By Emily Delgado  

E Cram, associate professor in the Department of Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies and the Department of Communication Studies, received the prestigious Karl Wallace Memorial Award from the National Communications Association.  

The Karl Wallace Memorial Award is given to scholars who have contributed to the study of rhetoric and public discourse. The award includes a grant for the recipient to continue their research project.  

"This recognition of my research and career thus far, I hope, will provide a model to others in the field who work to center marginalized histories and their ecological niches,” Cram said.  

The award funds will allow Cram to continue their research on the Johnson County Historic Poor Farm. The Johnson County Historic Poor Farm was once used to care for and house individuals with disabilities and the poor. Now, the site is revitalized through GROW: Johnson County and the Global Food Project, and open to the public as a learning space for the people of Johnson County and Iowa.  

Cram’s research project is split into two stages. The first is their podcast, “Disability Ecologies of Care and Memory at the Johnson County Historic Poor Farm,” and the second is compiling research and embarking on a book project. Cram’s research focuses on the intersectionality of disability history, preservation, and food systems communication.  

The podcast has allowed Cram to share their research on the Johnson County Historic Poor Farm restoration. Cram has spent the last two years in this community talking to members of the Johnson County Board of Supervisors, food systems workers, and disability advocates.

Cram’s interviews highlight how the former poor farm was designated for historic preservation, how its restoration was planned and designed, how disability advocates influenced the planning process, and how the site memorializes the people who lived there. At the same time, Cram has been compiling the work into a story board for their book.  

Cram hopes the research and experience of making a podcast will better their teaching at Iowa. 

“My hope is that in the future my teaching will benefit from the experience of making a podcast. I have encountered a different way to tell stories of place-based histories and how they shape contemporary communities’ concerns,” Cram said.  

Cram is grateful for the support from their departments, college, and colleagues at the University of Iowa.   

“My hope is that national recognition of work like this underscores the excitement for truly interdisciplinary environmental humanities research,” Cram said.