So What's PSRP, Anyway?

The Public Service Research Program (PSRP) is for all undergraduate students in any major who would like to apply their academic skills/research interests to a real social problem through community-based research (CBR). CBR, in the simplest terms, is research that is conducted with and for, not on, members of a community. In CBR, you collaborate with the community agency to help them answer a research question that they have. It's like traditional academic research, in that you use rigorous methods to study the problem. But unlike most academic research, CBR also means you come up with an action plan for what the community agency can do with the results of the research. In short, CBR also tries to answer the question, "NOW what?" That way, no one will ask you "so what?" when you tell them what you did this year.

Students have two opportunities to participate in community-based research through the PSRP:

• HON 3530 Parkway Research: a junior-level seminar (sophomore, juniors, and seniors are all welcome), in which students work as an interdisciplinary team on research with the Blue Ridge Parkway.
• HON 3535 CBR Seminar: a senior-level seminar (some juniors may choose to participate), in which students complete a CBR thesis or independent study research project

More information about these two year-long courses, as well as a listing of research opportunities, can be found on the menu on the left-side of the page.