Penn Arts & Sciences Logo

Peter Decherney awarded "Making a Difference in Diverse Communities" Grant

Penn Arts and Sciences has announced the 2018 funded projects for the “Making a Difference in Diverse Communities” initiative, which encourages faculty to explore innovative ways of applying their expertise. Through a combination of coursework, research, and service, the projects address issues of diversity and inequality at the local, national, and international level. Peter Decherney's project "Using Virtual Reality and Digital Video to Document the Post-Hurricane Maria Recovery Efforts in Puerto Rico" is one of the grant recipients.

About "Using Virtual Reality and Digital Video to Document the Post-Hurricane Maria Recovery Efforts in Puerto Rico": This project, led by Peter Decherney, Professor of English and Cinema Studies, will visit Puerto Rico nine months after hurricane Maria hit in order to re-create the experience of individuals who have worked in different circumstances to rebuild their environments and lives after the hurricane. The team will use virtual reality and video to capture these narratives. This will continue work Decherney and his students completed in Kenya, where they used similar techniques to document the refugee experience. Decherney hopes the project will also communicate the situation on the ground and the need for increased aid to policymakers, non-governmental organization leaders, and anyone who can’t travel to the island.

For a full list of grant recipients and more information about the “Making a Difference in Diverse Communities” initiative, visit www.sas.upenn.edu/news/making-difference-diverse-communities-grants-announced.