Community-Based Research Commons^™

Race, The Condition Of Neo-Liberalism, Vikash Singh

Department of Sociology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This article addresses the social and historical relation between Chicago School neo-liberalism and contemporary racism, and its connections with the formations of racism in classical liberalism and its colonial character. I show the pragmatic and discursive operations of neo-racism in the context of this shift to a neo-liberal discourse, drawing particularly on Michel Foucault’s seminars, Society Must be Defended, and Birth of Bio-politics. Insofar as “race” cannot be understood as a discrete category outside its social, economic, moral, and political embeddedness in liberalism, I argue that methodological individualism and expectations of high-specialization constrain the theorization of race in U.S. scholarship. …

It Can't Wait: Exposing The Connections Between Forms Of Sexual Exploitation, Dawn Hawkins

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Introduction To Dignity Special Issue: Freedom From Sexploitation, Lisa L. Thompson, Donna M. Hughes

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

The First Special Issue Of Dignity, Donna M. Hughes

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Why We Must Oppose The Full Decriminalization Of Prostitution, Taina Bien-Aime

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Introducing Critical Pedagogies, Deepening Service-Learning Practices, Kathryn J. Kozak

Pedagogy and the Human Sciences

Book review of Critical Perspectives on Service-Learning in Higher Education by Susan J. Deeley. (2015). London, England: Palgrave Macmillan.

Becoming Ghosts: The Public Veiling Of Puerto Ricans In New York City, Samantha Pina Saghera

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In recent years Puerto Ricans in New York City have become difficult to locate in the public realm. This is a paradox given that Puerto Ricans make up the largest Hispanic subgroup in the larger metropolitan region. This study examines how, when, and why Puerto Ricans became publicly invisible in New York City.

Demographic, media-based, political, and cultural changes have all contributed to the decline in Puerto Rican ethnic visibility. The consequence is that although Puerto Ricans continue to be racialized (as evidenced by their socioeconomic indicators), their racialization cannot be seen in the public realm. Instead, Hispanic characteristics are …

Deconstructing Rape Culture Through An Exploration Of Consent, Desire, And Pleasure, Yael Rosenstock

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Desire and pleasure based education combats the notion of passive consent by prioritizing positive experiences for all members involved in sexual activities. A focus on desire requires that we learn and listen to our partner’s needs and respect their boundaries. It questions a patriarchal script of sex in which male pleasure, specifically when penetrating a partner, is the critical part of the sexual act. Sex motivated by mutual desire and pleasure forces us to step back and learn, not just about our partners but ourselves, so that we may communicate our wants and needs effectively.

To understand how to navigate …

Embodying Rhythm Nation: Multimodal Hip Hop Dance As A Site For Adolescent Social-Emotional And Political Development, Lauren M. Roygardner

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This exploratory study employed qualitative methodology, specifically values analysis, to learn more about how being involved within Hip hop dance communities positively relates to adolescent development. Adolescence was defined herein as ages 13-23. The study investigated Hip hop dance communities in terms of cultural expertise (i.e. novice, intermediate and advanced/expert) to look specifically at dance narratives (i.e. peak experience narratives and “I dance because” essays) and hip hop dance performances. The primary purpose of this dissertation was to (1) explore how adolescents use multimodal Hip hop dance discourse for social-emotional development and critical consciousness, and to (2) understand how values …

Adolescent Girls Offered Alternatives To Commercial Sexual Exploitation: A Case Study From The Philippines, Christopher A. Bagley, Susan Madrid, Padam Simkhada, Kathleen King, Loretta Young

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Background: Up to 2% of adolescents and young women are subjected to commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) in the Philippines, an economically poor country that earns considerable revenue from “sex tourists.” Earlier research, in the 1990s in Metro Manila, described the living conditions of adolescents whose CSE was influenced by family poverty, their so-called “sex work” becoming a major source of income for families left behind in rural and provincial areas of Luzon. Recent research (up to 2014) indicates that conditions for adolescents experiencing CSE have, if anything, worsened.

Methods: Following the original study, the researchers were able to offer scholarships …

The Challenges That Promotores Face When Implementing Their Programs, Alejandra Santana

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This qualitative study examines the challenges that community health workers or Promotores face when implementing their programs to produce better outcomes in the Latino community. Data collection was derived from five local promotores with an adequate knowledge base of expertise in promotores programs. Study themes focused on how promotores implement their programs, the challenges they face and providing professional and personal insight on working with the Latino community. Present day research emphasizes that promotores or the community health worker model approaches have been promoted as a strategy to address health disparities experienced by Latino communities in the U.S. These programs …

The Undergraduate In The “New Urban University”: Recognizing The Role Of Agency And Its Correlates In The Student’S Academic Life Story, Karen Galea

Dissertations

According to the U.S. Department of Education (2016), only 36% of first time college students enrolled at broad-access institutions graduate within six years, compared to 60% at all universities. The vital role of academic agency is universally accepted; however, debate remains over a shared definition. The purpose of this study is to determine which combination of non-academic attributes generate, grow, and support academic agency for undergraduate students at a broad-access, minority-serving “New Urban University.” Three questions are examined:

1. Which attributes define academic agency, and how do they relate to conceptually similar variables?
2. Assuming academic agency exists along a continuum over …

Towards Soulful And Sustainable Service: The Role Of Ethics In Global Service-Learning Programs Within Faith-Based Tertiary Institutions, Corrie Johnson

Capstone Collection

This research evaluates the practices of specified faith-based institutions within the field of undergraduate global service learning through the lens of each of the major themes in the Fair Trade Learning framework. These themes include equal partnership, mutual learning, cooperative and positive social change, economic equity, transparency, and sustainability. Initial survey outcomes present an overall picture of where these particular universities are at in regards to balancing student and community outcomes. Interview outcomes provide a more in-depth perspective of how mutual benefit for student participants and host communities is being considered within the global service-learning programs these programs facilitate. Some …

Bridges Out Of Poverty As An Anti-Poverty Strategy In Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, Katlyn M. Uhler

Capstone Collection

This paper explores the initial results of the Bridges Out of Poverty (“Bridges”) community framework as implemented by the organization Kennett Area Community Service in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. The aim of this research is to provide perspective on Bridges Out of Poverty’s contribution to the understanding of poverty in the United States and its potential as an antipoverty intervention. It does so first through an exploration of the historical and current discussion on poverty and anti-poverty interventions in the United States, followed by research on the Bridges model itself and its implementation in Kennett Square. This latter research includes content …

Ndoto Au Ota: Jifundishe's Strategic Planning Process: A Case Study Of An Appreciative Approach To The Strategic Planning Process For A Small Ngo, Margaret Bearor

Capstone Collection

In January 2017, Jifundishe, a small, local nonprofit organization based in Ngongongare, Tanzania undertook its first strategic planning process. I was asked to design and lead this initiative for the organization, finding a way to introduce tools and resources so that they, or a similar organization, could replicate the process in the future. To better reflect the values, culture, and constraints of Jifundishe, the methodology selected to drive the process was Appreciative Inquiry (AI). AI is a change model focused on strengths, and an appreciative strategic plan looks to take the best of what you already have and work to …

Inequities In Urban Mobility In Portland: Understanding Community Vulnerability And Prospects For Livable Neighborhoods, Amy Lubitow

PSU Transportation Seminars

Gentrification and development are changing the face of many Portland neighborhoods. This talk will draw on data from focus groups and participatory mapping research with residents in SE and North Portland neighborhoods. The presentation will share findings on the patterns of movement reported by residents in gentrifying neighborhoods and will offer ideas and perspectives on how to plan for a sustainable future for all Portlanders.

Proliferating A Culture Of Fear: Islam In A Post 9/11 America, Setareh Motamedi

Political Science Student Papers and Posters

The threat of terrorism perceived by the American public has been shaped by a series of traumatic events over the past decade. In the years following the attacks of September 11, 2001, fear of terrorism has extended beyond the threat of terrorist groups. Much of the American public considers not only terrorist groups like al-Qaeda, but the entire religion of Islam to be a security threat. In much of this security discourse, ideas of hatred, violence, and terror have become associated with Islam. This study explores that association, and aims to identify what motivates existing stereotypes. Drawing on research from …

So You Walk The Walk, But Do You Talk The Talk?: Crafting And Enhancing Communications To Support Community Engagement In Higher Education, Audrey Trussell

Community Engagement Institute

How to get ready to utilize best practices for communicating about university-community partnerships and to identify your vehicle (using your organization's mission to drive movement).

Initiating & Sustaining Partnerships, Erin B. Brown

Community Engagement Institute

Strategies to develop self preparation, mapping the lay of the land, identifying potential partners, deepening the relationship, and sustaining the partnership.

Inclusive Collaboration In Community-Academic Engagement, Jennifer Early

Community Engagement Institute

This workshop introduces foundation concepts related to diversity and inclusion in community-academic engagement and applies these concepts to the early stages of initiating and stewarding partnerships for community-engaged teaching and research.

Inclusive Collaboration In Community-Academic Engagement, Jennifer Early

Community Engagement Institute

Taking into consideration historical context and how it has influenced relationships with community partners.The historical legacy of a geographic place can act as an invisible barrier to the establishment of mutually-beneficial university-community partnerships. There are methods to overcome these barriers.

Fine Particles In Homes Of Predominantly Low-Income Families With Children And Smokers: Key Physical And Behavioral Determinants To Inform Indoor-Air-Quality Interventions, Neil E. Klepeis, John Belletierre, Suzanne C. Hughes, Benjamin Nguyen, Vincent Berardi, Sandy Liles, Saori Obayashi, C. Richard Hofstetter, Elaine Blumberg, Melbourne F. Hovell

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Children are at risk for adverse health outcomes from occupant-controllable indoor airborne contaminants in their homes. Data are needed to design residential interventions for reducing low-income children's pollutant exposure. Using customized air quality monitors, we continuously measured fine particle counts (0.5 to 2.5 microns) over a week in living areas of predominantly low-income households in San Diego, California, with at least one child (under age 14) and at least one cigarette smoker. We performed retrospective interviews on home characteristics, and particle source and ventilation activities occurring during the week of monitoring. We explored the relationship between weekly mean particle counts …

Intro To Community-Engaged Research & Service Learning, Katie Elliott, Valerie Holton

Community Engagement Institute

Definitions of community engagement, research, and service-learning. Benefits of utilizing service-learning at VCU, such as increased graduation rate, building professional skills, addressing social problems, engaging faculty with community experts, and creating opportunities for faculty led community-engaged research.

21st Century Community Engagement, Lynn E. Pelco

Community Engagement Institute

The higher education landscape is changing, and universities of the future may bear little resemblance to the institutions that have existed for the past 100 years. This workshop will help participants understand the intersections between a changing higher education landscape and community engagement. Participants will explore new models for organizing academic work (i.e., teaching, research, and service) in ways that promote student success and address community-identified needs

Community Engagement Institute 2017, Vedette Gavin, Lynn E. Pelco, Katie Elliott, Valerie Holton, Jennifer Early, Erin B. Brown

Community Engagement Institute

Agenda documenting time and dates of speaker presentations. Presentations varied from topics surrounding higher education, community-engaged research, service learning, collaboration between education and communities, and community-academic partner spotlights.

Unreplicable: The Unscientific Nature Of Science Journals, Ernest M. Oleksy

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

Academia shapes the way our species looks at veracity and defines what is deemed as well-founded science. The platform for researchers to make their work known is academic journals. The prerogative of these journals is to disseminate technically sound work so that the public may be informed of up-to-date advances in scientific fields. However, these journals are products on the market whose ultimate purpose is to garner a following that will make the producers money. This results in research that does not have statistically significant findings, or replications of past experiments which are integral to supporting the findings of the …

In Conversation With Seth Pollack, Seth Pollack, Marshall Welch

Engaging Pedagogies in Catholic Higher Education (EPiCHE)

In November 2016, EPiCHE Editor Marshall J. Welch sat down with service-learning scholar and practitioner Seth Pollack. They explored how the spiritual and religious dimensions of Seth’s life have influenced his personal passions and academic career.

Seth Pollack is Professor of Service Learning, and the founding faculty director of the Service Learning Institute at California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB). For the past 17 years, Seth has provided overall leadership for the Service Learning Institute at CSUMB. In 2005, he received the Thomas Ehrlich Faculty Award for Service Learning, recognized as the nation’s outstanding faculty in the field of community …

In Our Time: Advancing Interfaith Studies Curricula At Catholic Colleges And Universities, Eboo Patel, Noah Silverman, Kristi Del Vecchio

Engaging Pedagogies in Catholic Higher Education (EPiCHE)

People who orient around religion differently are interacting with greater frequency than ever before. These interactions, especially in the context of college and university campuses, require young people to grapple with their own identities in ways that previous generations could more easily avoid. Conversations about religious diversity have become elevated at colleges and universities, which has led Drs. Douglas Jacobsen and Rhonda Hustedt Jacobsen to claim that religion is “no longer invisible” in the context of American higher education.

As an organization that works with hundreds of American colleges and universities every year, Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) believes that Catholic …

How Scholarship Programs Facilitate First-Generation College Students’ Involvement, Maria C. Restrepo Chavez

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

As a first-generation college student, I am interested in the on-campus involvement and experiences of other first-generation college students. First-generation college students are those whose parents did not receive a university degree and tend to come from low-income families. This project explores programs designed to support and enrich the experiences of such students. The Centennial Scholars Program at James Madison University and the Presidential Scholarship Initiative at Virginia Tech aim to increase the socio-economic diversity on each campus. These programs provide students with full funding for four years, mentorship, professional development and social benefits, among others. In turn, students become …

What Street Harassment Means, Madison Davis

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This paper is exploratory research into how college-age women understand their experiences of street harassment. Street harassment is a normative experience for women living in patriarchal cultures, and is an intrusive experience faced regularly in public life. Women told their experiences as part of a narrative that changed over time as they aged from teens into college. Their experiences were not confined to the street, but experienced across public life, and women often carry the weight of harassment in silence. Women resign to the ongoing reality of harassment, and their experiences did not exist in a vacuum but a larger …