Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Rich Earth Below The Sand' And The Origins Of The Thames Embankments, Stuart Oliver

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

This essay explores the designing of the Thames embankments that were built between 1866 and 1874 for the Metropolitan Board of Works. In particular it concentrates on the origins of what might be called the production of the conditions of production of the embankments. By looking at the motivation of those advocating embanking as a means of exerting literal and figurative control over the river, and the ways in which society influenced such advocacy and determined its effectiveness, the essay explores modernity's construction of a regulated natural in the context of an analysis that is sensitive to the …

Supposing A Space: The Detecting Subject In Paul Auster’S City Of Glass, Richard Swope

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

No abstract provided.

Cabbagetown: (Re) Placing Identity, Jeremy W. Crampton

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

Cabbagetown is one of Atlanta's oldest industrial settlements, built for employees of the South's first cotton processing mill in 1881 during the heyday of southeastern textile mills. Today its identity and sense of place is highly contested. Originally a white working class community oriented around the mill, today it is undergoing gentrification -- the mill has been converted into gated lofts, and there are few long-term residents still left. Remarkably, the neighborhood is still distinct and unusual. It's almost as if a sense of history has settled into the neighborhood's bones and imbued its new residents with a …

Rorty's Complicit American Neo-Pragmatism, Haidar Eid

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

Despite the obvious French origin of poststructuralism, its paradigmatic resonance can be found in the American philosophical scene, an essential part of which is Richard Rorty's neo-pragmatism -- the theoretical basis of American (post)modernism. However, different from poststructuralism's apparent antagonism to the authoritarian establishments, Rorty adopts the Derridean poststructuralist motifs of the decentering of the subject, and the disappearance of meaning and truth in order to defend the establishment -- or rather, the status quo.

On Guillermo Gomez-Peña's El Mexterminator And Cyber Vato, Michael Benton

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

While attending Bowling Green State University in 1997 I had an experience that changed my worldview. I was a teaching assistant in the Popular Culture department and part of my responsibilities included teaching Introduction to Popular Culture (POPC 100) and Introduction to Mass Media (POPC 165). I had been struggling to engage my students in examining the way in which social reality is represented to them through popular entertainments [2]. The majority of my students were white, middle class students from the surrounding Northern regions of Ohio. My students were well-versed in the ongoing controversy over whether or …

Review Of Up, By Peter Gabriel, Matthew Wolf-Meyer

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

No abstract provided.

Passaic Boys Are Hell: Robert Smithson's Tag As Temporal And Spatial Marker Of The Geographical Self, Felicity Colman

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

Robert Smithson seductively created stories about his activities as an artist with attention to his duration; his time of existence. Born in 1938 in the New Jersey suburb of Passaic, Smithson lived in the New Jersey suburbs of Rutherford and Clifton with his family until 1957 when he moved to live in downtown Manhattan, New York (Hobbs 1981, 231-232; Tsai 1991, 6). Smithson's adult life was undeniably shaped by his Pascalian/Sopranos awareness of engaging the circumference by which to navigate the centre of everyday life. In 1972 Smithson described New Jersey as: a kind of destroyed California, …

The Ruse Of The Social: Human Waste And The Gated Community, Liam Mcnamara

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

One of the central problems of contemporary society is that of “the social”: how it is defined, constituted, conjured into existence, and supported. Jean Baudrillard has employed the term “the social” in his work, but it is never explicitly defined; it is best understood as a form of simulation that has sprung into existence in the absence of symbolic social relations. The social is constituted of all the phenomena that are generally studied by sociology, so is therefore ideologically conceived of as an organic structure that is waiting for analysis. The “social” is society, both as it stands …

On Steven Duncombe's Cultural Resistance Reader (2002), Adam Reed

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

While the debates over the dis/connections between theory and practice have become essentially metaphysical, it is still useful to distinguish between micro, grassroots struggles and macro, ideological political agendas. In a world in which one of the Left's (old, new and contemporary) main achievements has been to merge the micro and macro in the popular imaginary, this distinction helps one appreciate the myriad of forces affecting social change that are condensed in primarily ideological narratives. A similar perspective is called for when one turns to cultural forms of resistance, which are usually erased by political narratives or mystified …

On Bell Hooks' Feminism Is For Everybody, David Alan Sapp

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

Taking a decidedly radical feminist position, bell hooks, the writing voice of Gloria Watkins, promotes the learning of feminist theory and history as essential parts of the process of self-actualization and the practice of freedom. In Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics, hooks provides an overview targeted to readers new to interdisciplinary feminism. Importantly, hooks argues in strong opposition to the anti-feminist public voice in contemporary culture. In particular, she speaks to young female readers who know little about feminism, many of whom falsely assume that sexism is no longer a problem or is no longer relevant since …

A Review Of Dr. Holmberg's Work, Gary Hoppenstand

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[Editor's Introduction]

Dr. Carl Holmberg, a beloved member of Bowling Green State University's department of Popular Culture and father of two daughters, Lily and Erin, passed away September 29, 2002 at his home in Bowling Green, Ohio. In addition to what you will find highlighted below, Dr. Holmberg was in the process of extensive research into Japanese popular culture and was loved by the students he taught at the graduate and undergraduate level. Below, we have decided to publish a review of Carl's work by friend and colleague Dr. Gary Hoppenstand, so that the members of our community might realize …

Sports Organizations: Their Role In Social And Economic Development - Nasss Conference Program 2002, North American Society For The Sociology Of Sport

North American Society for the Sociology of Sport Programs

No abstract provided.

Gender, Crime, And Desistance: Toward A Theory Of Cognitive Transformation, Peggy C. Giordano, Stephen A. Cernkovich, Jennifer L. Rudolph

Sociology Faculty Publications

his article analyzes data derived from the first detailed long-term follow-up of a sample of serious adolescent female delinquents and similarly situated males. Neither marital attachment nor job stability, factors frequently associated with male desistance from crime, were strongly related to female or male desistance. A symbolic-interactionist perspective on desistance is developed as a counterpoint to Sampson and Laub's theory of informal social control, and life history narratives are used to illustrate the perspective. This cognitive theory is generally compatible with a control approach but (a) adds specificity regarding underlying change mechanisms, (b) explains some negative cases, and (c) fits …

Afghans Learn English, V.6, VizāRat-I MaʻĀRif, Center For Afghan Studies, Usaid

Books in English

No abstract provided.

Globalization And International Trade Of Water (Chapter 2), Peter H. Gleick, Gary Wolff, Elizabeth L. Chalecki, Rachel Reyes

Political Science Faculty Publications

This chapter explores the implications of treating water as an economic good within global markets. While economic valuation can promote efficiency, it raises concerns over equity, ecological protection, and cultural values. The authors define key concepts—globalization, privatization, and commodification—and examine tensions between market allocation and the universal right to water.

Examples range from bottled water sales to proposals for bulk transfers, analyzed within international trade frameworks like GATT and NAFTA. The chapter emphasizes that sustainable water management requires integrating social and economic goals, ensuring equitable access, protecting ecosystems, and establishing clear national and international rules to prevent overexploitation and inequitable …

Eleven Principles Of Effective Character Education, Tom Lickona, Eric Schaps, Catherine Lewis

Special Topics, General

There is no single script for effective character education, but there are some important basic principles. The following eleven principles serve as criteria that schools and other groups can use to plan a character education effort and to evaluate available character education programs, books, and curriculum resources.

Service As A Pathway To Political Participation: What Research Tells Us, Tobi Walker

Special Topics, General

Historically, there has been a rich American tradition connecting service to politi­cal engagement. To test whether this pathway remains significant, research on the political outcomes of young people's service participation is reviewed. The author argues that most research operationalizes citizenship as a helping behavior, contributing to a perspective that service is an alternative to politics. The article Concludes with a set of recommendations for reinvigorating service to support more robust political participation.

Consortia And Institutional Partnerships For Community Development, Mitchell R. Williams

Special Topics, General

The need for effective community development to address social, economic, and environmental issues is perhaps stronger now than at any other time. Making communities functional and livable is critically important to our society. There is a renewed interest in using the resources of higher education to assist communities and regions through community development initiatives (Livermore and Midgley, 1998; Usnick, Shove, and Gissy, 1997), To illustrate the contribution of colleges and universities to building sustainable communities, this chapter examines the development of community leaders through institutional partnerships and consortia involving different types of institutions of higher education.

Can Private Sector Strategic Information Systems Planning Techniques Work For The Public Sector?, Donna Dufner, Lyn M. Holley, B. J. Reed

Gerontology Faculty Publications

This study investigated strategic information technology planning (SISP) at the statewide level. Even though thirty-eight states reported having a strategic information technology plan in place and ten reported having a plan in progress; analysis of the data shows that the executive and legislative or highest levels of state government are “not involved” in SISP. A lack of integrated statewide governmental strategic information systems planning (SISP) suggests that SISP as defined by private sector models may not be accomplished easily in the public sector. Significant differences in the process of setting organizational objectives, planning horizons, and stakeholder involvement are barriers to …

Partnership And The Revitalization Of Aviation: A Study Of The Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiments Program, 1994-2001, Nanette Scarpellini Metz, Uno Aviation Institute

Faculty Books and Monographs

UNOAI Report 02-5

As the Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiments (AGATE) program completes its eight-year plan, the outcomes and industry effects reveal its successes and problems. AGATE engaged several different types of institutions, including federal agencies, business and industry, universities, and non-profit organizations. By examining the perceptions of those intimately involved as well as periphery members, this study shows the powerful consequences of this type of combination both now and in the future. The problems are a particularly useful illustration of the inter-working of a jointly funded research and development initiative. By learning how these problems are addressed, the study …

Service Helix: A Grounded Theory Of College Student Development And Outcomes Through Involvement In Community Service, Mary Kay Schneider

Thesis, Dissertations, Student Creative Activity, and Scholarship

Community service and service learning have been lauded as ways of teaching civic and social responsibility during college. In order to better understand the concept of social and civic responsibility and whether students gravitated toward these concepts, this study was undertaken. The grounded theory was designed to understand students' experiences with community service, what they see as outcomes from their involvement, and the role of responsibility in this dynamic.

Grounded theory was utilized as the methodology because of the lack of research and theory regarding service and the outcomes for the servers. To achieve depth of understanding, information-rich participants were …

Serving Safely: A Risk Management Resource For College Service Programs, Sharon A. Joyce, Elaine K. Ikeda

Guides

This resource book has drawn upon the expertise of individuals in the fields of service learning, community service, risk management, insurance, and law. The valuable feedback and input from the experts in these fields has not only made this book possible, but it has strengthened the readability and technical accuracy of a complex subject.

Destination Democracy: An Educator's Guide To The Activities, Rahima C. Wade

Guides

Destination Democracy is the high school service-learning curriculum produced by Kids Voting USA. Through the lessons and activities in Destination Democracy, high school students practice the skills of democratic living as they learn important civic lessons in the classroom and participate in activities in their communities. The service-learning activities in the curriculum focus on meaningful civic involvement through voting, voter registration, working for political candidates, educating young children about the political process, and addressing community issues of interest to high school youth. Destination Democracy can be used by high school teachers, club advisors, youth group leaders and others interested in …

Learning To Serve: Service Learning Toolkit, Disney

Guides

Why serve?
If you're ready to initiate a service learning program with your students and want to know where to begin, you've come to the right place! This section will give you a step-by-step guide to starting a service learning program.

Community College Engagement In Community Programs And Services, Lisa Phinney, Mary Kay Schoen, Ellen Hause

Partnerships/Community

In 2001, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) conducted a national survey of community colleges to identify their community programs and services. Survey responses demonstrated a strong level of community college commitment to improving the quality of life in their communities and offering a place to pursue lifelong learning. Responding colleges indicated that they are engaged in a wide variety of programs and services designed to reflect the diverse needs of the communities they serve, with many partnering with local and state government, nonprofit organizations, and local schools.

Eric Resources On Service-Learning And Related Topics: An Annotated Bibliography, Unknown

Bibliographies

No abstract provided.

Searching For The Meaning Of Youth Civic Engagement: Notes From The Field, Molly W. Andolina, Krista Jenkins, Scott Keester, Cliff Zukin

Civic Engagement

This article reports on the early lessons from a multiphase, multimethod study of youth civic engagement. It uses insights from expert discussions along with a series of focus groups to explore how young adults approach politics, volunteerism, community, civic duty, and generational identity. The study finds many of the distinguishing characteristics of today's youth to be subtle and nuanced, which poses unique challenges for qualitative research of the generation. The important implications of language are discussed in detail.

The New Student Politics Curriculum Guide, Keith Morton, Sandra Enos, Sarah E. Long

Curriculum

The New Student Politics: The Wingspread Statement on Student Civic Engagement (2002) can be assigned as a text in a political science service-learning course that has as an explicit course objective the exploration of contemporary conceptions of citizenship, or a sociology service-learning course that focuses on community building and social transformation. Additionally, the text can be incorporated in service-learning courses across the disciplines with the aid of The New Student Politics Curriculum Guide. The Curriculum Guide is designed to provide a structure for engaging students in reflection on their community service experiences in a way that allows for the …

Number And Projection Of The Number Of The Elderly Population In Nebraska Counties, 1980 To 2020, Uno Center For Public Affairs Research

Past Publications

This report contains two tables each for three different categories of the elderly population in Nebraska Counties: persons age 65 or over, persons age 75 or over and persons age 85 or over.

The Distress Thermometer: Validity In A General Cancer Population, Carole S. Moretz

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

This work reports on the psychometric properties of a new measure designed to screen for distress in large populations of cancer patients. The Distress Thermometer (Holland et al., 2000) was tested in a group of 239 heterogeneously diagnosed cancer patients. It was found to be internally consistent (a= 0.86) and to exhibit a reliable eight-factor solution. It displayed acceptable concurrent validity (p ≤ 0.0001) when compared to the Rotterdam Symptom Checklist (deHaes et al., 1994), the Functional Living Index Cancer (Schipper et al., 1984) and the Brief Symptom Inventory (Derogatis, 1993). It was also found to be a sensitive measure …