Lisa McCann received her BA in Anthropology with a minor in
Latin American Studies in 2014. She received her MA in Sociology in 2016 and is
currently a doctoral student in the Administration and Leadership Studies
program at IUP and has a full-time graduate assistantship with the Department
of Sociology. She is a recipient of the 2014–15 Graduate Student Scholarship
from the IUP School of Graduate Studies, the 2015 Foundation for IUP Community Volunteer
Service Award, and the 2016 Women’s Leadership Award for Diversity and
Inclusion.
Lisa is an advocate for diversity, and she recognizes the value
of cross-cultural experiences for students. She was instrumental in starting the
Day of the Dead festival at IUP, which first began in 2013. She helped organize this annual event for two
additional years. In 2015, Lisa initiated,
curated, and with others planned “Walk Through Latin America,” a six-week-long
cultural exhibition in the University Museum which featured the diversity of
Latin America through displays of handmade objects in various mediums. She worked
with IUP and the larger community to develop workshops, music activities, and a
scholarly speaker series associated with the exhibition. More than 20
university colleges, departments, and programs, plus members of the local
community, contributed resources toward the exhibition and related programming.
IUP students in several disciplines were directly involved in order to fulfill
course curriculum requirements.
Lisa volunteers in other ways. She holds a position on the steering committee of the Indiana Community
Garden, which evolved from volunteer work that began in 2013. She helps develop
initiatives to increase community outreach strategies and promote
cross-cultural understanding; among them, growing fresh produce to donate to
local food pantries, introducing and teaching students how to grow food, and
the Cempazúchitl Project,
whereby pre-Hispanic, Mexican wild marigolds are grown from seed for use in
cultural events and to teach visitors about Mesoamerican cultures.
Lisa is the program coordinator for CALSA. She is a member of
the University Museum Board of Directors, an advisory board member for the
Center for Northern Appalachian Studies, and the founder and a board member
of the Northern Appalachian Seed Bank. Lisa is also a Penn State Extension
certified master gardener.