Side by side portraits of two female UC Davis professors
Pictured, from left: Liza Grandia, associate professor of Native American studies, and Jeannette Money, professor of political science.

Two Faculty Receive Awards for New Humans Rights Courses

UC Davis public scholarship fellowships focus on equity and justice

Two faculty members in the College of Letters and Science have been awarded fellowships from the UC Davis Office of Public Scholarship and Engagement to develop new undergraduate courses focused on human rights.

Liza Grandia, associate professor of Native American studies, and Jeannette Money, professor of political science, are among three faculty campuswide named 2022 Community Engaged Faculty Fellows.

The fellowship program, launched in 2020, helps faculty incorporate community-framed problems and questions into their classrooms. This year's cohort is focusing on equity and justice in public scholarship.

Connecting with Indigenous activists

Grandia has collaborated for three decades as an activist-scholar with Indigenous, environmental, social and agrarian justice movements in the Maya lowlands of northern Guatemala and Belize.

For her fellowship, she is developing two courses that will connect students in partnerships with Indigenous environmental leaders, organizations and journalists throughout the Americas:

  • An online upper-division course, “Indigenous Hemispheric Connections,” for a UC-wide minor in Native American studies. The course will be offered through the UC Online cross-campus enrollment system.
  • A parallel lower-division, in-person class for the human rights studies minor at UC Davis, cross-listed with Native American studies.

Helping immigrants and their host communities

Political scientist Money studies immigration, including immigrant activism and political alliances as a source of policy change.

For her fellowship, she is focusing on her program, “Immigrants, Refugees and Human Rights,” offered through Quarter at Aggie Square, UC Davis’ new immersive learning experience in Sacramento that combines classes, internships and community engagement.  

For “Immigrants, Refugees and Human Rights,” a three-year program that launched winter quarter 2022, Money developed partnerships with 10 community organizations to provide student internships and service-learning opportunities.

Fellows are supported through individual mentorship, opportunities to collaborate with other cohort members at monthly meetings, and academic-enrichment funding provided by Public Scholarship and Engagement.

— Kathleen Holder, content strategist in the UC Davis College of Letters and Science

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