The Erie Canal called the town of Brockport into being and has been part of its life for 200 years. It transformed commerce in the United States and stands as one of the longest and most famous canals in the world. Over 350 miles long with 36 locks, the Erie Canal was created as a tool for commerce, but has also generated a deep history of influence and culture.

Taking advantage of the College at Brockport’s location on the banks of the canal, and adopting the laboratory model of faculty/student research as a starting point, the canal lab provides a platform for research projects focused on the canal. Lab research projects engage as many aspects of our College and of communities along the canal as our participants choose to pursue.

Call for Projects

What is the Consequence of the Erie Canal?

The Canal Lab seeks project proposals that address the following criteria:

Faculty-student research related in some way to the Erie Canal

Involves student research either through course-connected activity, credit-bearing internship, or Directed Study

Can be completed in the 2017-18 academic year or can be introduced in 2018-19

Result in a completed object that can be published, presented, or displayed and represented in some way on the Canal Lab site of the Brockport Digital Commons

Proposals are welcome from any field or combination of fields. Preference will be given to interdisciplinary research projects. We are eager to consider proposals that address economic, environmental, cultural, demographic, geographic, social class, built environment, technology, agriculture, family, artistic, musical, etc. topics related to any time in the Erie Canal’s history or any part of its pathway from Lake Erie to the Hudson River.

A well-formatted proposal will include:

A project name and description (200 words)

Names and department(s) of sponsor(s)

A description of its integration into a course or the curriculum more generally (100 words)

The roles of faculty and students in the project (150 words)

A budget (including required and optional budget items)

A timeline for implementation

A description of the completed object and a plan for its publication, presentation, or display

Please send proposals for the 2017-18 academic year or preliminary descriptions of projects for the 2018-19 academic year to Cherise Oakley by October 8, 2017.

For further information feel free to contact either:
Greg Garvey (Department of English) tgarvey@brockport.edu
or Jose Torre (Department of History) jtorre@brockport.edu