Congratulations to Pullias Center’s Dr. Zoë B. Corwin upon receiving the USC Joint Educational Project Award for Community Engaged Teaching and Research. This award was established in 2019 to recognize USC faculty who meaningfully integrate community engagement into their teaching and/or research.

Dr. Corwin, a Research Professor, serves as the Principal Investigator for the Promoting At-promise Student Success (PASS) Project and the USC Skate Studies project. Additionally, she collaborates with faculty from Washington University’s Brown School of Social Work on the Proud and Empowered project. She joined the Center’s faculty in 2012. The Joint Educational Project (JEP) is one of the oldest and largest service-learning programs in the United States. Each year 2,000+ USC students enroll in JEP’s service-learning, work-study and volunteer programs.

“The foundational, guiding principle of ethical community engagement is to form respectful and collaborative partnerships that are mutually-beneficial, and they go both ways,” stated Ishwar Puri, VP of Research in the USC Office of the Provost. “Dr. Corwin’s community engagement work beautifully exemplifies these guiding principles.” Dr. Corwin ensures that the community itself is the foundation of all of her research. “I am grateful for all the community partners I’ve been able work with over the past 20 years —
students, teachers, college counselors and postsecondary practitioners who understood that their perspectives could help improve the educational landscape in our country,” stated Dr. Corwin.

“I am indebted to all of them for sharing their stories with me, for their thought partnership and engagement, and for their patience as I navigated a very particular research positionality as a white woman partnering with folks with life experiences different to my own. Their insights have been vital in the way the Pullias Center has been able to inform policies and practices in
the state of California and nationally,” she added.

The main focus of Dr. Corwin’s research program is to improve college access and success for students who are considered “at-promise,” as well as to explore different postsecondary pathways available to those who have experiences in foster care. Additionally, she has examined the impact of social media and games on postsecondary access and completion as well as digital equity in education. Most recently, Dr, Corwin has been learning from skateboarders about how to navigate mental wellness and cultivate community, She has created a variety of educational materials such as monographs, briefs, videos, games, and learning activities, as well as publishing academic articles. She has also co-edited the books

“Diversifying Digital Learning: Online Literacy and Educational Opportunity,” “Postsecondary Play: The Role of Games and Social Media in Higher Education,” and “Preparing for College: Nine Elements of Effective Outreach.”