Academic Excellence and Innovation Fund awards grant for social work court observation opportunities

Concordia University, Nebraska’s Academic Excellence and Innovation Fund recently awarded Professor of Human and Social Sciences Anne Hobbs $4,850 to support the Court Observation Project. The project allows Concordia Nebraska’s criminal justice students to travel to court to observe judicial interactions. 

Hobbs said the research for this project is based on principles of procedural justice theory, which focuses on the concept that judges and other legal authorities can exercise power over people while still communicating the inherent dignity of that individual. Concordia students will travel to court to observe judicial interactions, and how they influence courtroom environment and participants’ behavior or interactional practices. 

“Justice is most transformative when we work with people rather than simply do things to them. From a Christian standpoint, every person who enters a courtroom should be treated with dignity and respect because each person is created in the image of God.” 

“Justice is most transformative when we work with people rather than simply do things to them,” said Hobbs. “From a Christian standpoint, every person who enters a courtroom should be treated with dignity and respect because each person is created in the image of God.” 

Hobbs hopes that the Court Observation Project will turn into a Behavioral Sciences Research lab which would allow Concordia faculty and students to partner with a non-profit or government agency to engage in research or provide program evaluation. 

 Concordia University, Nebraska’s Academic Excellence and Innovation Fund was created in 2024 to encourage and celebrate faculty and student scholarship, placing particular focus on the intersection of faith and specific disciplines as well as critical issues in the family, church and world. The grants provide funds to support scholarship, providing resources to guide scholarly efforts. The fund was developed as part of the university’s SALT and LIGHT strategic plan.