Community Engaged Scholarship

American Cultures Engaged Scholarship Program (ACES)

Cohort Participants & Facilitators

Cohort Participants Emily Cook

Emily is a Ph.D. candidate in environmental engineering, working under Lisa Alvarez-Cohen in collaboration with David Sedlak. Emily researches methods to remediate groundwater contaminated with per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a group of highly fluorinated, persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic compounds. Beyond her interest in and passion for environmental microbiology, water chemistry, sustainability, and engineering as a form of stewardship, Emily is highly motivated to build communities within...

The ACES Graduate Student Learning Community

ACES Program Grants

About the ACES Program

Launched in January 2010 as a partnership between the American Cultures Center and the Public Service Center, the American Cultures Engaged Scholarship (ACES) Program aims to transform how faculty’s community-engaged scholarship is valued, to enhance learning for students through a combination of teaching and practice, and to create new knowledge that has an impact both in the community and the academy.

ACES Course Grants are...

ACES

International and Area Studies/Engineering 157AC: “Engineering, Environment, and Society”

About the Course Assignment

IAS/E 157AC: “Engineering, Environment, and Society” forefronts the political and social concerns that are of decentered in favor of the technical aspects of environmental engineering. Originally developed as part of the American Cultures Engaged Scholarship (ACES) program, the project developed for IAS/E 157AC allowed for students to explore alternative ways of centering the knowledge produced in the communities...

ACEJ Undergraduate Fellows

About

In Spring 2026, with generous funding from the Campus Advisory Committee on Student Services & Fees, the American Cultures Environmental Justice Initiative launched the American Cultures Engaged Scholarship Environmental Justice Program. By partnering American Cultures courses with Bay Area social justice community organizations, ACES promotes experiential...

ACES Courses

About

ACES courses represent corners of campus that highlights the intent of the AC requirement, while also deepening the meaning of that intent through a combination of multi-disciplinary research and praxis, the development of students and community partners as co-educators, mentoring opportunities, and increased and sustained accessibility of information.

To learn about projects developed with ACES community partners, please visit the...

Understanding the Richness of American Cultures

About

This section offers advisors a comprehensive deep dive into the key components of the American Cultures requirement and its associated programs. Learn more about the opportunities that the AC curriculum and pedagogy offer students, and review highlights of the AC Center's work, past and present.

American Cultures Advancing Practice: Racism isn't rocket science

The 2020 Election Big Ideas Course

About

The Fall 2020 semester presented a quadrennial opportunity to study American politics during a presidential campaign. “The 2020 Election” combined real-time analysis of the election, a lively roster of guest speakers from across the Berkeley campus and community, and an in-depth study of relevant historical and sociological trends that have shaped the contemporary moment. This class, hosted by Professor Michael Cohen (Department of African American Studies) and...