About this Deep-Dive Workshop Series
Campus Compact and the Academy of Community Engagement Scholarship are partnering to host the Addressing Wicked Issues through Community-Engaged Scholarship series. Each year, this series takes a deep dive into some of the most critical issues threatening our communities and explores how we—higher education community engagement professionals, practitioners, and scholars—can make a difference.
The 2024-2025 Addressing Wicked Issues series will focus on youth and gun violence. Gun violence has become a vast and daunting issue that has impacted lives of youth across the country—as direct victims of violence, as witnesses to violence, and in day-to-day public life. In 2020, homicide was the second leading cause of death for 15-24 year-olds, with the vast majority involving firearms. Instances of gun violence in our schools and public spaces are prevalent in the media, and have led to growing calls to action from youth across the country.
To move the needle on complex and nuanced issue like gun violence, we must apply a variety of different perspectives and approaches. This series will will generate resources, highlight promising examples, and create space to explore how higher education can make a difference through community-engaged research, community-engaged teaching and learning, anchor strategy & community partnerships, and student-led civic engagement.
Over 6 sessions, we will provide the necessary context and then dive into the root causes of gun violence, the interrelated individual, familial, and community factors that put youth at risk, and how higher education can respond.
Who should attend?
This event is free and open to members and non-members. Faculty, staff, community partners, and students—or anyone interested in exploring ways higher education can make an impact on the issue of gun violence—are encouraged to attend.
Sessions
| More Info | Name | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Session 1: Kick-off coalition conversation | Wednesday, December 11, 2024 | 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM (EST) | |
| Session 2: Community-engaged research | Wednesday, January 22, 2025 | 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM (EST) | |
| Session 3: Community-engaged teaching and learning | Wednesday, February 19, 2025 | 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM (EST) | |
| Session 4: Student-led civic engagement | Wednesday, April 16, 2025 | 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM (EDT) | |
| Session 5: Anchor strategy and community partnerships | Wednesday, May 14, 2025 | 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM (EDT) | |
| Session 6: Wrap-up and closing | Wednesday, June 4, 2025 | 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM (EDT) |
Meet The Moderator
Dr. Camille Williamson, DSW, LCSW
Program Manager, Center for Health Equity, American Medical Association
Bio
Bio
The scope of my career has been to improve the health and wellness of marginalized communities and populations. I became interested in the field of social work during my undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. At that time, I was a youth counselor for young males at the local juvenile detention center. I deeply enjoyed building a positive rapport with the young men and learned about the systemic challenges they were experiencing in their under-resourced communities. This inspired me to pursue my graduate studies in clinical social work with adolescents, young adults, and families at the University of Chicago.
Early in my career, I worked on the south and west sides of Chicago as a Domestic Violence case manager and then led TRiO programs on the southwest side to get low-income, first-generation students into post-secondary programs. As my career developed, I began to take on more leadership roles in academia to collaborate with many community-based groups and organizations to address health and education inequities. Furthermore, as a licensed clinical social worker I have provided therapeutic counseling, and clinical consultation for women and children experiencing domestic violence. And it has been a rewarding experience to build my career in academic and grassroots community-based settings. Some highlights I am especially proud of are the classes I have taught on Professional Social Work, social justice retreats, and workshops on intersectionality and exploring racial equity.
Lastly, I recently completed my doctorate in social work at the University of Southern California, studying Black Maternal Health; and I plan to design and develop educational programs and advocacy initiatives to address the Black Maternal Health Crisis. I am currently a Program Manager in the Center for Health Equity at the American Medical Association.
Contribute to the conversation
Your support and leadership can make a difference. After the series kicks off, each session will highlight resources, success stories, knowledge, and experiences from campuses across the country in the following areas: community-engaged research, community-engaged teaching and learning, student-led civic engagement, and anchor strategy and community partnerships. If you have resources or expertise related to youth gun violence in any of these areas of practice, please share with us so that we can highlight your good work in a future Wicked Issues session.
The Academy of Community Engagement Scholarship (ACES)
The mission of ACES is to provide expertise to policymakers, higher education institutions and organizations, community leaders, and national and international entities interested in addressing complex societal issues through the effective engagement of higher education with community members and organizations.
Questions? Get in touch with Nicole Springer at nspringer@compact.org