The Minnesota Urban Debate League is an independent program of Augsburg University. We serve over 1,200 students and provide academic debate programming to 40+ Twin Cities high school and middle schools. Two of our programs are designed to specifically address the needs of immigrant communities in Minnesota: The Spanish Debate League and the East African Debate Initiative. Both programs build students’ positive cultural identity while sharpening their academic skills.
The DIAL will collaborate with Hmong artist Tou SaiKo Lee to develop “Ntiajteb Koomtes” (“Unified Worldwide” in English) – a Hmong language program based on Hmong traditional music infused with poetry and hip hop. Project activities include piloting the curriculum, developing media, and evaluating and revising the curriculum through feedback from students, teachers and linguists.
Our project will expand our successful storytelling program to 1) offer more pathways for community engagement with Southeast Asian diaspora stories and cultural arts; 2) increase the number of people we are able to engage through our storytelling program; 3) increase public dialog and engagement with Southeast Asian stories and cultural arts. Our work will bring Southeast Asian diaspora communities together to share cultural arts and stories and to increase accessibility of community stories.
Our project aims to develop free online resources that teach Hmong language and culture to the public. First, printable literacy and cultural decks – for example, flashcards of the Hmong alphabet, or an overview of a prevalent Hmong tradition – available for download on our website. Our second resource include an interactive web app that teaches introductory Hmong language. Users gain literacy skills of consonants, vowels, and grammar, and can also engage in lessons that teach topics such as common greetings, introductions, survival phrases, pronouns, and more.
The 20-Year Curseis a multi-media live performance and documentary film project created, written, and performed by Naomi Ko. It explores the stories surrounding Naomi and the Ko Family curse, and the Korean American community in Minnesota. This grant will support the staging of the live performances and the making of the documentary.
Gaohong is a Pipa player, a teacher at Carleton College, Chinese. Recently, the mayor of St. Paul named April 3rd, 2022 Gaohong Day. I was touched by Gaohong's story: the hardship, the joy, the courage to bridge the gaps. I put together this interactive writing process with Gaohong, educators and students in Chinese immersion schools for a picture book. I wish this project could answer: Who are we in the history and in the current curriculum? Who do we want to be in the future?
The Step Into Your Light Project will work with non-English speaking Hmong women elders to give them an opportunity to explore cultural dances they wouldn't have access to nor find a reason to try something new. The goal of this project is to help Hmong women step out of their comfort zones to step into the spotlight. This experience will be documented, narrated, and translated to be published on YouTube to encourage all women to not be afraid of their own light.
LatinoLEAD's new Avanzando Liderazgo Program (ALP) uses a culturally specific interdisciplinary approach to prepare emerging and established Latinx leaders to take on influential positions across sectors so they can advance equity for our community. Using a carefully crafted curriculum, we celebrate and teach the culture and heritage of Minnesota's many Latinx communities. This asset-based, multi-ethnic approach allows leaders to build skills while discovering what it means to be Minnesotanos.
To hire an architect to write a Historic Structure Report to guide future restoration of the 1910 Sam S. Shubert Theatre and Shubert Building, listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Funny Asian Women Kollective (FAWK) uses comedy to combat the dehumanization of Asian women. This project includes: 1) a tour performing throughout the state, particularly to rural communities with large Asian American populations; 2) provide workshop opportunities to equip communities with the tools to create their own comedic material; 3) produce two super shows in Minneapolis and Saint Paul (700+ audience); 4) allow digital production of five short films and distribution.
Wonderlust Productions will use stories gathered from people who live and work behind the scenes in downtown Saint Paul to create short, place-based, audio plays, peeling back the curtain on who and what really makes our city tick. Audiences will be invited to take a listening tour of the city by following an online map and QR codes displayed around town.
The Link will provide culturally specific programming to 12-15 youth that will participate in a pilot expansion of the We Will Breathe program (incorporating a new Black History month initiative). We Will Breathe is a youth-led Racial Justice and Healing Initiative, where youth come together as a collective to develop a deeper understanding of themselves, their cultures, and their identities.
This project is a digital storytelling project dedicated to bonding communities and cultures through telling elders' stories. The project is embedded in the idea that our elders are waterers - carrying history and knowledge that strengthens a community's identity, and that through the sharing of their stories, we can understand and strengthen communities across generations and geographic location. The project will involve 30 persons from Indigenous, Hmong, Latinx and Somali cultures located across the state.
This project will increase awareness about outdoor recreation opportunities at Minnesota state parks and trails among underrepresented groups by creating handicap-accessible, touch-screen kiosks, with information in multiple languages, and placing the kiosks in high-traffic, family-oriented locations.
Continue implementation of the adopted RP Master Plan: Perform a traffic study of four intersections, traffic counts, circulation patterns, and parking access /layout at 9 parking lots to provide a framework for improving access and circulation for the roughly 1 million annual visitors, with approximately 64% of users being of Asian background.
Project to include trail improvements between T.H. 61 to Bruce Vento Trail including design, engineering, demolition, grading, stormwater management, paving, landscaping and retaining wall construction as required.
Project to include trail improvements between T.H. 61 to Bruce Vento Trail including design, engineering, demolition, grading, stormwater management, paving, landscaping and retaining wall construction as required.
Supplement improvements for a trailhead facility south of Co. Rd. I including design/engineering, construction, demolition, grading, landscaping, trails, parking, building, roads, stormwater management, utilities, signage, site and play equipment, amenities, habitat restoration, access to the water trail, lighting.
At almost 4,000 acres, Trout Brook is the largest subwatershed in the Capitol Region Watershed District and the City of Saint Paul. The restored stream is part of the 42 acre Trout Brook Nature Sanctuary project, whose goal is to return the area back to some resemblance of its pre-industrialized valley of stream floodplain and wetlands. Monitoring results within the corridor show that phosphorus, sediments, bacteria, lead and copper are the pollutants of most concern.
Construction of accessible pathway entrance into the sanctuary from Geranium Ave. E. Installation of signage at trail nodes, entries, and other prominent locations. Project may include: excavation, grading, stormwater management, erosion control, concrete footings, installation of signage, bituminous paving, and landscaping
With roughly 70,000 residents, Minnesota is home to the largest Hmong population in the United States. The top spinning game of Tuj Lub (pronounced - too loo) has its roots in Southeast Asia and holds cultural significance to the Hmong community. Formal Tuj Lub courts, constructed near a multi-shelter picnic area at Keller Regional Park, seek
We will prepare resource kits for elementary students which will introduce the traditional arts and crafts of Turkey, as situated within the broader historical and geographical context. Because the kits will meet the guidelines of MN Academic Standards, they can be used in Social Studies and Arts classes as part of cultural diversity activities. The kits will include artifacts, documents, DVDs, curriculum guides and implementation suggestions for students to learn through hands-on experiences.
