Research in Anthropology: Carolina Across 100

Rudi Colloredo-Mansfeld (Anthropology) and Elizabeth Frankenberg (Sociology)

“Our State, Our Work” and Activating Youth Employment

This experiential learning course began during the fall 2022 semester, with nearly 30 students signing up to work with the “Our State, Our Work” program and the selected community collaborative teams. Continued interest prompted a spring 2023 course, allowing students to continue engaging with teams.

Throughout the semester, students assist program managers as they develop projects supporting “Opportunity Youth” at 13 sites across North Carolina. This is a population of young adults ages 16 to 24 who are not enrolled in school and not working full or part-time.

In practical terms, course participants provide assistance to the collaborative teams in such areas as fact-finding efforts, connecting county projects to UNC’s on-campus knowledge and resources, and facilitating cross-project information sharing.

Academically, the course provides a way to learn more about the issues of youth employment, young adult aspirations, and post-covid cultures of work, learning and careers and to put various research skills to use. Guided by faculty who are experienced in engaged research, students learn how to adapt social science methods to align with community purposes. In addition, the course provides opportunities for students to reflect on their work and offer strategies to students for translating their skills and experience for their next career steps.

Learning Priorities

Instructors

Dr. Rudi Colloredo-Mansfeld is an anthropologist with thirty years’ experience working with Quichua communities in the Ecuadorian Andes. His research focuses on grassroots economic organization, agrarian transformations, artisans, consumer cultures and local food systems. In North Carolina, he has researched local food hubs and the integration of small, sustainable farms with conventional food distributors and supermarkets.

Dr. Elizabeth Frankenberg is a sociologist who focuses on how individuals and families respond to unexpected changes and how government programs and policies can help them adapt. Much of her research is about Indonesia before and after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. She is also the Principal Investigator for the project “Dynamics of Extreme Events, People, and Places” (DEEPP).  The DEEPP Project brings together social and environmental scientists and engineers to understand the environmental, economic, social, and psychological impacts of hurricanes and flooding in eastern Carolina communities.