Community-Based Research Commons^™

Exploring Microfinance For Social Capital Formation And The Empowerment Of South Asian Skilled Immigrant Women In Brantford, Ontario, Fatema Taskin Chowdhury

Social Justice and Community Engagement

No abstract provided.

Franklinton Healthcare Committee, Devyn Hempy, Logan Peterman, Nicole Kostiuk, Ethan Wojciechowski, Matt Mccollister

Senior Year Experience Student Projects

Franklinton HealthCare Committee proposes to reinvent Mt. Carmel West by creating a new rehabilitation center to fight drug and alcohol addiction, a wellness center to educate Franklinton residents about nutrition and health issues, and a residence hall to support the expansion of the nursing school.

Water Poverty In Disadvantaged Communities In California, Alyssa J. Galik

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

California, the eighth largest economy in the world, has nearly one million residents that lack daily access to clean drinking water, yet it recently became the first state in the US to declare water a human right through the passage of 2013 Assembly Bill 685. The majority of water quality violations take place in the rural San Joaquin Valley in unincorporated, low-income communities, which have difficulties accessing clean, drinking water due to issues including quality, affordability, and physical availability. The role of community participation in improving water poverty has been studied extensively in developing countries but its impact is infrequently …

We Get To Carry Each Other: Using The Musical Activism Of U2 As Framework For An Engaged Spirituality And Community Engagement Course, Marshall Welch

Engaging Pedagogies in Catholic Higher Education (EPiCHE)

This article describes a January term community engagement service-learning course that used the musical and spiritually-based activism of the rock group U2 as an example of engaged spirituality using activism and advocacy. In addition to learning about the history, music, and activism of the band, students were taught a specific set of skills for activism, advocacy, and community organizing that included creating goal statements, developing and implementing action plans, and coordinating logistics for advocacy-based events on campus. Students were assigned to apply these skills as the service-learning component of the course. These activities were conceptualized as indirect service that reflected …

Interfacing Catholic Social Meanings, Sociology, Self, And Pedagogical Practices, Daniel J. Myers, Andrew J. Weigert

Engaging Pedagogies in Catholic Higher Education (EPiCHE)

What connects Catholic Social Tradition with Sociology? How do each inform the other and how do they, together, flow through and animate the sociologist? Within a student-driven learning community pedagogy, this course builds on the humanistic aspects of Sociology as a scientific perspective a la Peter Berger’s Invitation to Sociology. This foundation is then filtered through a social psychological understanding of self with a sense of vocation through which persons’ deepest passions meets humans’ greatest needs. Biographical vignettes of sociologists’ careers of study that address issues of racial and gender inequalities and psycho-social shifts in values over the life course …

Journey Into Shame: Implications For Justice Pedagogies, Roger C. Bergman

Engaging Pedagogies in Catholic Higher Education (EPiCHE)

Being formed for justice can be a painful experience. Sometimes that pain takes the form of shame and contributes to the formation and exercise of conscience. But shame in other forms can be opposed to human flourishing and social justice. Psychologist James Fowler provides a spectrum of two forms of healthy shame and four forms of unhealthy shame, to which the author adds four other varieties, strategic shame and spiritual shame, at one end of the spectrum, and murderous shame and genocidal shame, at the other. Various experiences of shame are dramatically illustrated in Black Like Me, John Howard …

Prophetic Imagination: Confronting The New Jim Crow & Income Inequality In America, Cornel West

Engaging Pedagogies in Catholic Higher Education (EPiCHE)

On October 11, 2014, Cornel West delivered the keynote address to nearly 600 students at the regional Leadership & Social Justice Conference, hosted at Saint Mary’s College of California. The conference occurred two days before West was arrested in Ferguson, Missouri, during a demonstration to protest the killing of young Black men by White police officers, as in the case of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson. Speaking of the students, West said, "I would like to see these precious young people commit themselves to lives of integrity, honesty and decency, where they are vigilant against all forms of evil—White supremacists, …

Chronic Physical Health Conditions Among Homeless, Nooshin Nikoo, Marjan Motamed, Mohammad Ali Nikoo, Verena Strehlau, Erika Neilson, Sahoo Saddicha, Michael Krausz

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

ABSTRACT

Objective: Morbidity and mortality among homeless individuals is higher than the general population. This study aims to determine the prevalence of current self-reported, chronic physical health conditions in a large sample of homeless people with sub-samples from shelters and street in British Columbia, Canada. Methods: Cross-sectional survey applying modified version of the ‘National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients (NSHAPC)’ questionnaire in multiple sites in Vancouver, Victoria and Prince George, British Columbia, Canada. Sample: Five hundred homeless individuals were surveyed between May and September of 2009. A person was defined as homeless if he/she had a …

Tunisia’S Young Islamists: Religious Or Revolutionary Zealots?, Sawyer French

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Ennahda’s many compromises during Tunisia’s transition have prompted assessments that the party has alienated its base, especially by not taking more traditionally Islamist stances on issues like sharī‘a. This paper draws on interviews with young Tunisian Islamists and assesses how they have responded to Ennahda’s compromises. Although some young Islamists are disappointed that Ennahda did not pursue more hard-line Islamist stances, many actually share the leadership’s progressive position on certain religious issues. Interestingly, young Islamists were far more angered by Ennahda’s compromises on ‘revolutionary’ issues than they were by its compromises on ‘religious’ ones. This paper ultimately argues that …

A Behavioral Analysis Of The Pre-Release Tasmanian Devils (Sarcophilus Harrisii) Currently At Devils@Cradle: An Assessment Of The Impacts Of Captivity On The Wild Behaviors Of Tasmanian Devils That Are Important For Their Reintroduction, Survival, And Inclusion In Wild Populations, Anna Staudenmaier

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Tasmanian devil, Sarcophilus harrisi, is in danger of extinction in the wild due to the emergence of Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD). In an attempt to save the species the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program (STTDP) has initiated the creation of an ‘Insurance Population’. These insurance animals are a part of the captive breeding population (CBP) designed to conserve the genetic diversity of the species to preserve their ecological function for their future reintroduction into the wild. CBPs are located at various bio-secure zoos, wildlife parks, free-range enclosures (FREs), Tasmanian islands and peninsulas and sanctuaries like Devils@Cradle - Tasmanian …

La Presencia De La Memoria Histórica Y Derechos Humanos En El Sistema Educativo: Una Comparación De Chile Y Argentina, Morgan Cowie-Haskell

Chile: Comparative Education and Social Change

Este estudio indaga la presencia y inclusión de memoria histórica y derechos humanos acerca de las últimas dictaduras dentro de los sistemas educativos en Argentina y Chile. Se discuten los sistemas educativos de cada país en sus contextos históricos, políticos, sociales y económicos. Luego, se une aquellos contextos con la incorporación y el valor de memoria y derechos humanos en la educación secundaria hoy en día. Se basa en fuentes académicas, las organizaciones derechos humanos, los sitios de memoria, los currículos de los Ministerios de Educación, y la contribución de opiniones profesionales tal como profesores, directores del colegios y trabajadores …

Storytelling As Self-Empowerment: A Case Study Of Avega Beneficiaries In Post-Genocide Rwanda, Lauren Garretson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project is an assessment of the effectiveness of storytelling as a mechanism of self-empowerment in the context of post-genocide Rwanda. It concentrates on the effects of the storytelling that is done by female survivors of the 1994 genocide within one Rwandan organization, AVEGA Agahozo.[1] The research project aim is to understand how these women in contemporary Rwanda try to counter their oppression through the stories they tell others about themselves and reclaim agency over their own lives. I examine the possibilities for, and limitations of, storytelling as a means of self-empowerment for these women to counter the unjust …

Peace Building Through Education Reforms Case Study: Objectives And Philosophy Of Jordanian Educational System, Megan Mckeown

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the field of peacebuilding, education reform is the most tangible way to propel forward and build positive change. Access to schooling is not the only factor that will eradicate structural violence and inequality in our world. This can be seen with violence and inequality increasing even though educational enrollment has reached upwards of 90% in developing areas. We must begin a movement to learn from educational systems already in place, to pinpoint their strengths and expand on them, discover possible themes to change, and suggest diverse avenues to overcome obstacles for achieving social justice and peace. The ensuing research …

The Jordanian Attitude Towards The Women’S Quota System, Aida Woldegiorgis

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study evaluates the relationship between women and politics in Jordan: more specifically it will look at (1) the attitudes of Jordanians on the the positions of women in the Jordanian assembly, (2) the challenges that women face in the Jordanian Council, and (3) the extent to which people agree or disagree with the Parliament’s quota system. I hypothesized that the attitudes of Jordanians from the public perspective will be supportive of women entering into Parliament and most Jordanian citizens will be in support of the quota system. I also hypothesized that women from Jordan that chose to enter into …

Traditional Ecological Knowledge And Sustainable Food Sourcing: Dayutang Village, Hani Rice Terraces, Nina Whittaker

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Reflecting on the importance of dynamic agricultural management techniques in addressing climate change and food security, this paper examines the Hani rice terraces of southern Yunnan as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS). It identifies local inhabitants’ traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) as a key source of their success, and uses research conducted in Dayutang Village, Yuanyang County from May 4- June 2, 2015 through participative observation and guided conversation to explore the role of Hani TEK in sustainable food sourcing around the village. The TEK used in food sourcing in Dayutang is shown not only to provide villagers with …

Effect Of Females In Leadership Roles On Menstrual Sanitation In Rural Jamkhed, India, Kirsten Hughes

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Introduction: Menstruation is integral to puberty and maturation of adolescent girls. Education about menstruation and menstrual hygiene effects a woman’s physical and psychosocial health through the majority of her life.

Purpose: This study seeks to answer the following questions: Who is providing information to girls before or after their first menstruation? Is this information timely, appropriate and accurate? Is the information effective enough to see changes in menstrual practices through a family and community? In answering these questions, the study attempts to determine the pathways of communications regarding menstruation and menstrual health in the Jamkhed area of the Ahmednagar district …

Huggies, High-Fives, And Huismannen: Exploring The Masculinity And Everyday Experiences Of Dutch Stay-At-Home Fathers, Courtney C. Grey

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This qualitative research study explores Dutch stay-at-home fathers, or “huismannen,” and their everyday experiences with their role and their own masculinity. There has been much research conducted on stay-at-home fathers within other countries and cultures, but the current research significantly lacks the perspective and voices of those within the Dutch culture. To gather these voices, oral history interviews were conducted with five Dutch huismannen, and the collected data were analyzed using gender theory focused on masculinity and current relevant literature. This analysis led to the conclusion that Dutch stay-at-home fathers create and conform to a complicit masculine identity. …

The Traumatic State Of Psychology: An Investigation Of The Challenges Psychologists Face When Aiming To Help Trauma Survivors In Post-Apartheid South Africa, Rohan Arcot

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project will sought to investigate the difficult role that psychologists play in post-apartheid South Africa, particularly when they are trying to create meaningful change for trauma survivors from the apartheid era. Many survivors found the results of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) unsatisfactory, and thus still suffer from trauma (Kagee, Naidoo, & Van Wyk, 2013). There is a clear need in the present society of South Africa for a system which helps these trauma survivors find reconciliation and make peace with the atrocities of the past. Part of this system is the counseling psychologists that focus on the …

Permanence And Picnic Tables Perceptions Of Maji Safi Group’S Disease Prevention Center At Shirati Kmt District Designated Hospital, Sarah Muskin

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study conducted in Shirati village in the Rorya District of the Mara Region of Tanzania analyzed perspectives on the effectiveness of Maji Safi Group’s Disease Prevention Center at Shirati KMT District Designated Hospital. It took place from April 9th- 24th 2015. The sample frame was those affiliated with or using the Disease Prevention Centers resources. The sample populations were medical professional employed at Shirati Hospital (n = 15), Community Health Workers (n = 11) (CHWs) working for Maji Safi Group, and visitors (n = 113) to the Disease Prevention Center. This study utilized three main methods for data collection: …

Analysis Of Traditional Medicine In Zanzibar, Tanzania, Jessica Baylor

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Traditional medicine is used as a major source of health care in developing countries. A small island off the coast of Tanzania, Zanzibar has traditional medicine embedded in its culture. Informal interviews of community members and healers in four different villages as well as interviews with the Department of Forestry and the Traditional and Alternative Medicine Unit were conducted over a four week study. This study found that community members of four villages in Zanzibar supported the idea of a regulation of traditional medicine by the government. It also found that the majority of traditional medicine users have noticed a …

Tipping Point: A Study Of Tourism And Development In Cizhong, Collin Bradley

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Over the past few decades, development in rural areas of China has been increasing rapidly due in large part to the growth of tourism throughout the country. My project analyzes this phenomenon using Cizhong, a Tibetan Catholic village in northwestern Yunnan, as a case study. Since 2006, the popularity of Cizhong as a tourist destination has grown slowly. However, thanks to recent government policies enacted to increase tourism and development in the area, this village is on the verge of experiencing extremely rapid growth. Over the course of three weeks, extensive participant observation was combined with nearly a dozen informal …

Herbs, Home Medicine, And Self-Reliance: A Study On The Current Status Of Traditional Home Medicine In Idukki District, Kerala, Richard Gaunt

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Home medical knowledge, or knowledge of how one’s surroundings can be used to maintain and restore health, can be an important tool for health self-sufficiency in rural places as well as for the ecological conservation of important plants and natural materials. The Indian state of Kerala has a rich heritage of traditional medicine, found in the historically inter-related forms of codified Ayurveda and folk knowledge. In Idukki district, a region of Kerala nestled in the hills of the Western Ghats, rural households engage in small-scale home-gardening and agroforestry, which in addition to providing nutritionally diverse food is a source of …

Ouch, That Hurts: Childbirth-Related Pain Management And The Inappropriate Replacement Of Traditional Obstetrical Knowledge In Kumaon, Uttarakhand, India, Sabrina Zionts

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Throughout India, obstetrical knowledge and practice has been developed and passed down by generations of women. In many Indian societies, traditional birth attendants, or dais, remain the gatekeepers of childbirth-related knowledge. Yet with the push towards institutional delivery, traditional knowledge and practices are being increasingly replaced with modern and Western ones. While the trend of hospital deliveries has yielded positive health outcomes, its socio-cultural consequences remain unclear. Situated in Uttarakhand’s Kumaon Himalayas, this study employs a bio-social framework and begins to reveal these consequences. Using labor pain management as an entry point, this study argues that the push towards institutional …

Placeness: Mongolia A Call For The Creation Of A Human Impact Assessment, C. Winston Kies

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Sense of place, place-­‐based identities, and “placeness” are fundamental ways through which human beings understand their physical place in the world. The means by which most Mongolians—and indeed most human beings—strive for placeness is fairly simple. First, one decides what location will become their place. Their place may be predetermined (i.e. a birthplace) or chosen (based on the wildlife, the scenery, the neighborhood, etc.). Once one has a place, sense of place necessarily follows. One’s place becomes the standard by which locations are understood, and by which one understands oneself. The latter process constitutes the formation of place-­‐based identities, which …

Perceptions Of Potable Water In Rajasthan’S Jodhpur And Barmer Districts, Melissa Spross

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper looks at differences and similarities in various populations’ perceptions of safe drinking water (SDW) within Rajasthan (RJ), India, developing suggestions for future initiatives addressing the movement for safe drinking water for all. For this study, surveys were used; the survey was conducted in RJ, India, both in urban Jodhpur and in surrounding rural villages. To analyze the data, all the responses were entered into Excel format to discover patterns, themes and trends within four subtopics: access, storage, quality and cultural significance. The responses indicate that while a distinct water culture spans the geographic area, each different population retains …

Ulaanbaatar’S Ger District Issues: Changes And Attitudes, David Engel

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Several of Ulaanbaatar’s current issues are directly related to Ulaanbaatar’s sprawling Ger District. The Ger District is home to approximately 736,000 residents, 61% of Ulaanbaatar’s population (Galimbyek, 2015). The significant growth in Ulaanbaatar is shown by its 52.8% of residents who were born outside of the city, the majority of migrants moving into the Ger District due to a lack of housing. (Chilkhaasuren & Baasankhuu, 2012). The development of Ulaanbaatar has not kept up with the rapid growth leading to inadequate infrastructure in much of the Ger District. In turn, inadequate infrastructure has lead to high pollution levels, negatively affecting …

Western Farmers’ Markets In Kathmandu: Vendor Perspectives, Caroline Saunders

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study seeks to understand Western farmers’ markets (FMs) in Kathmandu by understanding vendors’ motivations for attending FMs; and further, their perspectives on the purpose and potential for expansion of FMs in Kathmandu’s food economy. In the US and Europe, FMs are often seen in the literature as a component of a social movement (SM) called the ‘alternative food movement’ (AFM) concerned with environmental sustainability and social justice within the processes of food production and consumption (Isenhour 2012). FMs, a type of direct market that offer face-to-face interaction between producers and consumers, are a site for the transmission of values …

The Role Of Productive Uses Of Electricity In Rural Development: A Case Study Of XẻO Trâm And HòA ĐứC Hamlets Of HòA An Village, Vietnam, Gabrielle Short

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Vietnam’s economy has grown extensively over the past twenty years; however, 68% of the population still lives in rural areas. The government of Vietnam has taken huge steps in the growth of rural infrastructure, specifically electricity. According to the World Bank 95% of the rural population had access to electricity as of 2010. This paper discusses how this electricity is being used in rural areas and whether the uses are aiding in the national growth of Vietnam. Productive uses, those which result in production of income, or value, are compared with solely economic uses. A case study comprised of surveys, …

Place Reimagined, Michelle Unger

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This book shows the creative process and final product of my Independent Study Project, conducted in Prague as part of a semester study abroad program. The project started with interviewing four Czech graphic designers who described places in Prague that are especially meaningful to them. After collecting and transcribing their stories related to their places of inspiration, I visited the locations myself and photographed the locations with sensitivity to the details the artists had emphasized as unique to their experience of the place. While at each site, I also photographed elements of the locations that I personally found interesting and …

La Radio Comunitaria: Hacia Un Futuro Más Democrático Para Bolivia, Katharine Norris

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Radio has been a companion of and crucial partner in democratic social change in Bolivia since its arrival to the country. Many of its inherent characteristics make it an ideal medium for communication of messages made for and by marginalized groups that are otherwise excluded from the production of and access to information. Historically, radio has been implemented in processes of progressive resistance to authority, in response to the oppression of the groups that community radio seeks to represent. This investigation attempts to understand the role of community radio in Bolivian society, with a view towards the democratic participation and …