Welcome to UROC

Located in North Minneapolis, the Robert J. Jones Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC) links the University of Minnesota in vital public partnership with urban communities to advance learning, improve quality of life, and discover breakthrough solutions to critical problems. Since opening its doors in 2009, UROC has worked to build thriving, innovative, and respectful collaborations; create new models of urban-focused community engagement; and strengthen the University as a vital engaged 21st century university serving the public good.

North Minneapolis Gardens for Change crew

Roni Evans, Douglas Kennedy, Ronda Chakolis, and Sam Simmons

Zoom screenshot from banking and lending

Voices of the Future: Linking Historical Trauma, Ambiguous Loss, and Financial Decision Making Among African American Families research team

News Highlights

UROC Holiday Tree Exhibit: Hip-Hop’s Legacy Through the Decades—December 2 through December 30, 2024

Artist Alicia Smiley honors 50 years of hip-hop culture with a festive twist—mannequins, dressed in iconic hip-hop styles are transformed into a series of Christmas trees, adorned with vibrant graffiti-style ornaments, boomboxes, records, gold chains, and seasonal lights.

UROC Critical Conversation: Reviving Ancestral Practices to Combat Mother and Baby Morbidity—5 p.m. Tuesday, December 10

This UROC Critical Conversation will showcase some of of the Birth Justice Collaborative's strategies that are creating positive change for African American and American Indian communities.

Soulforce: The Movements of Memory exhibit—November 11 and 18 panel discussions

Artist James Curry’s exhibit explores the ways people of color have led and shaped vital conversations about the ways race, class, and gender frame the way systemic oppression works and leads to community formations.

In the Gallery

Soulforce: The Movements of Memory—Through January 24, 2025

Artist James Curry’s exhibit explores the ways African Americans, Indigenous peoples, and other people of color have led and shaped vital conversations about the ways race, class, and gender frame the way systemic oppression works and leads to community formations. He writes that the exhibit is guided by these thoughts: What can we learn when we think about these movements together? In a post George Floyd so-called reckoning, this question has become more complex with respect to the current whitelash. Curry’s art examines the themes of radical social change, interethnic solidarity, and uniqueness of place that arose from his inquiry.

Two panel discussions followed by receptions will be held at UROC. Food provided by Chef James of Cooks of Hope.

Date: November 11
Time: 5 p.m.
Guest speaker: Anita Urvina Davis
Date: November 18
Time: 6 p.m
Guest speakers: Craig Rice, Jimmy Patiño, Jose Antonio Macho, and Louis Alemayehu,

Both events are free and open to the public. Registration not required.

Expanding the University's Commitment to Urban Communities

The Robert J. Jones Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center is a unit of the Office for Public Engagement within the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost.