Susan Harden

Profile

Dr. Susan B. Harden is an Associate Professor of Education at UNC Charlotte and the Director for the Civic Minor in Urban Youth and Communities. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina Greensboro in 2001. Dr. Harden’s teaching, research, and service expertise is in understanding community engagement at cultural institutions and developing engaged scholarship in higher education. She received the Leadership Charlotte 2017 Legacy Awards, Unsung Hero. This award honors an individual who “works quietly behind the scenes for the good of the community and demonstrates leadership through dedication and service to the Charlotte-area community”. Dr. Harden recently completed her term on the Mecklenburg County Board of County Commissioners, representing District 5. Dr. Harden continues to speak nationally on social trust, service learning, education and community engagement and just completed her term as Faculty President at UNC Charlotte in 2023.

Education

Ph.D. 2001 University of North Carolina, Greensboro Degree: Curriculum and Teaching with a Concentration in Cultural Studies.
M.S. 1993 University of North Carolina, Charlotte Major: Economics.
B.S. 1988 Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina. Major: Financial Management

Teaching

Foundations of Education and Diversity in Schools
Community Engagement Capstone (Urban Youth & Communities Minor)
Service-Learning Teaching Methods for K-12 Educators

Research Interests/Areas of Expertise

1) Deepening Community Engagement at Community Organizations with Diverse Populations.
2) Advancing Engaged Scholarship in Higher Education.
3) Innovative Pedagogy for Student Engagement in Teacher Education and First Year Experiences.

Awards & Honors

Leadership Charlotte 2017 Legacy Awards, Unsung Hero: This individual works quietly behind the scenes for the good of the community and demonstrates leadership through dedication and service to the Charlotte-area community. She contributes time and talent, though not publicly heralded. Nominated by Chancellor Phil Dubois and Provost Joan Lorden. See: http://education.charlotte.edu/news/professor-susan-harden-receives-unsung-hero-award-leadership-charlotte

Outstanding Conference Submission Award, AERA 2016 Constructivist Theory, Research, and Practice SIG. Awarded to Heather Coffey, Erik Jon Byker, Amy J. Good, Susan Harden, Tina Lane Heafner, Christopher P. O’Brien, Katie E. Brown, Debra Holzberg, and Brian Williams.

Fellowship, Emerging Engagement Scholars Workshop (October, 2013). Engagement Scholarship Consortium, Lubbuck, TX. Selected in a nationally competitive nomination process to participate.

Civic Engagement Professional of the Year (2009). North Carolina Campus Compact.

Honors
Nominee for National Award, Ernest A. Lynton Award for the Scholarship of Engagement for Early Career Faculty (2016 and 2014). New England Resource Center for Higher Education. Nominated by the Office of Academic Affairs.

University Participant, American Leadership Forum (August 2015 – July 2016). Nominated by Jeanette Sims, Senior Director for Community Affairs and Joan Lorden, Provost to participate in the year-long professional development program designed to join and strengthen established leaders in the Charlotte Region to better serve the public good.

Community Involvement

Significant partnerships with the Levine Museum of the New South, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, LilySarahGrace Fund, and Clean Air Carolina.

Selected Publications

Harden, S.B. & Witt, R. (In Press). Interview theatre and the Dream Act: Activism through raising community voices. In S. Wong & A.M. Foerster Luu (Eds.), Teachers as Allies: Transformative Practices for Teaching DREAMers and Undocumented Students. Teachers College Press. (Under contract, Fall 2017 publication date).

Harden, S.B., Buch, K. & Ahlgrim-Delzell, L. (August 2017). Equal status: Shifting scholarship paradigms to fully include community-based research into summer undergraduate research programs. Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education.

Harden, S.B., McDaniel, P.N., Smith, H.A., Zimmern, E. & Brown, K.E. (2015). Speaking of Change in Charlotte, North Carolina: How museums can shape immigrant receptivity in a community navigating rapid cultural change. Museums and Social Issues, 10(2), 117-133. DOI:10.1179/1559689315Z.00000000039. (*) Note: P. McDaniel graduate student. E. Zimmern community partner.

Harden, S.B. & Loving, K.A. (2015). Outreach and engagement staff and communities of practice: A journey from practice to theory for an emerging professional identity and community [Special Conference Issue]. Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, 8(1), 7-15. http://jces.ua.edu/outreach-and-engagement-staff-and-communities-of-practice-a-journey-from-practice-to-theory-for-an-emerging-professional-identity-and-community/

Schuch, J.C., Harden, S.B., & Smith, H.A. (2017). Nuevo Dia Evaluation Report: Intact Group Dialogues. Levine Museum of the New South. Charlotte, NC. Published on the RISING Community Engaged Research Group website, https://pages.charlotte.edu/rising/wp-content/uploads/sites/1146/2017/02/NUEVODiaIntactDialogueReportFinal_053017.pdf (*). Note: J.C. Schuch grant funded post-doc.

McDaniel, P. & Harden, S.B. (2012). New Courage: The Issue Today, The Guts to Face Them evaluation report for the Levine Museum of the New South, Charlotte NC. Published on the RISING Community Engaged Research Group website, https://pages.charlotte.edu/rising/wp-content/uploads/sites/1146/2017/02/NewCourage_FinalReport_29FEB2012.pdf (*). Note: P. McDaniel grant funded graduate student.

McDaniel, P. & Harden, S.B. (2011). Courage in the City: Educational Equity in the Multicultural South evaluation report for the Levine Museum of the New South, Charlotte NC. Published on the RISING Community Engaged Research Group website, https://pages.charlotte.edu/rising/wp-content/uploads/sites/1146/2017/02/CourageInCity_FinalReport_LevineMuseum_14DEC2011.pdf (*). Note: P. McDaniel grant funded graduate student.

Harden, S.B., Smith, H., & P. McDaniel (2010). Speaking of Change. Evaluation Report for the Levine Museum of the New South, Charlotte NC. Published on the RISING Community Engaged Research Group website, https://pages.charlotte.edu/rising/wp-content/uploads/sites/1146/2017/02/Speakingofchange_July1_2010_FINAL.pdf (*). Note: P. McDaniel grant funded graduate student.