Research in humanities and social sciences drives work of SDSU faculty

Researchers at South Dakota State University focused on the humanities and social sciences conducted several research initiatives during 2022 with outcomes that will have lasting impacts on the citizens of South Dakota and their communities. Some of the research projects include:

Ness School of Management and Economics assistant professor Andrea Leschewski is leading a team of researchers throughout the United States who are using biomarkers of chronic disease to analyze the cost-benefits of the federal Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). The team received a $963,000 grant.

The program began in 1969 and has successfully addressed critical societal concerns by influencing nutrition and physical activity behaviors of low-income families, particularly those with young children. More than 75 land-grant universities conduct EFNEP research through 200,000 low-income adults and 450,000 low-income youth in rural and urban communities.

Leschewski’s work includes collaborations with researchers at the University of Idaho, Washington State University, University of Maryland, University of Florida, Michigan State University and Colorado State University.

School of Design assistant professor Elizabeth Tofte led a team of researchers—including School of Design Director Pat Crawford, School of Design Associate Director Leda Cempellin and Tyler Miller, an associate professor in the School of Psychology, Sociology and Rural Studies—on a $35,000 National Endowment for the Arts grant, which investigated art and design students' enhanced creative behaviors following participation in the Stuart Artist-in-Residence program.

For the past eight years, a national or international creative has been invited to campus for one month to interact with students, staff and faculty through lecture, critique, open studio hours and an open studio event as part of the Stuart Artist-in-Residence program. The Ritz Gallery, located in Grove Hall, serves as the artist’s studio and gallery. Ali Hval served as the 2022 Stuart Artist-in-Residence at SDSU.

The program is funded through a donation from Joe and Signe Stuart, who created the program to enrich the community; create opportunities for creatives, students and faculty; and develop an experimental way for students to learn from the creative and observe how their work develops. The team’s research is focused on enhancing student experiences in the arts.

Batey’s "Biographical Inventory of Creative Behaviors" was used to track ways students' creative behaviors changed over time. Three-hundred undergraduate students in STEM and art disciplines participated by completing pre- and post-surveys to help researchers better understand ways in which operationalized art provides students with alternative pedagogy that strengthens their creative behaviors.