Digital Commons Network^™

Reading Beyond Research Results: The Hidden Curriculum In A College And Urban High Schools Partnership, Shirley Mthethwa-Sommers

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

The article draws from a study of a Gear Up partnership between a predominantly white middle class college and four urban high schools with a majority of low-income students of color. Teacher education candidates participated in community engagement through Gear Up at four urban high schools. The study shows that both college and high school students benefited from the partnership. However, employing internal and anticolonial theoretical lenses reveals the hidden curriculum that the positive results attained from the partnership may serve to buttress the myth of dominant culture’s supremacy.

Impact Of Service-Learning Courses With A Social Justice Curriculum On The Development Of Social Responsibility Among College Students, Yan Wang

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

In this study, six service-learning courses were studied to examine if a curriculum’s social justice emphasis has a significant impact on college students’ development of different types of social responsibility. The results suggest that service-learning courses with a social justice emphasis had a positive impact on the development of participatory and justice-oriented social responsibility, while service-learning courses without such an emphasis did not have an impact on the development of social responsibility.

Current Research Interests In International Service-Learning, Jessica Arends

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This paper aims to identify and present what research perspectives are currently practiced in the field of international service learning (ISL) in higher education. The author gathered articles on ISL from high-profile publications and analyzed the methodological lens from which each study was conducted. Using the knowledge-constitutive framework of Jürgen Habermas, each article was categorized as technical, practical, or critical. The author found that while the majority of studies in the ISL field are conducted from a practical research interest, the articles most commonly cited are technical. This analysis is followed by an exploration as to why research interests are …

A Civic Engagement Agenda For Caribbean Higher Education, Glenn A. Bowen

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Civic engagement programs have become prevalent in higher education in many regions of the world. Interest in engagement has increased at a time when Caribbean countries are strengthening the regional integration movement in response to the demands of globalization. Based on a cross-national assessment, this article describes the manifestations of civic engagement in Caribbean universities and proposes an agenda for institutionalizing the practice. The civic engagement agenda is applicable to higher education institutions elsewhere.

Service Learning Projects In The Public Relations Writing Course, Deborah A. Silverman

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This study explores the pedagogical effectiveness of service learning in the Public Relations Writing course. Surveys of students and their nonprofit clients, student reflection papers, and comparisons of grades in service-learning vs. non-service-learning sections found that the service-learning approach resulted in greater understanding of course content, higher grades on writing assignments, and greater appreciation for diverse cultures. Clients said students lightened staff workloads, brought new ideas, and enabled them to better meet community needs.

Serve At Your Own Risk?: Service-Learning In The Promotion And Tenure Process, Jacquelyn B. Frank, Mark Malaby, Laura Raidonis Bates, Marcie Coulter-Kern, Sheron Fraser-Burgess, J. R. Jamison, Linda Stalker Prokopy, Nathan A. Schaumleffel

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Pre-tenure faculty integrating service-learning into their professional roles are often uncertain about its position in the faculty reward system. This study gathered data from administrators at five institutions of higher education in Indiana to learn if and how service-learning is credited toward tenure and promotion at their institutions. The results point to the need for junior faculty members and administrators to be cautious when implementing and evaluating service-learning initiatives.

Supporting Community Safety Through University-Community Partnerships: Exploring Models Of Engagement, James M. Frabutt

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This paper explores various models of university-community engagement to support youth violence prevention and community safety. A series of case examples from the Center for Youth, Family, and Community Partnerships at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro are highlighted. The case examples-four projects spanning a six-year time period-are the springboard for exploring issues of funding, community collaboration, sustainability, leadership, evaluation, and communication.

Transformative Opportunities For Community Engagement Within Teacher Education: Creating Opportunities To Prepare Preservice Teachers For Urban Environments In Post-Katrina New Orleans, Margaret-Mary Sulentic Dowell

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

Preservice teachers need meaningful opportunities to engage in authentic community activities that expand their cultural horizons and frames of reference, strengthening their preparation for urban teaching. Abramson Science and Technology Magnet in New Orleans East opened the 2007-08 school year without a library or functioning classroom libraries. Providing access to books is a cornerstone of reading development; thus, Louisiana State University education candidates engaged in a project that established classroom libraries in every K-8 classroom.

Welcome From The Editor, Nancy Brattain Rogers

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

No abstract provided.

Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevention Project As Community-Engaged Scholarship, Young-Me Lee, Susan Poslusny, Sara Anderson, Howard Rosing

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This article describes the results of a 6 month integrated community service and service learning project aimed at the high prevalence of sexually transmitted infection (STI) in a largely immigrant Latino and African-American community area. A total of 64 participants were screened and six positive cases were identified. Results indicated that the adolescents studied lacked proper knowledge regarding safe sex and healthy behaviors, and most refused treatment despite providing anonymous education, screening and treatment services.

Community Partner Perceptions About Community Engagement Experiences For Nursing Students, Judith E. Wattman, Marjorie A. Schaffer, Maureen J. Juarez, Leanne L. Rogstad, Timothy Bredow, Sara E. Traylor

Journal of Community Engagement and Higher Education

This study explored community agency staff perceptions about community engagement learning experiences for nursing students. Focus groups with staff from eleven health-related community organizations revealed seven themes that will contribute to effective curriculum development and implementation for community engagement: (a) agency expectations for students, (b) orientation, (c) schedule of student experiences, (d) invested student participation, (e) student match with agencies, (f) projects envisioned, and (g) effective interactions with the population. Practice implications for developing community engagement learning experiences are suggested.

Chinese Prostitution Policies From 1949 To 2024 : An Analysis From The Perspectives Of Marxism, Political Economy, Cultural Citizenship, And Feminism, Ning He

Lingnan Theses (MPhil & PhD)

Existing scholarship on Chinese prostitution control largely focuses on limited historical periods, legal regulations, or single theoretical perspectives, leaving a gap in understanding how Chinese prostitution policies have evolved from a historical perspective across the entire post-1949 era. This study aims to fill this gap by addressing four research questions: (a) What were the main changes in Chinese prostitution policies from 1949 to 2024? (b) How far can the four approaches (Marxism, political economy, cultural citizenship, feminism) effectively explain the nature of Chinese prostitution policies in different periods? (c) What are the main factors shaping Chinese prostitution policies in different …

Book Review: The First Cold War: Anglo-Russian Relations In The 19th Century, Whitney Grespin

Parameters Bookshelf – Online Book Reviews

Author: Barbara Emerson

Reviewed by Dr. Whitney Grespin, Irregular Warfare Initiative fellow

An instructive historical case study and strategic diagnostic, The First Cold War: Anglo-Russian Relations in the 19th Century, clearly distills complex dynamics, reminding readers that to deal with Russia, the United States must remember Russia's motives and fears.

Review Of: Christianity And Human Rights Reconsidered, John Ashworth

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

The Sudanese Identity In The Mirror Of Colonial And Post-Independence History, Abdalla Galaleldeen

The Journal of Social Encounters

After independence, Sudan’s political elite adopted colonial-inspired policies that sought to divide the country into North and South (Arabs versus Africans). This policy was further reinforced by the civil wars and by the failures of the Sudanese political elite to construct a cohesive national identity. In the post-independence period, one elite group aligned itself with an Arab identity, while another embraced an African identity. Logically, therefore, both identities—Islamic-Arab and African—encompass the majority of the population. Yet, while Islamists and Africanists each claimed to represent this majority, neither addressed the contradictions inherent in their positions. As the tension between the Islamic-Arab …

The Origins Of The Pax Christi International Movement: The Pax Christi In Regno Christi Crusade, François Mabille

The Journal of Social Encounters

The Pax Christi movement was created in 1944 by a French laywoman. Its original name was "crusade of prayers for the conversion of Germany", the term crusade referring to a very specific political and religious imagination, marked in particular by the intransigent Catholicism of the beginning of the 20th century and by a specious analysis of the origins of the Nazism. This article, resulting from a thesis devoted to the history of the movement from 1944 to 1983, reviews the genesis of Pax Christi, and its evolution during the first 5 years of its existence, from a "crusade of prayers" …

Engaging The Somali Diaspora: A Case Study Of One Agency’S Community Programming Approach, Farhia Abdi

The Journal of Social Encounters

This case study investigates how a local community agency engages with the Somali diaspora to design and implement culturally responsive services, such as the Settlement and Integration Program. It also explores the potential of fostering meaningful dialogue with community members to inform the development of culturally sensitive programming. The research question guiding this study was developed by findings from previous research, which highlighted the significance of community engagement, sustained dialogue, and the necessity for agencies to design clearly defined programs. These programs should prioritize active participation from community members in both the creation and implementation of tailored initiatives.

An Interfaith Paradise Lost? Religion And The Memory Of The Lebanese Civil War In Postwar Novels, Wilbert Van Saane

The Journal of Social Encounters

This essay analyzes three Lebanese postwar novels: Nathalie Abi-Ezzi’s A Girl Made of Dust, Jad El Hage’s The Myrtle Tree, and Hoda Barakat’s The Tiller of Waters. I argue that these novels narrate the memory of war with reference to religious imagery and theological structures, especially the idea of a paradise lost as described in John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost. The paradise these novels present consists of a harmonious relation between people of different faiths. The root of violence is situated in a distortion and misrepresentation of the narratives of others. The novels also include the theme of a …

Our Bare Life: The Care Manifesto, Homo Sacer, And Hannah Arendt On Memory, Spontaneous Community, And Postwar Authoritarianism, Sam Grayck

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

Christianity In Relation To Judaism: Historical Memory And Polemics In Constructing The Story Of Christian Faith, John Merkle

The Journal of Social Encounters

Throughout most of Christian history, Christians have told a replacement story: Christianity has replaced Judaism and is the one valid pathway to God. As both Judaism and Christianity are based on historical events, the story of Christian faith is inevitably told with reference to events in Jewish history, especially events recounted in the Hebrew Bible (or the Christian Old Testament) that contextualize the emergence of Christianity and situate events concerning Jesus of Nazareth within a Jewish context. But over the last seventy years or so, a growing number of Christian scholars and church leaders have acknowledged that traditional Christian ideas …

Free Speech At Colleges And Universities In The Mountain West, 2025, Olivia K. Cheche, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Higher Education

This fact sheet presents data on free speech at 16 colleges and universities across the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The data are sourced from “The 2026 College Free Speech Rankings,” as originally published by The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), and reflect 2025 data. The FIRE report presents free speech ranks, scores, grades, and data on speech controversies for 257 colleges and universities across 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. This fact sheet highlights the average free speech scores for each Mountain West state, as well as the free …

Education And Fertility: Evidence From An Instrumental Variable Approach Using Higher Education Expansions In Turkey, Badi H. Baltagi, Haci M. Karatas

Center for Policy Research

This paper examines the impact of higher education on women’s fertility behavior in Turkey. To address the endogeneity of education we use the plausibly exogenous variation in college availability in Turkey between 1983 and 2000. We find that increased education of women in Turkey significantly reduced the number of children and increased the probability of childlessness at the end of the fecund period. The effect of education on fertility worked through a postponement in first births at ages following college graduation until the age of 35, an improvement in women’s labor market outcomes, better marriage market outcomes, and use of …

Mymoney: A Program That Leverages Digital And Artificial Intelligence Tools For Improving The Financial Wellbeing Of Hispanic Families, Luisa Blanco, Kamila Campos, Jessica Gonzalez, Jorge Macias

School of Public Policy Working Papers

Abstract: Our Community-Based Digital Intervention (CBDI) MyMoney was designed to meet the informational needs and promote behavioral change among Hispanic adults. We leverage Digital and Artificial Intelligence (DAI) tools to provide participants access to content that is linguistically and culturally tailored and structured to be delivered in short, accessible modules. MyMoney program provided an introductory experience to financial education with a mobilephone based approach, offering a four-week experience for improving money management skills. We conducted an extensive quantitative and qualitative data analysis of participants’ and stakeholders’ program experience and perspectives, which provides important insights for the design, evaluation, and implementation …

Budget Tradeoffs Shape Food Insecurity Among U.S. Older Adults, Madonna Harrington Meyer, Colleen M. Heflin

Population Health Research Brief Series

For low-income older adults, it may be difficult to meet basic needs on a fixed monthly income. Stretching resources can be difficult, especially if unexpected expenses arise, leading many older adults to face difficult budget tradeoffs. Based on the book, Food for Thought: Understanding Older Adults Food Insecurity, this brief summarizes how budget tradeoffs between food and other essential expenses—housing, utilities, medical care, transportation, and personal and cleaning supplies—shape food insecurity among older adults.

What Municipalities Really Want: Perceptions Of Artificial Intelligence Among New York State Municipal Leaders, Nicholas Croce, Saba Siddiki

Center for Policy Design and Governance

This brief summarizes "What Municipalities Really Want: Perceptions of Artificial Intelligence among New York State Municipal Leaders," co-authored by Nicholas Croce (Syracuse University) & Saba Siddiki (Syracuse University).

A Qualitative Exploration Of Child, Caregiver, And Clinician Perspectives On Mental Health In Children With Osteogenesis Imperfecta, Justin H Qian, Andrew D Wiese, Clarissa Gonzalez, Whitney S Shepherd, Hannah Cho, Gianna M Colombo, Julia M Morales, Selena Guo, Kristin M Kostick-Quenet, Dianne Nguyen, Sophie C Schneider, Kara Ayers, Members Of The Bbdc, Marie-Eve Robinson, Chaya N Murali, Brendan Lee, V Reid Sutton, Eric A Storch

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a heritable connective disorder with clinical manifestations including bone fragility and short stature. Previous research identified psychosocial themes related to mental health among children with OI and their caregivers, such as independence, social isolation, depression, and anxiety. Several studies have also examined clinicians of individuals with OI for their perspectives on mental health among their patients. However, no known studies have compared psychosocial themes among all three participant groups concurrently. This qualitative study examined mood and anxiety, along with risk and protective factors, from perspectives of youths, parents, and clinicians. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, which were …

Federal Funding In The Mountain West, 2021-2024, Isabelle G. Graham, Olivia K. Cheche, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Elections & Governance

This fact sheet presents data on the number of federal funding awards granted to the five Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah between 2021 and 2024. These awards include investments authorized under major federal legislation such as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), CHIPS and Science Act, and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), among other programs tracked by Invest.gov. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) will see funding for these programs sunsetted (terminated as the above legislation expires).

Modeling Musculoskeletal Combat Casualty Care: Nato Trauma System Performance In Large Scale Combat Operations, Mark P. Cote, Kaitlyn E. Holly, Roman J. Schoenfeld, Matthew R. Bryan, Malina O. Hatton, Mitchel B. Harris, Tracey P. Koehlmoos, Andrew J. Schoenfeld

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether the current North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) trauma system will be effective in the setting of Large-Scale Combat Operations (LSCO). We sought to model the efficacy of the NATO trauma system in the setting of LSCO. We also intended to model novel scenarios that could better adapt the current system to LSCO.

METHODS: We developed a discrete-event simulation model for patients with combat musculoskeletal injuries treated within the standard NATO system. The primary outcome of the model was survival. The model's health states were characterized as stable, hypovolemia, sepsis, shock, or death. The model simulated …

The Cost Of Malnutrition In Older Adults In The Mountain West, 2020, Taylor Volk, Anirudh Polagani, Olivia K. Cheche, Kristian Thymianos, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Health

This fact sheet presents 2020 data on the annual costs of disease-associated malnutrition for adults aged 65 years and older across the five Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The data are sourced from “Advancing Policies for Quality Malnutrition Care in Older Adults: A Toolkit for State Legislators,” a report published by Defeat Malnutrition Today and Women in Government.

Policy Recommendations To Reduce Old Age Food Insecurity In The United States, Colleen M. Heflin, Madonna Harrington Meyer

Center for Policy Research

In 2023, 7.4 million adults ages 60 and over in the United States were food insecure. As the number of older people at risk of food insecurity in the U.S. continues to rise, effective policy responses are critical. The current policy responses to old age food insecurity are complex, costly, and not nearly effective enough.

Based on the book, Food for Thought: Understanding Older Adults Food Insecurity, this brief summarizes five policy recommendations to improve food insecurity among U.S. older adults. The authors recommend measuring food security in multidimensional ways, treating food insecurity as a health issue, adopting SNAP …