Civic and Community Engagement Commons^™

How The City Of Indianapolis Came To Have African American Policemen And Firemen 80 Years Before The Modern Civil Rights Movement., Leon E. Bates

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explores a series of events that occurred in the spring of 1876. The relationship between the Indianapolis city government, the Marion County Courts, the Indianapolis Police Department, and the African American community came together to usher in changes never before envisioned. The Indianapolis Police Department (IPD) was formed in 1855, then disbanded 12 months later in a political dispute. From 1857-to-1876, the IPD was all white. These changes took place as the Reconstruction era was coming to a close. The first Ku Klux Klan was at its apex, terrorizing black communities, and Jim Crow was coming into its …

The Ostroms' Commons Revisited, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Elinor and Vincent Ostrom spent most of their careers working in fields other than third sector studies. Even so, a significant amount of their work has implications for our field. Together they founded the Workshop on Political Theory and Policy at Indiana University and with students and colleagues built a large body of research and theory on a range of topics including self-governance, collaboration, co-production, polycentrism, federalism, and commons. The Ostroms, the Workshop and their networks of students and colleagues, also constitute an interesting example of one of their latest and most recent contributions, the knowledge commons. Their highly regarded …

Broadband And Mobile Internet Services In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: 2016 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy

Nebraska Rural Poll

Most rural Nebraskans use their cell phone to access the Internet. Certain groups are more likely than others to use mobile/cellular Internet service: rural Nebraskans with the highest household incomes, who are younger, married, with higher education levels and with management or professional occupations.

Overall, most rural Nebraskans using mobile/cellular Internet service are satisfied with their service. Furthermore, most rural Nebraskans are satisfied with the reliability, speed, customer service, and coverage of their mobile Internet service. However, most rural Nebraskans using mobile Internet service are dissatisfied with the price of their service.

Certain groups have issues with various aspects of …

From Empty Lot To Garden Plot: Urban Agriculture In Chula Vista, Jennifer E. Gutierrez

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This project is an exploration of how agriculture can be incorporated into the fabric of the city of Chula Vista, which has both uniquely urban and suburban areas. The proposal is to integrate agriculture as a design tool to reconnect to the city’s agricultural past and as a model for cities of the future. First, I discuss Chula Vista’s history and contemporary context, including demographics. I review the existing urban agriculture policies Chula Vista has and compare them to other cities in California. The second part of the project is concerned with how to choose and develop a site for …

Biblioworks: Advocating For The Creation Of Libraries For Children In Chuquisaca, Bolivia, Jhasmany Saavedra

Capstone Collection

During 2015-16, I completed my SIT professional practicum as an intern with BiblioWorks based in the Asheville, North Carolina office. Founded in 2005, the focus of this very small organization has been to provide funding and support for libraries and other educational programs in one part of Bolivia. I am from Bolivia and, prior to my scholarship to study at SIT, had worked with local NGOs. During my on-campus phase, I took a sequence of courses in policy advocacy and thus, along with other assignments, I became BiblioWorks’ US-based resource person working with the Bolivia-based director as the organization began …

Choral Theatre, Albert Joseph Wolfe Jr.

Dissertations

Jamaica gained its independence from Great Britain in 1962, after some 300 years of colonization. Prior to Independence, the standard arts education curriculum was decidedly British and Western European. That which was labeled Caribbean or Jamaican “folk” by the British was deemed inferior and was not taught, demonstrated, or performed in formal settings. Thus, generations of Jamaicans never observed or imagined a Caribbean aesthetic in the visual and performing arts. Instead, pre-Independence Jamaicans were taught British and Western European music and performed it the “British” way.

Today, Jamaicans boast a number of artistic developments that are instantly recognized across the …

Torch (April 2016), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

Civic and Community Engagement | Civil Rights and Discrimination | Education | Gender and Sexuality | Inequality and Stratification | Politics and Social Change | Public Policy | Race and Ethnicity

Trash On Taboga: A Case Study On Solid Waste Management And Feasible Methods For Sustainable Improvements, Taboga Island, Panama, Madison Marra

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

On Taboga Island, a touristic island located just 20km outside of Panama City, solid waste can be found both littered and accumulated in an open-air dump that contributes to air, land, and ocean pollution. While more sustainable waste management systems are possible, as seen in other developing countries, differences in perceptions of waste management by users may result in differences in acceptance of new ideas. In this study, semi-structured interviews were used to gauge the status of waste management on Taboga and the perceptions of waste by its residents and visitors in order to ensure the participation of users in …

Ua41 University College Connection, Dennis K. George, Dean, Wendi Kelley, University College

UC Publications

No abstract provided.

Rural Civic Action Project Poster, Heartland Center For Leadership Development

Heartland Center for Leadership Development Materials

The final project for the Rural Civic Action Project is to create a poster that includes the Community Capital Mapping activity (CCMA; Keith & Kinsey, 2013). The Community Capital Maps provide an opportunity to evaluate the impact of the projects from the participants’ perspective. Fellows should include one map on their poster: the center of the map should be “Engaging in the Rural Civic Action Program. Also included on the poster is a narrative describing the map.

“La Guerra De Los Centavos” Y Contratos Sociales: Los Impactos Del Desarrollo Del Sistema Intermodal De Transporte Urbano En Loja, Ecuador / "The War Of The Cents" And Social Contracts: The Impacts Of The Development Of The Intermodal Urban Transportation System In Loja, Ecuador, Will Yetvin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

El propósito de este estudio fue investigar el Sistema Intermodal de Transporte Urbano (SITU) en la ciudad de Loja, Ecuador. El contenido del estudio se basa en mis observaciones y entrevistas durante mi tiempo trabajando con la Unidad de Transporte del Municipio de Loja, y en fuentes bibliográficas relacionadas con los temas de transporte urbano, transporte sostenible, bus de rápido tránsito y gobiernos descentralizados. Además, utilicé un tesoro de documentos internos del Municipio y el Consorcio. Mi análisis es influenciado por el marco conceptual de desarrollo sostenible.

Este informe es organizado alrededor de tres temas vinculados pero distintos; 1) Un …

On White Guilt., Emma R. Okell

SURGE

I didn’t always realize what white guilt was, only that it existed. It’s not as cut-and-dry as it seems. It actually took me years to understand it, which is why I was not surprised when at the Town Hall Meeting back in January, one person asked a question about how to be an ally. Specifically, I found myself reflecting on her concerns regarding “white guilt” (44:01 – 45:25). I wanted to respond, but from the audience it felt out of place, and as it is, my response took two months of putting my thoughts together. [excerpt]

Fearless Friday: Sherfy Battlefield Garden, Emma E. Korowotny

SURGE

In this edition of Fearless Friday, we’re highlighting one of the newer service projects that Gettysburg College is involved with: Sherfy Battlefield Garden. This summer will mark the fourth planting season at Sherfy, which was developed in 2013 by Hannah Grose ’13. The garden is located just off of Emmitsburg Road by the house that, in 1860, belonged to Joseph Sherfy and his family. Bullet holes mar the brick walls of the farmhouse, testifying to the fighting that occurred all over the fifty acres of Joseph Sherfy’s farmland on the last two days of the Battle of Gettysburg. Sites of …

The Kazaks Of Istanbul: A Case Of Social Cohesion, Economic Breakdown And The Search For A Moral Economy, Daniel Marc Auger

Dissertations and Theses

This research is focused on understanding the ways in which the community orientation of the Kazak ethnic community in Istanbul, Turkey have contributed to their economic success which in turn encourages strong community, and the nature of their community-based support networks for providing material and cultural support. It examines the role of social capital and cohesion in maintaining the community with its positive implications for the continued building of wealth or sourcing of funding on a community level. The theoretical concepts relevant to this project are based on the ideas that the shared values of a community are a positive …

Torch (February 2016), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Perceptions Of Well-Being In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: 2016 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Cheryl A. Burkhart-Kriesel, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben, L. J. Mcelravy

Nebraska Rural Poll

Rural Nebraskans continue to feel positive about their current situation. Just over one-half (52%) of rural Nebraskans believe they are better off than they were five years ago (holding steady from 53% last year, the highest proportion in all 21 years of this study, tied in 2008). And, rural Nebraskans’ outlook on their future continues to be optimistic. Almost one-half of rural Nebraskans (46%) believe they will be better off ten years from now. In addition, most rural Nebraskans disagree that people are powerless to control their own lives. This year, 55 percent strongly disagree or disagree with that statement. …

Ua41 University College Connection, Dennis K. George, Dean, Wendi Kelley, University College

UC Publications

No abstract provided.

Faith In A Changing Planet: The Role Of Religious Leaders In The Fight For A Livable Climate, Morissa Zuckerman

Pitzer Senior Theses

Progressive religious leaders are playing an increasingly important role in the effort to combat climate change. Through a combination of unstructured in-depth interviews and primary source analysis, this thesis highlights nine U.S. religious leaders from various denominations of Christianity, Judaism and Islam who are actively involved in working on climate issues. Drawing on literature in social movement theory, I explore how clergy are uniquely influential in climate issues because of the organizational advantage and moral authority they hold through their positions as religious leaders, granting them the ability to highlight social justice implications of climate change with distinctive legitimacy. Clergy …

Measuring A Big Bold Goal, Jonathan Kohn

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

No executive summary.

Social Justify Your Lesson Plan: How To Use Social Media To Make Pop-Culture Scholarly, Lydia Willoughby, Kelly Blanchat

Publications and Research

In this chapter, we describe a lesson plan that uses social media (specifically Twitter) to empower students with the ability to critically analyze, reflect, and actively engage with community-based research content. The lesson plan is rooted in feminist pedagogy—a teaching/learning that actively engages with the material being studied by embracing social media as a viable platform for scholarship.

Perceptions Of The Homeless Toward Nonprofit Human Service Provider, Lequan M. Hylton

Theses and Dissertations

As the debate intensifies regarding developing remedies to meet the needs of America’s homeless, one solution is for governmental agencies to collaborate with and employ organizations from the nonprofit sector to assist with the needs of the homeless population. Included in the nonprofit sector, faith-based organizations (FBOs) have historically been a source of debate and contention in terms of collaborations with the government. However, Presidents Reagan, George H. Bush, Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama have embraced the idea of including FBOs in the pool of service providers offering human services. In the Richmond, Virginia region, FBOs and nonreligious nonprofit …

Education As The Weakest Institutional Link In Japan's Nuclear Regulation, Hiro Saito

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Debates over the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster pointed to a set of institutional and organizational failures in Japan’s nuclear regulation as a primary cause of the disaster. While the Japanese government has implemented reforms to strengthen nuclear regulation, I argue that these reforms have largely left out the education system as a key institution that produces and distributes expertise necessary for nuclear regulation. First, the Japanese education system has traditionally produced only a small number of experts in the fields related to nuclear regulation, aligned top-ranked experts with the pro-nuclear government, and weakened the civil society’s capacity to mobilize counter-experts. …

Torch (December 2015), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

The Transformative And Healing Powers Of Compassion, Forgiveness, And Wonder, Anna C. Eriksson-Marty

Senior Theses

Since time immemorial, humankind has struggled to coexist peacefully together. As human beings, we strive on our relationships with each other and, yet, with actions of hatred and prejudice, we seem to consistently destroy those very relationships we value so deeply. Our current society is plagued by fear, which seems to run more rampant now – more than ever – with assistance of our rapidly evolving communication technology. The question must be asked, “How can we end this madness and heal ourselves into a kinder and more fulfilling future?” By providing up-to-date scientific research on the human emotions of compassion, …

Sugar For Sale: Constructions Of Intimacy In The Sugar Bowl, Emily Zimmermann

Laurier Undergraduate Journal of the Arts

No abstract provided.

Art Education In My Backyard: Creative Placemaking On An Urban Farm, Jodi Kushins

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

An art educator describes how she used her knowledge and experience of artistic and educational initiatives that forefront collective activity in real world settings to transform her backyard into an urban farm with the help of friends and neighbors. She combines an autoethnographic account of her experiences, including original photographs, with research on conceptual artists, participatory culture, and creative placemaking to position her work as participatory environmental art education. The paper is organized around the major steps one undertakes in planting a garden – siting, amending, seeding, tending, and harvesting - to draw parallels between the processes of maintaining a …

Torch (October 2015), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Ua41 University College Connection, Dennis K. George, Dean, Wendi Kelley, University College

UC Publications

No abstract provided.

Rural Civic Action Project Poster, Heartland Center For Leadership Development

Heartland Center for Leadership Development Materials

The final project for the Rural Civic Action Project is to create a poster that includes the Community Capital Mapping activity (CCMA; Keith & Kinsey, 2013). The Community Capital Maps provide an opportunity to evaluate the impact of the projects from the participants’ perspective. Fellows should include 2 maps on their poster: the map that was created through facilitating the CCMA, the map created by the fellows evaluating the impact of their service project (the work the fellows are doing in the schools). Also included on the poster is a narrative describing the maps.

Accord Internship: A South African Ngo’S Approach To Peacekeeping In 2015, Jimmy Bromley

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Since the fall of apartheid and the forty quarters of subsequent growth under Thabo Mbeki, South Africa has been recognized as an emerging global power and one of the most powerful countries in Africa. Because of its relatively newfound power and the way in which South Africa negotiated its own peace and freedom, it has taken a leading role in conflict resolution and peacemaking on the continent. The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) assists South Africa in its dedication to diplomacy and conflict management. The biggest conflict resolution non-governmental organization in Africa, ACCORD works to peacefully …