Civic and Community Engagement Commons^™

Puerto Disperso: La Existencia O No De La Comunidad Y El Espacio No-Heteronormativa En Valparaíso, Chile, Rebecca Raymond-Kolker

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The social and political reality of contemporary Chile continues to be characterized by hegemonic social conservatism and restrictive and often violent government. Within this context, studies of sexuality and deviations from normative sexuality in Chile have historically focused on certain identity groups—namely gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual/gender populations—in relation to this conservative context. Previous work on specifically lesbian and gay individuals focus on the relationship between identity formation and social realities. Gay and lesbian studies in Chile are often based in Santiago; as the capital and the largest metropolitan area, the 15th Region is the site of the most GLBT …

Constructing Cidadania: Shifting Visions Of Citizenship In The Mst Settlement Assentamento 25 De Maio In Ceará, Brazil, Alexis Victoria Cruzzavala

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The social movement known as Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST) was founded in 1984 with the intent of agrarian reform in a newly democratic Brazil. The movement arrived in Northeastern Brazil in the late 1980s and successfully organized a group of landless workers in the interior of Ceará on May 25, 1989 to create the first settlement the state had seen. The citizens of Assentamento 25 de Maio, as the settlement was later named, have undergone a unique social transition from circumstances closely resembling forced servitude and latifúndio to liberation. This transition affected the men and women who …

“It’S Just Not That Simple:” Territory And Politics At Girdwood Park, Kyra Fallon

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This report is the outcome of a month long study of space and territory in North Belfast. Data was obtained by way of qualitative methods using focused interviews and mapping, within theoretical frameworks from sociology and human geography. Segregation, space, and demographic change are explored as factors of localized territorial conflict. This theory is applied to the Crumlin Road Gaol and Girdwood Barracks regeneration project in North Belfast, where the contentious issue of housing on the site has stalled other development. The research finds that these factors do play a role in the project and also seeks to explore the …

The Identity Of The Chinese In Belgrade: A National Question, Wan (Sabrina) Tsai

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Chinese community is an unknown population to the general Serbian society. Since most of the Chinese function within their own established spaces, it is difficult for outsiders to fully understand the dynamics of Chinese identity. This study aims to explore the layers of identity formation in the Chinese transmigrant community in Belgrade, Serbia. By taken into account different daily-life factors that impact identity formation, this study examines the extent to which Chinese identities are influenced by living and working in Serbia.

The methods used in this study are four semi-structured interviews and thirty-two informal conversations with the Chinese in …

Fight Or Flight: The Situation Of The Young And Jobless In Morocco, Anduriña Espinoza

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the context of the Arab Spring, Morocco faces some of the biggest anti-government protests in recent history, many of which are motivated at least in part by the poor and persistent employment problem. Bearing in mind the staggeringly high numbers of unemployed youth in a country that is also one of the biggest senders of migrants to Europe and North America, I have based my study on the duality of choice Moroccans face. When confronted with deteriorating quality in a given product, as economist Albert O. Hirschman has articulated in his theory on exit, voice, and loyalty, people can …

Experiencing Samoa Through Stories: Myths And Legends Of A People And Place, Samantha Lichtenberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research will explore oral tradition, indigenous beliefs prior to Christianity, and the significance of place through the study of Samoan myths and legends. The researcher will investigate the tradition of storytelling by hearing the stories from Samoan elders themselves. These stories will be supplemented with details from secondary written resources in order to compile comprehensive versions of the myths and legends. The research will consider the affect that Christianity has on the meaning of the stories and examine whether traces of indigenous belief/religion are preserved today through storytelling and the remembrance of myths. The researcher will spend a significant …