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Complexity In Water And Carbon Dioxide Fluxes Following Rain Pulses In An African Savanna, Christopher A. Williams, Niall Hanan, Robert J. Scholes, Werner Kutsch

Geography

The idea that many processes in arid and semi-arid ecosystems are dormant until activated by a pulse of rainfall, and then decay from a maximum rate as the soil dries, is widely used as a conceptual and mathematical model, but has rarely been evaluated with data. This paper examines soil water, evapotranspiration (ET), and net ecosystem CO2 exchange measured for 5 years at an eddy covariance tower sited in an Acacia-Combretum savanna near Skukuza in the Kruger National Park, South Africa. The analysis characterizes ecosystem flux responses to discrete rain events and evaluates the skill of increasingly complex "pulse models". …

Commencement Program [Spring 2009], Clark University

Commencement Programs

Annual Commencement Program for graduation ceremonies at Clark University, held on May 17th, 2009.

Effective Practice And Experiential Education, Janet Eyler

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

The central challenge to educators in the liberal arts as in all areas of study is transfer of learning i.e. how can we design learning environments and instruction to that students will be able to use what they learn in appropriate new contexts? Alfred North Whitehead described this as the problem of ‘inert knowledge’ nearly a century ago and Dewey noted that instruction which helps students reproduce what is studied on exams might not produce the depth of understanding that allows for recognizing the relevance of what is known to a particular situation and the ability to apply it. Knowledge …

Engaged Learning: Enabling Self-Authorship And Effective Practice, David C. Hodge, Marcia B. Baxter Magolda, Carolyn A. Haynes

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

There is now broad consensus that higher education must extend beyond content-based knowledge to encompass intellectual and practical skills, personal and social responsibility, and integrative learning. The college learning outcomes needed for success in 21st century life include critical thinking, a coherent sense of self, intercultural maturity, civic engagement, and the capacity for mutual relationships. Yet, research suggests that college students are struggling to achieve these outcomes in part because skills needed to succeed in college are not those needed to succeed upon graduation. One reason for this gap is that these college learning outcomes require complex developmental capacities or …

Liberal Education, Effective Practice, And Diversity, Armando Bengochea, George Kuh, Steve Stemler

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

This session will be based on three presentations that focus on the relationship between liberal education, effective practice and diversity from different perspectives. George Kuh will present data indicating that the educational benefits of "high impact" learning experiences (such as experiential education and undergraduate research), which are significant for all students, are often greater for students from underserved and minority backgrounds than for their majority counterparts. Armando Bengochea will discuss the ways in which an emphasis on effective practice can enhance the educational experiences of students of color within a liberal arts curriculum. Steve Stemler will report on research showing …

Toward The Equitable Distribution Of Enriching Educational Experiences: Faculty Engagement With Racial Minority Students, Shaun R. Harper

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

Peña, Bensimon, and Colyar (2006) noted: “Not only do African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans have lower graduation rates than [do] Whites and Asian Americans, they also experience inequalities in just about every indicator of academic success – from earned grade point average to placement on the dean’s list to graduation rates in competitive majors” (p. 48). While these and other racialized outcomes disparities cannot be attributed to a narrow set of explanatory factors, one thing is known for sure: College students who are actively engaged inside and outside the classroom are considerably more likely than are their disengaged peers …

Academic Intelligence Is Not Enough! Wics: An Expanded Model For Effective Practice In School And In Later Life, Robert J. Sternberg

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

Is there a psychological basis for teaching and learning in the context of a liberal education, and if so, what might such a psychological basis look like? Traditional teaching and assessment often emphasize remembering facts and, to some extent, analyzing ideas. Such skills are important, but they leave out of the aspects of thinking that are most important not only in liberal education, but in life, in general. In this article, I propose a theory called WICS, which is an acronym for wisdom, intelligence, and creativity, synthesized. The basic idea underlying this theory is that, through liberal education, students need …

Designing A Liberal Arts Curriculum That Develops The Capacity For Effective Practice, Diana Chapman Walsh, Lee Cuba

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

A new agenda has been coalescing for residential liberal arts education in the United States. At its core are various forms of experiential learning that had long been relegated to the margins of institutions in which pure intellectual achievement was largely separated from, and prized above, practical application of knowledge. Recent years have brought growing student interest in opportunities to engage in experiential learning, including community service, internships, student-faculty research partnerships, study abroad, or co-operative education. All types of colleges and universities have been investing in these programs and in curricular modifications intended to begin integrating them into a coherent …

Drivers Of Inter-Annual Variability In Net Ecosystem Exchange In A Semi-Arid Savanna Ecosystem, South Africa, S. A. Archibald, A. Kirton, M. R. Van Der Merwe, R. J. Scholes, Christopher A. Williams, N. Hanan

Geography

Inter-annual variability in primary production and ecosystem respiration was explored using eddy-covariance data at a semi-arid savanna site in the Kruger Park, South Africa. New methods of extrapolating night-time respiration to the entire day and filling gaps in eddy-covariance data in semi-arid systems were developed. Net ecosystem exchange (NEE) in these systems occurs as pulses associated with rainfall events, a pattern not well-represented in current standard gap-filling procedures developed primarily for temperate flux sites. They furthermore do not take into account the decrease in respiration at high soil temperatures. An artificial neural network (ANN) model incorporating these features predicted measured …

The National Imagination (Spring 2009), Robert D. Tobin, Marvin D'Lugo, Alice Valentine

Syllabi

This course compares the idea of the nation in two or three different traditions. This particular syllabus compares the national in Argentina, Japan, and Germany.

A photo of this Spring 2009 class was taken as part of Professor Bob Tobin's ongoing class photo tradition. The photograph was taken by Stephen DiRado as part of his Classroom Series.

German Film And The Frankfurt School (Spring 2009), Robert D. Tobin

Syllabi

This course is an introduction to German cinema. We will study masterpieces of German film, important critical and theoretical discussions of them, and the contexts in which they were produced and received. As a critical lens, we will rely heavily on psychoanalytic and Frankfurt School criticism, focusing on writings by Walter Benjamin, Siegfried Kracauer and Theodor Adorno. By the end of the semester, students should know the history of German film, have a better understanding of German culture, and have developed a critical understanding that is useful for their appreciation of all cinematic form.

A photo of this Spring 2009 …

Salute To Faculty Scholarship 2009, Clark University

Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

2009 Pasticcio, Clark University

Pasticcios (Yearbooks), 1925-present

2009 Pasticcio, yearbook of Clark University

Global Freud (Fall 2009), Robert D. Tobin

Syllabi

This course provides an introduction to Freud’s thinking, especially on literary and cultural topics. Reading his writing in conjunction with literary texts from a variety of cultural backgrounds, we will focus on the ways in which authors, artists, musicians and film makers from around the world have used Freud’s insights and try to determine in what ways his thoughts translate globally.

Latin America: Contesting Extraction, Producing Geographies, Anthony J. Bebbington

Geography

Characterizing continents is the business of fools, inviting the charge of essentialization, over-generalization, and caricature of nuanced and complex processes varying across space and over time. Likewise it can attract the criticism that to privilege the national or the regional understates the transnational dimensions of social change, and to take a territorialized view diverts attention from the networks that cut across space, linking distant actors and places. This short essay therefore claims neither to be a reflection on Latin America-wide phenomena, and far less a statement on the most significant aspects of the political economy of the region. It does, …

Complexities Of Holistic Community-Based Participatory Research For A Low Income, Multi-Ethnic Population Exposed To Multiple Built-Environment Stressors In Worcester, Massachusetts, Timothy Downs, Laurie Ross, Suzanne Patton, Sarah Rulnick, Deb Sinha, Danielle Mucciarone, Maria Calvache, Sarah Parmenter, Rajendra Subedi, Donna Wysokenski, Erin Anderson, Rebecca Dezan, Kate Lowe, Jennifer Bowen, Amee Tejani, Kelly Piersanti, Octavia Taylor, Robert Goble

Sustainability and Social Justice

Low income, multi-ethnic communities in Main South/Piedmont neighborhoods of Worcester, Massachusetts are exposed to cumulative, chronic built-environment stressors, and have limited capacity to respond, magnifying their vulnerability to adverse health outcomes. "Neighborhood STRENGTH", our community-based participatory research (CBPR) project, comprised four partners: a youth center; an environmental non-profit; a community-based health center; and a university. Unlike most CBPR projects that are single topic-focused, our 'holistic', systems-based project targeted five priorities. The three research-focused/action-oriented components were: (1) participatory monitoring of indoor and outdoor pollution; (2) learning about health needs and concerns of residents through community-based listening sessions; (3) engaging in collaborative …

Institutional Challenges For Mining And Sustainability In Peru, Anthony J. Bebbington, Jeffrey T. Bury

Geography

Global consumption continues to generate growth in mining. In lesser developed economies, this growth offers the potential to generate new resources for development, but also creates challenges to sustainability in the regions in which extraction occurs. This context leads to debate on the institutional arrangements most likely to build synergies between mining, livelihoods, and development, and on the socio-political conditions under which such institutions can emerge. Building from a multiyear, three-country program of research projects, Peru, a global center of mining expansion, serves as an exemplar for analyzing the effects of extractive industry on livelihoods and the conditions under which …

The World Development Report 2009 'Reshapes Economic Geography': Geographical Reflections, Jonathan Rigg, Anthony J. Bebbington, Katherine V. Gough, Deborah F. Bryceson, Jytte Agergaard, Niels Fold, Cecilia Tacoli

Geography

The Report focuses on the spatial transformations that must happen for countries to develop. Cities, migration and trade, it is claimed, have been the main catalysts of progress and hence ‗Growing cities, ever more mobile people, and increasingly specialised products are … essential for economic success‘ (World Bank 2009, xx). These greater densities, shorter distances and reduced divisions will, the Report argues, bring about unbalanced growth: however, over time, other policies and mechanisms for integration will foster convergence in living standards. Development, seen through the Report‘s eyes, involves a necessary (and welcome) spatial unevenness in economic activity coupled with progressive …

"Please Mr Bebbington, Don't Come Here And Tell Us What To Do", Anthony J. Bebbington

Geography

The work in question addresses the relationships between mining, local development and democracy, and the thus-far most contentious part of this research has focused on a region affected by a mining project executed by a UK based "resource development" company. This specific part of the research has been conducted in conjunction with a UK based solidarity organization, the Peru Support Group as well as with Oxfam UK's office in Perú. The criticism of meddling came from the director in Peru of the Chinese consortium that in early 2007 acquired majority ownership of the mining company – the title paraphrases his …

Contesting Environmental Transformation: Political Ecologies And Environmentalisms In Latin America And The Caribbean, Anthony J. Bebbington

Geography

The available download on this page is the author manuscript accepted for publication. This version has undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process.