Campus
Courses
Affiliated Courses explore frameworks and concepts that guide our work and provide opportunities to get first-hand experience with UConn HNS partners and programs. Courses are clustered in the Department of Educational Leadership in the Neag School of Education, however, we welcome students across academic disciplines.
Early College Experience Course - Health & Education in Urban Communities (EDLR 1162 | 1 Credit)
UConn Courses available via partnerships with high school teachers as certified instructors.
Course curriculum works to examine historical and modern educational contexts by facilitating learning focused on nutrition, physical activity, and wellness as part of urban communities.
Contact: Dr. Danielle Derosa | danielle.derosa@uconn.edu
Health & Education in Urban Communities (EDLR 1162 | 1 Credit)
Course curriculum works to examine historical and modern educational contexts by facilitating learning focused on nutrition, physical activity, and wellness as part of urban communities.
Contact: Dr. Roc Rochon | roc.rochon@uconn.edu
Husky Reads: Food & Nutrition with Children through Literacy (EDLR 1161 or NUSC 1161 | 2 Credits)
Three course sections offered per fall and spring semester, in affiliation with Husky Reads and UConn HNS community partner sites.
Students enroll in one specific course section that meets one morning per week (Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday) and engage in visits with consistent Early Childhood Education Centers (PreK students). Students work to support planning, delivery, and evaluation of educational sessions focused on literacy skill development, nutrition, and physical activity.
Contact: Sarah Larocque | scb05001@uconn.edu
Paid Internship for Course Credit with UConn HNS (EDLR 3090 / 3091 | 1-6 Credits)
Students can enroll in 1-6 credits across fall, spring, and summer semesters. Student and faculty collaboration required for student enrollment.
Individualized work plans are developed between students and instructor/supervisor to ensure consistent weekly expectations and work hours. Roles with UConn HNS are co-designed to support students’ learning goals, skill development, and practical work experience.
Contact: Dr. Justin Evanovich | justin.evanovich@uconn.edu
Introduction to Sport Based Youth Development (EDLR 3547 / 3547W / 5518 | 4 Credits)
A required course for Sport Management majors, class sections are also available for students to meet plan of study requirements such as undergraduate general education, writing intensive, and graduate student elective courses.
Class discussions, written reflection papers, and group projects are guided by critical service learning and other frameworks that inform authentic relationship building, a social change orientation, and working to redistribute power among diverse participants. Students complete in-person hours of community engagement as part of UConn HNS partner sites, predominantly in Hartford's North End community.
Contact: Dr. Justin Evanovich | justin.evanovich@uconn.edu
Presentations
McGarry, J., Rochon, R., DeRosa, D., Evanovich, J., Jacobs, V., Larocque, S., Keaton, B., & Bellamy-Mattis, P. Experiential Learning Course (Re)Design. North American Society for the Sociology of Sport. Chicago, IL. November 2, 2024.
Evanovich, J., Bellamy-Mathis, P., DeRosa, D., McGarry, J., Rochon, R., Larocque, S., Inamine, H., Clokey, S., Keaton, B., Dutta, S., and Quesada, C. 20+ years as Campus-Community Partnership: Relationships, Relevance, Representation. UConn Student Leadership Conference. Storrs, CT. October 11, 2024.
Evanovich, J.M. Flash Talk Presentation: The work of UConn Husky Nutrition & Sport. Collaboratory on School and Child Health (CSCH) Networking Event. Hartford, CT. March 2024.
Evanovich, J.M. The Importance of Relationships, Representation, and Relevance in the work of SNAP-Ed. Nevada SNAP-Ed Professionals, Nutrition Education Conference. Las Vegas, NV. Virtual. March 2024.
Evanovich, J.M. Specific Programs and Practices Working to Enhance Relevance and Representation. Food and Nutrition Services (FNS), USDA MyPlate Webinar. October 2023.
Alonso, J., Tavares, D., Cardona, H., Mattison, K., Guanoluisa, M., Gonzalez, M., and Slisz, K. Cultural Responsiveness in Sport-Based Youth Development. IMPACT Conference. UMass Amherst. February, 2023.
Evanovich, J., Condren, J., Dutta, S., Villanueva, L., Alonso, J., Bellamy-Mathis, P., DeRosa, D., and Mata, J. Talent and Developmental Pipeline of Program Leaders @ UConn Husky Sport. IMPACT Conference. UMass Amherst. February, 2023.
Morales, J., Dutta, S., & Evanovich, J. Community-Campus Partnership: A critical organizational analysis from the perspective of leadership team members. North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM). Atlanta, GA. June, 2022.
Condren, J., Burgess, J., & Evanovich, J. Representative and Relevant Sport and Nutrition Curriculum - Virtually within Elementary School Settings. Leadership In Diversity (LID) Multicultural Education Conference. Storrs, CT. April 2022.
Evanovich, J., Bellamy-Mathis, P., DeRosa, D., Condren, J., & Burgess, J. Developing Representative and Relevant Elementary-aged Virtual Curriculum for Sport and Nutrition Education. IMPACT Conference. Virtual. February 2022.
Publications
McGarry, J. Dutta, S., & Morales, A. (in press, 2025) Shepherding Sport for Development Organizations in G. Kane & L. Burton (Eds.), Sport Leadership in the 21st Century, 3rd edition. Jones and Barlett Learning.
Ebron, K., Alonso Restrepo, J., Morales, A., Dutta, S. & McGarry, J. (2024). Organizational capacity and implicit bias in experiential learning. Case Studies in Sport Management (in press).
Watkins, J.M., Greeven, S.J., Heeter, K.N., Brunnemer, J.E., Otile, J., Solá, P.A., Dutta, S., Hobson, J.M., Evanovich, J.M., Coble, C.J., Werner, N.E., Kercher, V.M., & Kercher, K.A. (2024). Human-Centered Participatory Co-Design with Children and Adults for a Prototype Lifestyle Intervention and Implementation Strategy in a Rural Middle School. BMC Public Health, 24(1), 845.
Greeven, S.J., Medellin, A. M., Watkins, J.M., Coble, C.J., Brunnemer, J.E., Solá, P.A., Dutta, S., Hobson, J.M., Evanovich, J.M., Kercher, V.M., & Kercher, K.A. (2023). Multilevel needs assessment of physical activity, sport, psychological needs, and nutrition in rural children and adults. Frontiers in Public Health, 11, 1243560.
Greeven, S.J., Fernández Solá, P.A., Coble, C.J., Pope, K.J., Erinosho, T.O., Grube, A., Evanovich, J.M., Werner, N.E., Kercher, K.A. (2023). Hoosier Sport: A Research Protocol for a Multilevel Physical Activity-Based Intervention in Rural Indiana. Frontiers in Public Health, 11, 12433560.
Klein, M., Zastoupil, G. J., & Evanovich, J. (2023). “I Realize My White Privilege Certainly Has Contributed to This Whole Experience”: White Undergraduate Sport Management Students Engagement With Racism in a Sport-For-Development Service-Learning Course. Sociology of Sport Journal, 40(2), 171-184.
Evanovich, J., Dutta, S., Morales, J., McGarry, J., and Ebron, K. (2023). Building a Critical Classroom: University of Connecticut - Student Training for Husky Sport in Tryon, A., Madden, H., and Sprinkel, C. (2023). Preparing students to engage in equitable community partnerships (pp. 165-177). Temple University Press.
McGarry, J. E., Ebron, K., Mala, J., Corral, M., Arinze, N., Mattson, K., & Griffith, K. (2023). Anti-Racist Research Methods in Sport-Based Youth Development. Sociology of Sport Journal, 1, 1-12.
Arinze, N., Klein, M., Mala, J., & Evanovich, J. (2022). Developing Social Justice Outcomes Through Service-Learning Among Sport Management Students. Sport Management Education Journal, 1-11.
Castillo-Montoya, M., Zastoupil, G., & Newton, A. (2021). Developing Latinx students’ critical consciousness in a sport-based critical service-learning course. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, Winter 2021 Special Issue: Centering Social Justice in the Scholarship of Community Engagement.
Zuk E., Maksymiw K., Root H., McGarry J., Evanovich J., & DiStefano L. (2021). Youth Perceptions in Sport-Confidence. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 35(11), 3232-3235.
Arinze, N. A., & McGarry, J. E. (2021). Identities and Relationships: Black and Latina Adolescent girls in Sport-Based Youth Development Programs. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 1-12.
Ways to Get Involved
UConn HNS staff is excited to work with and support cool and talented UConn Students as part of our larger work on campus and in communities across the state. There are different pathways for entry and sustained involvement with UConn HNS; including strong participation in affiliated courses and referrals from student peers, community partners, and campus stakeholders.