give financial and mentoring support to 21 of the College's best students, providing funds for internships and research assistantships in the summer following their junior year and for continuing scholarly activity during their senior year. Requested funds also will support the development of eight new interdisciplinary courses tied to the two Centers; travel to external communities; visits from field leaders to campus; interdisciplinary symposiums; and course release time for the Centers' faculty Directors as they lead faculty in the execution of new Center activities. The primary goal, building upon Whittier's curricular strengths, is to establish the Centers as interdisciplinary and community-oriented focal points of intellectual activity and high student achievement on campus. (Amount Awarded: $250,000) Charlotte Borst

2008
Recipient  California State University, Northridge
City  Northridge, CA
Description  The College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) at California State University Northridge (CSUN), in collaboration with the College of Science and Mathematics (CSM), will acquire a Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS). This system will provide the fundamental tools needed by faculty and students in the interdisciplinary Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education (NUE) program to investigate the complex phenomena that occur at the nanosize scale, and should advance the overall goal of bridging experimental and theoretical approaches to nanotechnology in research and teaching. The FESEM-NUE project will greatly enrich both colleges undergraduate curricula, increase early student exposure to nanotechnology, provide opportunities for student participation in sophisticated academic-industry research collaborations, and grant diverse students a competitive advantage for graduate studies and careers while meeting their financial needs. The project builds upon earlier curricular advances and student research engagement achieved with advanced computing equipment and sensitive microanalytic instrumentation acquired under a prior W.M. Keck Foundation grant. (Amount Awarded: $500,000)

Recipient  Simmons College
City  Boston, MA
Description  The Undergraduate Laboratory Renaissance program will replace closed-end laboratory experiments with research-based laboratory work in each area of undergraduate science. A project based on a faculty member's research will form the basis for the semester's laboratory work, with teams of four students working on different aspects of the project. Upper-division majors will mentor students in research methodology and instrumental techniques. To coordinate research activity among several laboratory sections meeting each week, a Wiki-based laboratory notebook will be used to communicate results. When this research-based program is fully implemented, all students contemplating majors in chemistry, biochemistry, chemistry/pharmacy, and biology will participate in research beginning in the sophomore year following an introduction to research methodology during the spring of their first year.(Amount Awarded:$245,000)

Recipient  University of California, Los Angeles
City  Los Angeles, CA
Description  UCLA has identified, as a critical next step in its Digital Humanities initiative, the creation of an undergraduate curriculum in the emergent field of digital cultural mapping. By integrating Geographic Information Systems into traditional methods of humanistic inquiry, digital cultural mapping uses informatics, spatial modeling, and time-space visualizations to create new tools and methods for investigating cultural, historical and social dynamics. Building on the tradition of a liberal arts education at UCLA, the curriculum will teach students critical reasoning, sound judgment, intellectual openness, and team-based problem solving. Students will learn to utilize, create, and evaluate the tools and technologies related to the geo-temporal web, a global information network in which location and information have merged together and datastreams are organized, processed, and viewed according to the parameters of space and time. The curriculum is unique because it draws faculty from seven different disciplines, bridges the resources of three research and teaching centers at UCLA, and uses new geo-technologies to develop collaborative, project-based approaches to learning with real-world applications. (Amount Awarded:$500,000)

2007
Recipient  Carleton College
City  Northfield, MN
Description  To support expansion of the Quantitative Inquiry, Reasoning, and Knowledge (QUIRK) Initiative to non-science disciplines.

Recipient  Hampton University
City  Hampton, VA
Description  To incorporate genomics into the biology curriculum by setting up undergraduate DNA microarray and bioinformatics labs.

Recipient  Millsaps College
City  Jackson, MS
Description  To support interdisciplinary undergraduate archaeological research focused on the comparative study of an Old World and a New World culture.

Recipient  St. Edward's University
City  Austin, TX
Description  To establish an interdisciplinary undergraduate research project on HIV drug resistance that will be integrated into portions of a course on science literacy.

Recipient  St. Lawrence University
City  Canton, NY
Description  To facilitate the development of interdisciplinary learning environments for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

Recipient  Texas Lutheran University
City  Seguin, TX
Description  To enhance the physics and pre-engineering programs by purchasing an NMR to establish a Transport Lab for hands-on student learning.

2006
Recipient  Council of Independent Colleges
City  Washington, DC
Description  To support a program that will develop sustainable models of effective language learning at liberal arts institutions.

Recipient  Earlham College
City  Richmond, IN
Description  To develop interdisciplinary curriculum modules and student/faculty research projects focusing on metals in the environment.

Recipient  Gonzaga University
City  Spokane, WA
Description  To purchase four power workstations for the transmission and distribution engineering program.

Recipient  Loyola Marymount University
City  Los Angeles, CA
Description  To acquire state-of-the-art imaging and molecular analysis equipment for student/faculty research in biology and bioengineering.

Recipient  Messiah College
City  Grantham, PA
Description  To support an integrated-projects curriculum in the engineering department and to extend it to the school of mathematics, engineering, and business.

2005
Recipient  California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
City  Pomona, CA
Description  For a suite of equipment to support interdisciplinary learning in materials design and modeling.

Recipient  California State University Long Beach
City  Long Beach, CA
Description  To establish a facility for proteomics research and education throughout the CSU system.

Recipient  Clark University
City  Worcester, MA
Description  To support restructuring of the undergraduate biology curriculum to an inquiry-based model.

Recipient  Institute of American Indian Arts
City  Santa Fe, NM
Description  To support the development of a new humanities curriculum in indigenous studies.

Recipient  Notre Dame de Namur University
City  Belmont, CA
Description  To support the development of curricula that use GIS to solve community-based problems.

Recipient  Reed College
City  Portland, OR
Description  To fully incorporate digital images as a teaching tool throughout the curriculum.

Recipient  University of La Verne
City  La Verne, CA
Description  To acquire a research-grade NMR spectrometer for use in courses and research.

2004
Recipient  California Lutheran University
City  Thousand Oaks, CA
Description  For equipment to enhance a new bioengineering major focused on mechanobiology.

Recipient  California State University, San Bernardino
City  San Bernardino, CA
Description  To construct and equip an astronomical observatory.

Recipient  College of Santa Fe
City  Santa Fe, NM
Description  To support a new interdisciplinary major in documentary studies.

Recipient  Dickinson College
City  Carlisle, PA
Description  To equip two new laboratories and a smart classroom for interdisciplinary studies in archaeology and anthropology.

Recipient  LeTourneau University
City  Longview, TX
Description  To develop laboratory modules that will strengthen conceptual links across the engineering disciplines.

Recipient  Macalester College
City  Saint Paul, MN
Description  To develop a cross-disciplinary curriculum in data fluency.

Recipient  Mississippi College
City  Clinton, MS
Description  To enhance and expand instrumentation for chemistry.

Recipient  Occidental College
City  Los Angeles, CA
Description  To establish a technology-based center for intercultural partnerships.

Recipient  St. Olaf College
City  Northfield, MN
Description  To revise the chemistry curriculum by incorporating environmentally benign approaches called green chemistry.

Recipient  University of Richmond
City  Richmond, VA
Description  To integrate the topic of responsible leadership across the arts and science curricula at three partner institutions.

Recipient  Westmont College
City  Santa Barbara, CA
Description  To replace the telescope and upgrade the infrastructure for an existing observatory.

Recipient  Willamette University
City  Salem, OR
Description  To develop an interdisciplinary minor in arts and technology.





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