A team of Linfield sociology students placed first in the Judith Little Problem Solving Competition at the Association of Applied and Clinical Sociologists Meetings in Portland Oct. 3-5.

Students were presented with a problem to solve for a community partner. Linfield students were asked to develop a method by which the Well Arts Institute could expand their base and work with larger organizations. They received their assignment Thursday at noon, and had until Saturday at 3:30 to consult with applied sociologists, conduct online research, and attend conference panels and listen to papers that were relevant to their problem. From that, they developed a proposal to present to a public audience which included the three judges and the community partner. Linfield’s team was judged to have the most professional and comprehensive solution to the problem presented by Well Arts. They are discussing a possible internship where they might be able to implement part of their proposal.

The Linfield team, from left to right, were Ines Peña ’15, Flora Maciel Garibay ’15 and Gina Castillo ’14. They are pictured with Katy Liljeholm, executive director of the Well Arts Institute.

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