The NASA Community College Network (NCCN) and the American Astronomical Society (AAS) have teamed up to provide an exciting and impactful program that brings top astronomy researchers into the classrooms of community colleges around the United States.
NASA 社区大学网络 (NCCN) 和美国天文学会 (AAS) 联手提供了一项令人兴奋且有影响力的计划，将顶尖天文学研究人员带入美国各地社区大学的课堂。
The Harlow Shapley Visiting Lectureship Program, named for astronomer Harlow Shapley (1885-1972), has a history dating back to the 1950s, when it provided support for a scientist to give a series of astronomy-themed lectures at a college or university, coupled with a public talk to the local community. In 2024, AAS partnered with NCCN to broaden the impact of the Shapley lectureship program to community colleges, making use of NCCN’s existing network of 260 college instructors across 44 states and 120 participating Subject Matter Experts (SME) to “matchmake” community colleges with astronomers.
哈洛·沙普利访问讲座计划以天文学家哈洛·沙普利（Harlow Shapley，1885-1972 年）的名字命名，其历史可以追溯到 20 世纪 50 年代，当时该计划为科学家提供支持，在学院或大学进行一系列天文学主题的讲座，同时向当地社区进行公开演讲。 2024 年，AAS 与 NCCN 合作，将沙普利讲座计划的影响扩大到社区大学，利用 NCCN 现有的由 44 个州的 260 名大学讲师和 120 名参与主题专家 (SME) 组成的网络，为社区大学与天文学家“牵线搭桥”。
NCCN has supported the teaching of astronomy at community college since 2020. Community colleges serve a vital role in STEM education, with one-third of their students being first-generation college attendees and 64% being part-time students working jobs and raising families. Factor in that up to 40% of students taking introductory astronomy courses nationally each year do so at a community college, and the motivation behind NCCN and the initiatives of the AAS become clear.
自 2020 年以来，NCCN 一直支持社区大学的天文学教学。社区大学在 STEM 教育中发挥着至关重要的作用，三分之一的学生是第一代大学毕业生，64% 是兼职学生，从事工作和养家糊口。考虑到每年全国有多达 40% 的学生在社区学院学习天文学入门课程，NCCN 和 AAS 举措背后的动机就变得显而易见。
In 2024, the pilot collaboration between NCCN and the AAS matched two community colleges — Chattanooga State Community College in Tennessee and Modesto Junior College in California — with SMEs from University of Virginia and Stanford University. In 2025, nine NCCN subject matter experts are engaging with 14 community colleges in six states. They are :
2024 年，NCCN 和 AAS 之间的试点合作将两所社区学院（田纳西州查塔努加州立社区学院和加利福尼亚州莫德斯托初级学院）与弗吉尼亚大学和斯坦福大学的中小企业进行了匹配。到 2025 年，9 名 NCCN 主题专家将与 6 个州的 14 所社区大学合作。他们是：
Joe Masiero (Caltech) at Grossmont Community College CA Vivian U (Caltech) at Scottsdale & Chandler Gilbert Community Colleges AZ Dave Leisawitz (NASA) & Michael Foley (Harvard) at Elgin Community College IL Michael Rutkowski (MN State) at Dallas Area Colleges (five colleges) TX Joe Masiero (Caltech) at Mt. San Jacinto College, Menifee Campus CA Quyen Hart (STScI) at Casper College WY Nathan McGregor (UCSC) at Yakima Valley College WA Patrick Miller (Hardin-Simmons) at Evergreen Valley College CA Kim Arcand (Harvard-Smithsonian) at Anne Arundel Community College MD Natasha Batalha (NASA) at Modesto Junior College CA
Joe Masiero (加州理工学院) 加州格罗斯蒙特社区学院 Vivian U (加州理工学院) 斯科茨代尔和钱德勒吉尔伯特社区学院 亚利桑那州 Dave Leisawitz (NASA) 和 Michael Foley (哈佛) 埃尔金社区学院 伊利诺伊州 Michael Rutkowski (明尼苏达州) 达拉斯地区学院 (五所学院) 德克萨斯州 Joe Masiero (加州理工学院) 加州圣哈辛托山学院梅尼菲校区 Quyen Hart (STScI) 怀俄明州卡斯珀学院 Nathan McGregor (UCSC) 西澳亚基马谷学院 Patrick Miller (Hardin-Simmons) 加州长青谷学院 Kim Arcand (哈佛史密森尼) 安妮阿伦德尔社区学院 MD Natasha Batalha (NASA) 加州莫德斯托初级学院
Each visit of an AAS Shapley Lecturer is unique. The center of each event is the public Shapley Lecture, which is broadly advertised to the local community. Beyond the Shapley Lecture itself, host institutions organize a variety of local engagement activities – ranging from star parties and classroom visits to meeting with college deans and faculty – to make the most of their time with the Shapley Lecturer.
AAS Shapley 讲师的每次访问都是独一无二的。每个活动的中心都是公共沙普利讲座，该讲座向当地社区广泛宣传。除了沙普利讲座本身之外，主办机构还组织了各种当地参与活动——从明星聚会和课堂参观到与大学院长和教职员工会面——以充分利用与沙普利讲座教授在一起的时间。
Astronomy instructor James Espinosa from Weatherford College said, “[The visiting Shapley Lecturer’s] visit made a permanent change in how my classes will be taught, in the sense that ‘honors’ projects will be available for ambitious students. I intend to keep in touch with him for several years to come, which is a big impact for our present and future students.”
韦瑟福德学院的天文学讲师詹姆斯·埃斯皮诺萨 (James Espinosa) 表示：“[沙普利讲师的来访]对我的课程教学方式产生了永久性的改变，因为‘荣誉’项目将为雄心勃勃的学生提供机会。我打算在未来几年与他保持联系，这对我们现在和未来的学生都有很大的影响。”
Dr. Tom Rice, AAS Education Program Manager and AAS lead on the partnership with NCCN, stated, “The AAS’s Harlow Shapley Visiting Lectureship Program represents one of the most impactful ways that astronomers can share our scientific understanding with the widest possible audience, and I am very proud that we have partnered with the SETI Institute and NASA to bring astronomers to their network of community colleges.”
AAS 教育项目经理兼 AAS 与 NCCN 合作的负责人 Tom Rice 博士表示：“AAS 的 Harlow Shapley 客座讲师计划是天文学家与尽可能广泛的受众分享我们的科学理解的最有影响力的方式之一，我非常自豪我们与 SETI 研究所和 NASA 合作，将天文学家引入他们的社区大学网络。”
NCCN is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number 80NSSC21M0009 and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn/about-science-activation/ .
NCCN 得到 NASA 的支持，合作协议奖编号为 80NSSC21M0009，并且是 NASA 科学激活组合的一部分。详细了解 Science Activation 如何将 NASA 科学专家、真实内容和经验与社区领袖联系起来，以激活思维并促进对我们的世界及其他世界更深入了解的方式开展科学研究：https://science.nasa.gov/learn/about-science-activation/。