At every stage, our work is informed by community needs, goals, and experiences. Learn more about how we engage community knowledge.
The CPL recognizes communities’ strengths, skills, knowledge, and history.
The CPL builds sustainable partnerships driven by community interests, strengths, ideals, and needs.
The CPL learns from community members’ everyday experiences of living.
The CPL joins community partners in projects and research that engage complex social and political systems.
Learn more about our methodology.
1 week ago
The Community Practice Lab celebrates its graduates, new team members, and other milestones from the 2025-2026 school year! CPL Graduates Sayoko Kawabata has graduated with a PhD in occupational science. Sayoko has supported the CPL since its founding in 2021 as the CPL’s first ever community engaged fellow. In her dissertation, “A community engaged ethnography …
2 months ago
The Community Practice Lab supported Fairview community members in publishing their oral histories through the Southern Oral History Program’s interview database. The Histories and Future Visions of Fairview oral history collection spotlights the vibrant life of the Fairview community through everyday stories of challenges, connection, and community-building. The Histories and Future Visions of Fairview project …
8 months ago
CPL Primary Lead Dr. Ryan Lavalley delivered the keynote address for the West Virginia Occupational Therapy Association’s 29th Annual Conference in Charleston, WV last week. In his keynote, “Fire in the Mountain: What Occupational Therapy Can Learn from Appalachian Resilience,” Ryan spoke about how lessons learned from Appalachian history and resilience can inform an expansion …
9 months ago
The Carolina Center for Public Service has accepted CPL Lead Dr. Lauren Selingo into the Thorp Faculty Engaged Scholar Program for the 2025-2027 cycle. The program’s community-engaged curriculum and stipend will support Lauren’s community-engaged research around substance use among older adults and caregivers in Orange County. Thorp Faculty Engaged Scholars participate in a highly interactive, …