Community-Based Research Commons^™

The Symbolic Creation Of Cultural Performance At The Walnut Valley Festival, Maggie Colleen Cobb

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Through two years of ethnographic fieldwork and 19 interviews, I synthesize symbolic interaction and a sociological framework of culture to examine the ways in which the Walnut Valley Festival is created and experienced as a unique form of cultural performance, one that is always shifting in response to the emergent cultural creation and reception of attendees. No work to date combines the dimensions of both production and reception of music festivals as a unique form of cultural performance. In bringing back the oftentimes ignored affective dimension in cultural studies, I use Griswold's (2004) metaphor of a cultural diamond, examining the …

Rural Centres And Immigration: Policy, People, And Applied Research, William Ashton

Western Migration Conference Series

Roles of immigrants in rural centres is not well understood. Research is needed to define a welcoming community, yet Steinbach and Brandon, Mantioba serve as examples of welcoming immigrants. From interviews, immigrant priorities are housing and employment. Recent research described rural housing strategies and pathways for hiring immigrants. Rural policy implications are also noted.

Acculturation And Crisis Of Identity: A Case Study Of Karen Refugees, Secil Erdogan

Western Migration Conference Series

Abstract: This study examines acculturation attitudes of Karen refugees who are resettled in London, Ontario. Deriving on the data collected from 50 Karen refugees, various orientations of acculturation are discussed and the correlations between psychological health, identity, and acculturation are analyzed in order to identify certain patterns that are predictive of integration.

Toward A Conceptual Model Linking Community Violence Exposure To Hiv-Related Risk Behaviors Among Adolescents: Directions For Research, Dexter R. Voisin

Faculty Scholarship

Purpose: To present a conceptual framework which accounts for the relationship between community violence exposures (CVEs) and youth HIV risk behaviors. Methods: This article provides an overview of existing research on the links between CVE and HIV risk for youth and offers a conceptual framework for clarifying how CVE might contribute to HIV sexual risk behaviors. Results: Increasing empirical findings substantiate that the links between CVE and HIV risk behaviors among youth are mediated by psychological problem behaviors, low school success rates, and negative peer influences. Conclusions: Researchers have identified the behaviors that place teens at risk for becoming infected …

A Web Of Connections: The Role Of Social Capital And Trust In The Formation Of Virtual Organizations, Paige Erin E. Maynard

Honors Projects

Many community based agencies engage in collaboration in order to solve community problems no one organization can accomplish on its own. One such form of collaboration is the virtual organization. A virtual organization is an organization that relies on multi-party, co-operative agreements between structural, temporal, and sometimes geographic boundaries. Looking narrowly at virtual organizations on the community level is one approach which allows for better understanding of why and how community based collaboration takes place. The objective of this research is to examine the extent to which virtual organizations are utilized by community agencies while simultaneously understanding the role both …

Exploring Student Perceptions To Explain The Relationship Between Physical Activity And Academic Achievement In Adolescents: A Mixed Methods Study, Megan J. Hylok

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

A nationwide survey conducted by the Center for Disease Control in 2007 reported 65% of high school students did not meet the recommendation that youth participate in at least 60 minutes of physical activity most days of the week (CDC, 2008). While research has focused its attention primarily on bodily health, growing evidence supports the benefits of physical activity on brain health (Ratey & Hagerman, 2008). Physical activity is important and many adolescents are not meeting the recommendation, therefore, it is important to explore the adolescent perceptions to understand which factors influence physical activity participation. The significance of this study …

Keynote Address: Community Health In Las Vegas, Camila H. Alvarez

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

New Urbanists present both a theory for strong community development and an architectural planning program for moving towards sustainable urban environments. They argue neighborhoods should be compact, pedestrian-friendly, with mixed-usage of housing and activities, and available public spaces. These design elements foster and encourage social interaction among residents which creates and enforces neighborhood community. I tested New Urbanism Theory by performing ethnographic fieldwork to assess the quality of neighborhoods in Las Vegas. Then I compared neighborhood qualities to residents’ responses to their neighborhood, neighbors, and quality of life from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area Social Survey. My results confirmed New …

Process Evaluation Of The Chicago Juvenile Intervention And Support Center, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

Researchers investigated the operations of a pre-court diversion program that provides services and supports to station adjusted youth offenders after contacting the Chicago Police Department but before they have been formally arrested and referred to the Cook County Juvenile Probation Department. The purpose of the study was to determine the suitability of the program for evaluation and to work with staff to enact any procedural modifications that may be needed to facilitate future evaluation activities.

Nebraska Immigration And Latino Issues Related Legislative Bills, Office Of Latino/Latin American Studies (Ollas)

Latino/Latin American Studies Other Publications

The year 2011 saw many Latino and Immigration-related bills in the Nebraska State Unicameral. View the OLLAS-created chart to read a summary.

Homelessness And The Mobile Shelter System: Public Transportation As Shelter, Laura Nichols, Fernando Cázares

Sociology

Those without housing often use public space differently than those who are housed. This can cause dilemmas for and conflicts among public officials as guardians of public space and goods. In this paper, we look at one such utilisation of space from the perspective of those who board 24-hour public transportation routes and ride the bus all night for shelter. We describe the results of a preliminary survey, observations and informal conversations with unhoused riders on the bus over three nights in one county in the United States. We found that a substantial number of the unhoused riders we surveyed …

Review Of Environmental City: People, Place, Politics, And The Meaning Of Modern Austin. By William Scott Swearingen, Jr., Jonathan R. Wynn

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

William Scott Swearingen, lr.'s Environmental City is a social history of how a place like Red Bud Isle and the larger city surrounding it could come to exist. Swearingen opens with the founding of Austin, and takes the reader through the ideals shaping its modern era: the battle between the twin paradigms of "growth" and "green." At its heart, the book tells the story of the success of Austin's green campaign: how "place" was created, fought for, and won. Not all battles were victories, but Swearingen points to key moments, and unpacks the slow process of institutionalizing broad environmental concepts …

Chenango United Way Community Partners' Performance Measurement Data: Utilization, Challenges,And Practices, Rebecca A. Sands

MPA Capstone Projects 2006 - 2015

The following study focuses on Chenango United Way community partners' utilization of data from performance measurements. It answers two research questions: 1) what the Chenango United Way community partners are doing with the data they collect from their program outcome measurements and 2) how the Chenango United Way can help community partners utilize the data collected from their program outcome measurements to improve programs.

Food Is Life: The Impact Of A Changing Food Industry On The Role Of Women In The Home, Diana Lay

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper looks at how growing food insecurity in Ghana, and Cape Coast in particular, is changing the role of women in the community. It examines government agricultural policy and its influence on urban communities, including Cape Coast. It seeks to understand the factors that women take into account when they prepare meals for their families and ways in which women are adapting to increasing prices of food and imported ingredients available in the markets. The research incorporated is based on the personal experiences of the author, interviews, and secondary sources. It looks at power dynamics within the community, as …

Homelessness: A New Culture Of Poverty In The Streets Of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Lindsay Lanteri

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

El problema de las personas que viven en situación de calle no es un fenómeno nuevo en la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires (CABA) ni en las otras grandes urbes de América Latina. Sin embargo, se torna necesario explorar las características que este problema va configurando en relación a la “nueva cultura de la pobreza” instaurada en el país y los vínculos entre sus componentes intergeneracionales y crónicos. Con un enfoque localizado en la CABA este ensayo investiga cómo el problema ha evolucionado durante las tres últimas décadas y además provee al lector un análisis en profundidad a través de …

Endangered Heritage And Emergent Ogogo: A Case Study Of The “Ulwazi Programme”, Emily Kwong

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Kwesukesukela, or “a long time ago,” there was a beautiful woman who lived by the ocean with her husband and two small children. The woman’s name was Mazanendaba. Although she lived a life full of happiness, Mazanendaba came to realize with time that something important was missing: there were no stories. No stories for mothers and grandmothers to tell their children. No stories to inspire joy and ease sorrow. No stories to enrich the mind and nurture the soul. Determined to find stories in a world without any, Mazanendaba left her beloved home in search of a new story to …

Review Of Hollowing Out The Middle: The Rural Brain Drain And What It Means For America. By Patrick J. Carr And Maria J. Kefalas., Peter F. Korsching

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

"Hollowing out the middle" refers to the loss of the well-educated young adults in rural communities of America's Heartland-the Corn Belt and Great Plains. Declining rural communities invest their meager resources to educate their brightest youth, thereby providing them opportunities for rewarding careers in distant cities. This further contributes to the communities' woes because it guarantees not only population loss, but also loss of expertise and leadership that could help them solve their problems. Carr and Kefalas's contribution to understanding the dilemma of rural communities promoting and supporting the loss of the best and brightest is through an in-depth analysis …

Review Of Weird City: Sense Of Place And Creative Resistance In Austin, Texas. By Joshua Long, Sally Caldwell

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

Joshua Long makes a fine contribution to the literature on urban places with Weird City. It is written in a way that makes it a natural for students of urban geography and an equally solid choice for classes devoted to urban sociology, community organization, urban planning, or public history. The book provides an in-depth look at the cultural landscape in a specific urban location. The book is well documented and includes a relevant and well-written annotated glossary of terms that is, regrettably, too short. In sum, Long has given us the sort of writing that appeals beyond the classroom. He …

Appraising Chicago's Homeless Policy: Interviews With Chicago's Homeless Population, Center For Urban Research And Learning, Christine George, Susan Grossman, Michael Sosin

Center for Urban Research and Learning: Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Ua23 Progression Through Partnerships, Aurelia Spaulding, Alive Center, Western Kentucky University

ALIVE Center Publications

Inside This Issue:

2 Service-Learning Classes

3 Faculty Incorporate Community into Work

4 Applied and Community-Based Research

5 Community-Based Research Programs

6 Volunteer Recognitions and Events

7 Student Takes Opportunities to Serve

8 Women’s Team Outreaches the Goal

9 Sustainability: A Key Component

10 BRIDGES Program Reaches Youth

11 Campus/Community Network Begins

12 Work Groups Set to Tackle Issues

14 HOTEL INC Provides More Than Meals

A Study Of Riders' Noise Exposure On Bay Area Rapid Transit Trains, Alexis Dinno, Cynthia Powell, Margaret Mary King

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Excessive noise exposure may present a hazard to hearing, cardiovascular and psychosomatic health. Mass transit systems, such as the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system, are potential sources of excessive noise. The purpose of this study was to characterize transit noise and riders' exposure to noise on the BART system using three dosimetry metrics. We made 268 dosimetry measurements on a convenience sample of 51 line segments. Dosimetry measures were modeled using linear and non-linear multiple regression as functions of average velocity, tunnel enclosure, flooring, and wet weather conditions, and presented visually on a map of the BART system. This …