CSC Innovation Hub Symposia

CSC Innovation Hub Symposium 2026

“Community-Engaged Research for Public Impact: Process to Policy”

Community-engaged research has burgeoned over the past two decades, characterized by a paradigm shift from doing work on communities to doing work with communities. Evolving from niche to conventional, this methodological approach centers equity and addresses social concerns through partnership. As universities focus on public-engaged scholarship, it is essential that scholars and community members have the capacity to critically engage in this space. The 2026 Child Study Center Innovation Hub symposium, Community-Engaged Research for Public Impact: Process to Policy, will provide a forum to do this, focusing on community-engaged research perspectives, methods, and approaches with diverse populations, in multiple geographies, across the lifespan. Partnering with the Community-Engaged Research, Action, and Partnerships (CERAP) Unit at the Social Science Research Institute, this interdisciplinary symposium will bring together Penn State faculty, community partners, practitioners, and others to learn more about community-engaged research and how to harness this approach to improve the lives of diverse children, youth, and families. Dr. Velma Murry will share expertise in utilizing community-engaged approaches at the individual, familial, community, policy, and intervention levels with rural and urban populations, and she will share a historical perspective, highlighting changes and growth in this approach. Dr. Goessling, an expert in participatory, action-oriented research approaches and research capacity building, will showcase the process – a community-engaged iterative research cycle – within the education domain. Dr. Elan Hope will share a unique perspective as a university scholar and policy analyst to demonstrate how community-engaged approaches can be used to produce transformative science.

Presented in partnership with the Community-Engaged Research, Action, and Partnerships (CERAP) Unit at Penn State’s Social Science Research Institute.

CSC Innovation Hub Symposium 2024

“Using Participatory Action Research to Create Transformational Youth Interventions”

Abstract:  The focus of the 2024 symposium will be on transformational interventions for marginalized youth, and the critical role of youths’ own voices, participation, and collaboration on research that informs, defines, and constitutes such interventions.

Co-sponsored by the Prevention Research Center

CSC Innovation Hub Symposium 2022

“Leveraging Systems to Improve and Expand Child Sexual Abuse Prevention”

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a public health concern of considerable magnitude, affecting 1 in 5 females and 1 in 10 males. CSA is associated with a host of consequences including mental and physical health problems, relationship difficulties, revictimization, drug and alcohol addiction, teenage childbearing, and sexual dysfunction conferring a lifetime economic burden estimated to exceed $9.3B. Annual incidence rates in the U.S. have plateaued over the past few decades—an indication that prevention efforts are in need of innovation. The focus of the CSC Innovation Hub Symposium 2022 will involve leveraging large public systems – such as the child protective service system or the school system – to extend CSA prevention efforts and reach both universal and high risk audiences. Applied examples of how various systems have been useful launching points for primary prevention, as well as the implementation challenges for doing so will be presented and discussed with respect to impacting evidence-informed policy and practice.

Co-Sponsored by the Child Maltreatment Solutions Network

View the symposium here

CSC Innovation Hub Symposium 2020

“Family-Level Perspectives on Sleep and Self-Regulation in Early Childhood”

A symposium highlighting research on intervention, family sleep, and self-regulation.

View the presentation here.

Co-sponsored by the Department of Human Development and Family Studies

CSC Innovation Hub Symposium 2019

“Fostering Productive Parent Engagement in the Early School Years: Translating Research to Practice”

This symposium will highlight research-based parent engagement programs that promote positive parenting practices, child school readiness, and effective family-school partnerships during the preschool and early elementary school years.

View the symposium Q&A here.