Who we Are
The Buffalo Project is a longitudinal participatory action research project based in Buffalo NY. For ten years (AY 2010-2020), Buffalo Project data has been analyzed to discuss college students’ perceptions of culture and its impacts on the learning process to develop programming that is sensitive of the intersectionalities of our community.
Our Research
Generally speaking, Buffalo Project Survey results have consistently indicated a general lack of cultural understanding among diverse student populations (i.e., across genders, race, ethnicity, settlement/location, class, economic, and technological divides), illustrating that students were not being adequately engaged and taught intercultural competencies and cross-cultural communication. As a way to address these issues, beginning in 2010, Principal Investigator (PI) Dr. Rhianna C. Rogers, co-PIs, colleagues, and research associates have utilized this data and worked with community stakeholders to create culturally inclusive educational programming.
Dr. Rhianna C. Rogers
Dr. Rogers is an expert on cultural and ethnic studies, intercultural competencies and diversity education, cultural mediation, and virtual exchange programmatic development and implementation. Rogers is currently the inaugural Rockefeller Institute of Government-Ernest Boyer Presidential Fellow in the Center for Law and Policy Solutions (2019-present) and was the college-wide Coordinator of Interdisciplinary and Multidisciplinary Studies (2017-2019.) Rogers has won multiple awards for her innovative approach to teaching and learning, including, most recently, the 2019-2020 SUNY Empire Provost/Associate Dean Innovation Award, the 2018-2019 Explorations in Diversity & Academic Excellence Award (EDAE), and the 2017-2018 SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.
