1. Community-Based Participatory Research on Women’s Health Disparities in Roxbury Women’s and Gender Studies Department WAITTHouse Inc, Roxbury, MA.

2. Course Description “WOST 370: Research Seminar in Women’s Studies” The goal of the Research Seminar in Women’s Studies is to further develop student’s critical thinking and engagement with research methodologies used in the interdisciplinary field of Women’s & Gender Studies. Through readings, discussions, and applied research in a community setting, students will learn about techniques for gathering research data and how to use some basic research tools. Students will also learn about the processes of selecting and designing community-based participatory research studies, and explore how this research relates to the pursuit of social justice. Throughout the semester, we will discuss the ethical implications of doing community-based participatory research. We will examine the complex interrelationships between social power and inequality, and the production of knowledge.

3. Project Team Team: Dr. Lorna Rivera, Associate Professor, Women’s & Gender Studies; Dr. Chris Bobel, Associate Professor & Chair, Women’s Studies; Stephen Hanley, Director of WAITTHouse, Inc. Roxbury; Winslow Holman, ABE Teacher, WAITTHouse. Students enrolled in Wost 370 Research Seminar (Fall 2013, N=8) and WOST 490 Internship (Spring 2013). UMass Boston students will work in partnership with a local adult education organization, WAITTHouse, Inc. located in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood. Beginning in October 2013 students will work with WAITTHouse participants to collaboratively identify important health issues affecting women who participate in WAITTHouse’s adult basic education (ABE) classes.

4. Project Goals ABE programs such as WAITTHouse that offer health literacy education are an important intervention in addressing the challenge of low health literacy and for addressing racial, ethnic, and gender-related health disparities. This research project is important because health care providers and public health researchers often ignore/under-utilize the Adult Basic Education (ABE) system as a vehicle for connecting with populations that experience significant health disparities.

5. What I want from CESI: To improve my ability to develop more tangible “ learning outcomes” when doing community- based participatory research. To be able to better assess learning outcomes for the re-designed Research Methods and Internship Seminar courses. To write about the CESI project.