Examining arts-related Kickstarter projects

Crowdfunding the arts

Posted on May 20, 2019 by Leslie Wells

This blog is the result of a research partnership between the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts: the Arts, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation (AEI) Lab.

My name is Michael Weigel and I’m a first-year graduate student at the O’Neill School working on my Master of Policy Analysis. When not working on class projects, I serve as a graduate research assistant for Dr. Doug Noonan as part of the AEI Lab. My current focus is on artistic and creative projects financed through crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter. I’d love to share some of my initial insights.

For this analysis, our team is utilizing a database with information on every arts-related Kickstarter project hosted on the platform since its founding in 2009 up to October 2016. Each listing contains information on the genre and subgenre of the project, the amount of money requested and pledged, the number of backers, location of origin, and more.

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The search is on for IUPUI’s next queen bee

Posted on May 6, 2019 by Leslie Wells

A fascination with bees and an on-campus internship helped create the Urban Beekeepers at IUPUI club. But to keep it going, the club needs a new leader—fast. Its current leader, Melissa Kidulas, is graduating and she needs a new queen (or king) bee to run the club.

Melissa Kidulas

Kidulas, who is earning her O’Neill degree in Sustainable Management and Policy, started the club in 2017 as part of a project for IUPUI’s Office of Sustainability. The university beehives and the campus gardens already existed. Dr. Steven Blanchard, an associate professor with the IU School of Dentistry, established the campus hives thanks to a Greening IUPUI grant.

But Kidulas had a new goal: help IUPUI gain a Bee Campus accreditation.

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Students, faculty honored at 2019 O’Neill Awards luncheon

Posted on May 2, 2019 by Leslie Wells

Congratulations to award recipients from the annual O’Neill Awards luncheon. The celebration honors the school’s top students in criminal justice and public affairs, alongside several faculty members.

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O’Neill’s Dena Carson honored for work on youth gangs

Posted on April 29, 2019 by Leslie Wells

For nearly a decade, O’Neill assistant professor Dena Carson has dedicated her research career to examining youth gangs. Her commitment to the field was recently recognized by the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Section of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.

Carson received the group’s Tory J. Caeti Memorial Award, honoring the next generation of juvenile justice and delinquency scholars who contribute to a better understanding of issues in their field.

“Dr. Carson is well-rounded in her contributions to research, scholarship, and service,” says Jen Peck, Ph.D., award committee member and assistant criminal justice professor at the University of Central Florida. “Her research agenda is innovative, clear, consistent, substantive, programmatic, policy-related, and fits squarely within juvenile justice and related issues.”

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Elite 50: Michael Coleman

Posted on April 22, 2019 by Leslie Wells

Graduate student Michael Coleman is pursuing his MPA through the O’Neill School at IUPUI, focusing his degree on policy analysis. Michael was named among IUPUI’s Elite 50 grad students. He says he knew grad school was the moment to make the move to O’Neill.

“I always felt as though my undergrad degree should have been in O’Neill, but it was too late to change when I got so far into my bachelor’s degree,” he says. “The MPA program just feels like my calling, because I believe in servant leadership and the public sector is the best realm to impact.”

He is well on his way toward putting his degree to work for the community. We asked him about the award and his most memorable experience in O’Neill’s MPA program. (more…)