HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY • OFFICE FOR RESEARCH & SPONSORED PROGRAMS
The
SPRING 2013 ISSUE 1
GRANT Seeker
A spotlight on excellence in grant development by a Hofstra University employee
Gregory Maney, Ph.D. By Benjamin Suazo
Dr. Gregory Maney enjoys a happy privilege of his profession – the ability to give back to the community. Through two of his major roles at Hofstra, co-director of the Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) and professor of sociology, he has taken two of the great callings of his life – a drive to help others and a curiosity for knowledge – and sewn them together into a tapestry of action research and public education.
After earning a doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Dr. Maney began his search for a faculty position. The decision to come to Hofstra, according to Dr. Maney, was really about making meaningful connections with his students: “I wanted to find somewhere that mixed a commitment to teaching with a commitment to research; a place where I could really interact with students inside and outside the classroom. That’s hard to do at a Research 1 institution where you’re lecturing more than 100 students in a section,” Dr. Maney said. “You need a smaller university to be able to do that, but not so small that it doesn’t have the resources to support your research agenda.” At Hofstra, he found the right fit. “I have benefited tremendously from the extensive support that I have received from the HCLAS Dean’s Office and the Provost’s Office (in particular the Office for Research and Sponsored Programs),” Dr. Maney said. Professor Maney’s work takes him both inside the classroom and out into the community. He conducts research to benefit both our understanding of the world and the reduction of political violence. Since he began teaching at Hofstra, Dr. Maney has received two National Science Foundation grants, each exceeding $100,000. The first research grant (in 2004, with Patrick Coy and Lynne Woehrle) analyzed changes and variations in U.S. peace movement discourses with a focus on 15 organizations across five conflicts. The findings were reported in several peer-reviewed articles and in a book titled Contesting Patriotism, which received
glowing reviews from scholars and peace practitioners alike. More recently, Dr. Maney and his colleague, Associate Professor Eitan Alimi of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, are using NSF funding to collect and code data Dr. Gregory Maney that will allow for both quantitative and qualitative assessments of any relationship between news coverage and levels of protest and political violence in the early troubles in Northern Ireland and the first intifada in the Middle East. “Peace journalism is one example of journalism that tries to raise awareness and bring about a decrease in violent conflict, but so far it has been hard to empirically assess actual effects, if any. Dr. Alimi and I have developed such a method,” Dr. Maney said. As a self-described “public sociologist” and “engaged scholar,” the lines between civic engagement and academia often overlap to the extent that it would be inaccurate to describe his work as either strictly applied or strictly academic. Dr. Maney has focused recently upon community-based research that assists in the protection and promotion of human rights in contexts of social inequalities. Community partners include the Greater Uniondale Area Action Coalition (on the foreclosure crisis), LifeWay Network (on human trafficking), Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives (on creating local peace institutions), Long Island Immigrant Alliance (on preventing and responding to hate crimes against immigrants), and Workplace Project (on the human rights status of day laborers). Some of these projects have received support from the Sociological Initiatives Foundation (with Dr. Margaret Abraham) and the American Sociological Association’s Sydney S. Spivack Program in Applied Social Research and Social Policy. Hofstra students have participated in each of
these projects and have uniformly expressed enthusiasm regarding their experiences. Here’s what one former graduate student, Nicole Wiktor, had to say about her experience conducting research on the service needs of human trafficking survivors: The most valuable lesson was that we were able to narrate a story with data that tells the truth and that attempts to make a difference. ... I think this project is something we can be very proud of (I was certainly proud when I just re-read our report), and the fact that a housing program was established as a result of it is amazing. ... This is certainly a cause that has grown close to my heart through our research and the great people who were part of the project. As a professor, Dr. Maney has worked closely with undergraduates for more than a decade. And now, with the recent addition of a minor in civic engagement that includes public interest internships for academic credit, he is able to encourage service-minded individuals to combine academic studies with communitysupporting education and research. “The Center for Civic Engagement views the University as a tool kit for community partners working on projects designed to bring about transformative changes. Our role is to support and ensure that each project we are involved with succeeds,” Dr. Maney said. Through a $10,000 Bringing Theory to Practice grant from the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU), the Center for Civic Engagement is investigating the impacts that academic opportunities for civic engagement may have on students’ civic attitudes, civic behaviors, academic performance, and psychosocial well-being. Through the CCE’s work, Dr. Maney and other CCE-affiliated professors hope to fulfill part of Hofstra University’s mission, namely to offer “educational, co-curricular and cultural programs and activities that foster an awareness of local, national and global issues, encouraging students to be active citizens and contributors to their local, national and global communities.”
Hofstra thanks you!
Your scholarly achievements enhance Hofstra’s reputation as a leading educational institution. If you are interested in pursuing a grant opportunity or have any questions, please contact the ORSP at 516-463-6810.