UCLA social welfare professors earn grant to study US civic engagement
Laura Abrams, a professor in the Luskin School of Public Affairs, is one of two UCLA recipients of a National Service and Civic Engagement Research grant. (Courtesy of Leslie Dunseith)
By Hedy Wang
Oct. 10, 2017 10:10 p.m.
Two UCLA professors have received a $100,000 grant to research civic engagement in the United States.
The Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that oversees national volunteer organizations such as AmeriCorps, awarded a National Service and Civic Engagement Research grant to assistant professor Laura Wray-Lake and professor Laura Abrams, who both work in the Luskin School of Public Affairs.
CNCS awarded grants totaling more than $1.3 million to 14 U.S. universities, including UCLA, this year.
Wray-Lake and Abrams will conduct a study on youth civic engagement in urban settings, according to a university press release. The study will examine how urban youth of color describe and contribute to their communities.
The researchers will also study what prevents youth from becoming more engaged in their communities and examine the factors that encourage youth to become civically engaged.
