Browsing by Subject "Community engagement"

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Academic service learning pedagogy in social work : exploration of student and community lived experiences using an interdisciplinary course model of community-university engagement
(2013-05) Gerstenblatt, Paula; Gilbert, Dorie J.; Walker, Juliet; Adejumo, Christopher; Lauderdale, Michael; Davis, King
Academic service learning has grown in popularity at colleges and universities as a way to address social issues using study, reciprocity, and reflection. While the merits of service learning are well documented, gaps in the literature indicate a need for further development of pedagogical models, qualitative research about students' lived experiences, and research focused on community partners. This dissertation presents an interdisciplinary model for implementing academic service learning in social work education, in-depth understandings of student experiences in a service learning course, and insight into the experiences and perceived benefits of community partners. The first article presents a 3-component service learning model that capitalizes on the structure of a university-community partnership, mobilizes interdisciplinary teams of students for community-identified projects, and integrates student, community and faculty reflection on complex social structures. Article 2 offers a phenomenological analysis of 17 blogs written by service learning students working in a rural town through their blogs. The findings of this study suggest that the reflexive aspect of blogging fits well with the service learning principle of reflection, and reveals the students' emotive experience over the course of the semester. Additionally, blogging demonstrates the attributes of service learning pedagogy to support the acquisition of knowledge and understanding of complex problems in a real life setting not attainable solely in a classroom setting or through traditional classroom tools, such as exams and papers. Article 3 consists of a phenomenological analysis of interviews with 9 community partners, a combination of agency employees and active citizens that worked with a network of service learning classes in a rural Southern town. The findings support the contribution of service learning to communities, the importance of investing in reciprocal relationships, and the value added of including community partners who are members of informal networks and civically active residents. The research presented in this dissertation informs the growing popularity of service learning in social work with findings that demonstrate a useful implementation model, highly meaningful transformative impact on students, the resilience of the community to challenges of hosting service learning, and the invaluable fostering of inspiration and hope in the community-university relationship.
Collaborative art making : finding the presence of peace within adolescents of the Amani community
(2017-05) Rodriguez, Nohemi Esther; Adejumo, Christopher O., 1959-; Bolin, Paul
This case study immersed the researcher in the lives of ten members of the Amani community located in Meru, Kenya for the duration of a month, during which she examined how dialogue and collaborative art making foster understanding of peace. In addition to examining literature on community-based art education, collaboration, dialogue, and developing perspectives of peace, the researcher conducted a collaborative art workshop centered on the theme of peace with nine adolescents. Through dialogue with the adolescents and the founder of the Amani community, Dr. Karambu, several themes relating to peace were generated, along with a “toolbox” with instruments art educators may utilize when facilitating community engagement.
Community art and public-school partnership : a case study of the participation of one public-school art program with the East Austin Studio Tour
(2021-05-03) Selinger, Sarah Belle Elizabeth; Adejumo, Christopher O., 1959-
This thesis examines the benefits for teachers and students when they participate in community art initiatives, especially the East Austin Studio Tour (EAST) in Austin, Texas. This study examines how this partnership can strengthen the bonds of the community and create a sense of place for the teachers and students involved. EAST is “a free, annual self-guided art event spanning two weekends in November. EAST provides opportunities for the public to meet the artists of Austin in their creative spaces” (Big Medium, 2019). Schools are welcomed to partner with EAST and participate in the art show case each year. This thesis focuses on Kealing Middle School's art program's participation. Kealing Middle School is located in East Austin. Interviews were the primary data collection tools used and interviews were conducted with the art teacher from Kealing Middle School, one student from Kealing Middle School, and the executive director of Big Medium, the organization that produces EAST. Data was collected between August 2020 and December 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic and social distance protocols changed some aspects of the original plan for this research and some forms of data were not able to be collected. The results of this study were derived from coded interview data and personal experience. Data analysis found that students are teacher do receive benefits when the art program partners with community art initiatives, including a heightened sense of community and a feeling of belonging. I hope this research can add to the field of art education and provide evidence for schools to partner with community events and initiatives in the future.
Community Engagment in Public Health Research
(2020-05) LeBovidge, Claire; Palmo, Nina
Community engagement (CE) is a collaborative practice between communities and researchers to improve the health outcomes and well-being of the community afflicted, while also potentially mitigating the negative consequences that result from the sometimes haphazard research conducted by outsiders. Presently, there is confusion regarding community engagement techniques due to discrepancies between prescribed models. To address the confusion surrounding community engagement, I created a consistent model that compounds current effective methods with ethical considerations for application across varying cultural and research contexts. I use a literature review to assess the different existing frameworks of community engagement for their advantages and disadvantages in public health research. Using this information, I constructed the new model with 5 major tenets including: prior understanding of community, encompassing application, involvement and representation, genuine consent, and self-reflection. This CE model is applied to a well-known case study involving a young Hmong girl, Lia Lee, who is caught in the crossfire of two conflicting cultures and their understanding of medicine. This analysis suggests that if the new CE model was properly employed, the frustration and pain in both the Hmong community, as well as the doctors treating Lia, may have been mitigated. While past health interventions cannot be changed, the way researchers conduct public health measures in the future can be adapted to implement community engagement as the default approach, instead.
Community-engaged dramaturgy : the role of young audiences in New Work development
(2015-05) Pederson, Meredyth Franzoni; Alrutz, Megan; Carlson, Andrew; Engelman, Elizabeth
Theatre for young audiences (TYA) is a field defined by its intergenerational audiences, and TYA artists have the responsibility to engage this target audience as active participants at all stages of the creative process. While young people have opportunities to act as artistic agents in the related areas of youth theatre and theatre education, where their participation is the focus of the work, TYA needs to further explore the role of young people in professional theatre-making spaces. Building on emerging scholarship and practices of involving young people in new play development, this thesis documents significant current practices and examines the collaboration between first grade students and theatre artists at UT Austin in depth. The findings in this thesis invite TYA artists and scholars to consider how intergenerational collaboration affects new work development process and product and create space for youth to influence the theatre adult artists create with and for them in TYA.
Connecting theatre for young audiences and community engagement: allowing the issue of bullying in Louis Sachar's There's a boy in the girls' bathroom to ignite dialogue and inform production
(2010-05) Fahey, Brian Carr; Jennings, Coleman A., 1933-; Alrutz, Megan; Bonin-Rodriguez, Paul
This thesis presents a reflection on directing There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom by examining the relationship between the production and community engagement developed for it. It details the process of connecting theatre for young audiences (TYA) and community engagement and discusses how the project that resulted inspired a dialogue concerning bullying. This document addresses these questions: What is the relationship between TYA and community engagement and how can they be closely connected? How can community engagement inform the production of a play for young audiences? This document explores how collaborative partnerships with student audiences and teachers inspired dialogue and influenced production choices. It discusses how participation in multiple community engagement activities resulted in a rich experience for both actors and audience. It includes a discussion about how the work might be translated outside of the university and concludes with reflective practices for connecting TYA and community engagement.
Doctoral thesis recital (clarinet (lecture))
(2022-11-08) Young, Abbey; Unable to determine
Lecture: Life between the practice sessions : meaningful community engagement through music
Engaging the community in community engagement : community partners, mutual benefit, and reciprocity in community-university partnerships
(2017-05-04) Khalaf, Jessica Mazin; Vincent, Gregory J; Green, Terrance; Gururaj, Suchitra; Pritchett, Katie; Reddick, Richard
Community engagement in higher education has continued to increase and adapt to the needs and changes in society. Through community-university partnerships, colleges and universities are able to engage with their communities through mutually beneficial and reciprocal relationships. While research has included the experiences of higher education administrators and faculty members in this engagement, few empirical studies have addressed the experiences, perspective, and voice of community partners in community-university partnerships. As a result, this study adds to the needed empirical research on community engagement in higher education from the community side of the partnership. Three research questions guided this study: (1) How do community agents define mutually beneficial and reciprocal community-university partnerships? (2) How do community agents, who represent community partners with the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement at The University of Texas at Austin, make meaning of their experiences in a community-university partnership? And (3) How do community agents’ experiences connect to their definition of mutually beneficial and reciprocal community-university partnerships? Through a qualitative approach using phenomenology, this study focused on the lived experiences of long-standing community partners in community-university partnerships at a four-year public research institution with an institutionalized community engagement division. Hearing the community voice in community engagement is an oft-cited need in community engagement literature. Using a conceptual framework based on complementing theories to understand community-university partnerships, this research study underscores the experiences of community partners through findings including: creating a community in community engagement; context matters; the need for knowledge; it is all about relationships; and contextualization of terminology. The experiences of the community partners in this study reaffirm findings in the extant literature as well as add to the greater focus of the community perspective in community engagement based in the academy.
Equitable algorithmic resource allocation : examining and mitigating racial disparities in crisis standards of care during COVID-19
(2021-05-12) Afriyie, Joel Owusu; Lee, Min Kyung, Ph. D.
Algorithms have increasingly been adopted in many industries such as finance and healthcare to make organizational processes more efficient. However, recent research has highlighted severe and harmful biases within these systems, which shows critical importance of bias testing. In this thesis, we evaluate harmful biases in algorithmic allocation and its disparate impacts in the context of scarce healthcare resources, and propose a group deliberation framework to design equitable algorithmic allocation. In Study 1, we empirically examine racial disparities in the Crisis Standards of Care (CSC) ventilator allocation schemes. Many scholars have raised concerns on racial disparities in CSC: they maximize survival likelihood, which may negatively impact nonwhite patients as they have a higher burden of chronic disease and disabilities. To our knowledge, there is no existing empirical evidence on racial disparities in CSC. Using Austin Round-Rock Metro COVID-19 patient data, we created a ventilator allocation simulator comparing the impacts of CSC and non-CSC allocation schemes on patient mortality outcomes. The simulation results showed higher mortality for nonwhite patients as they were deprioritized in allocation. The disparities in allocation necessitates the inclusion of marginalized communities’ input on the construction of allocation rules to address inequities. In Study 2, we propose a group deliberation framework where community members assess their individual values, deliberate on ethical considerations of racial disparate-aware allocation, and test the behavior and outcomes of the rules established by the group. This thesis makes several contributions to the literature on fair algorithmic systems, public health, and community engagement. It offers i) one of the first empirical evidence that reveals potential disparate impacts of the CSC, and ii) a deliberation framework on the inclusion and participation of marginalized community members in designing algorithmic allocation.
Ex arte communitas : accessioning arts and culture institutions and the creation, engagement, and empowerment of local communities
(2023-04-17) Thompson, Cooper Brock; Fuller-Seeley, Kathryn
Over the course of this report, the role that arts and culture institutions can play in the development and fostering of a civic society will be examined, particularly through the lens of accessioning their spaces and resources to communities that have traditionally been, and in many cases presently are, excluded from them. These institutions have immense potential to build, engage, and activate their local constituent communities and provide those communities with the spaces, knowledge, skills, and tools necessary to engage with both the political and governmental challenges that they face. There are as many degrees and means by which institutions can work towards this accessioning as there are arts and culture institutions themselves, however this report has identified three broad categories by which such accessioning and action can be achieved
Knowing your neighbors : an analysis of the social media app “Nextdoor” and human interaction
(2019-05) Patton, Emma Ann; Wegmann, Jake; Mueller, Elizabeth
The advent of technological advancement in the past decade has radically changed the way people communicate with one another, even those who live next door to us. The online application, Nextdoor, aims to provide a digital space for neighbors to get to know one another, and my study explores the effects of a geographically-based social network on the St. John’s neighborhood in Austin, Texas. Using demographic analysis, the racial and ethnic makeup of the geographic neighborhood was compared to that of the online participants. Posts on the Nextdoor app were analyzed and coded for the themes in their content, and a survey was distributed digitally to the Nextdoor community members to obtain rich qualitative data. My study shows evidence for a racial disparity between the geographic and online community and a fairly monetized community with the most salient theme being for sale and free. Ultimately, my study elaborates the great connectedness available to Nextdoor community members as well as the disconnectedness and division that social media can produce.
Mindful making : how mindfulness influenced one teaching artist's practice in a community-based after school program
(2015-08) LeFranc, Beranger Caitlaene; Adejumo, Christopher O., 1959-; Bolin, Paul E
This study uses a self-study methodology to investigate how mindfulness can be integrated into a teaching artist's practice at a community-based after school program. Through four phases of data collection, the researcher examines the potential benefits of mindfulness through three lenses: for teachers, for art makers, and for community engagement programs. As both a teacher and an art maker, the researcher was compelled to consider a more holistic approach to art education by engaging students' social and emotional skills in addition to those considered technical or academic. The researcher first participated in two trainings in mindfulness and then applied this new information to the planning and implementing of an art and mindfulness workshop at an after school program. The finds of this study identify correlations between the researcher's work as a teaching artist and her mindfulness practice, encouraging others in the field of art education to consider exploring this work and its benefits.
Nabil Yazdani Interview
(2021-05-14) Institute for Diversity & Civic Life; Department of Religious Studies
The interview is with Nabil Yazdani, a member of the Austin Baháʼí community’s Spiritual Assembly. Nabil talks about growing up in Suriname and his experience of moving to the United States for college, then settling in Austin. He discusses how tenets of the Baháʼí faith influence his thoughts and actions, and how they guide the work of the Spiritual Assembly. He also speaks about how the Baháʼí community in Austin responded to the pandemic both as its own entity and as part of the broader community.
Pouvwa pou pèp la : non-governmental organizations and community engagement in Haiti
(2019-09-19) Desir, Wideleine; Sletto, Bjørn
For decades, numerous NGOs, foreign and local, have implemented hundreds of projects in Haiti. I have interviewed a variety of NGOs working in Haiti to learn more about the methods used to connect communities and local government with projects in order to foster governance and organizing capacities. From local to foreign, small to large, every NGO documented here experienced different opportunities and barriers when working with community members and local governments on the implementation of projects. The following Professional Report identifies important and successful community engagement practices pursued by NGOs, but also reveals the lack of capacity building methods used in the projects described here. Based on previous academic research in the field of disaster relief and the interviews conducted, I conclude by providing recommendations for better engaging communities in an effort to build capacity within local Haitian communities and within the Haitian government
Project-based service-learning as logo-pedagogy : teaching for existential purpose in pre-college engineering education
(2021-07-24) Tharayil, Sneha Agnes; Borrego, Maura; Petrosino, Anthony J. (Anthony Joseph), 1961-; Oakes, William; Crawford, Richard H.; Marshall, Jill A.
The imperative for bolstering engineering education at the precollege level is usually framed within the context of improving U.S. global competitiveness but this potentially cheapens the inherent value of an engineering education and obfuscates the potentially socially purposeful aspects of engineering. Drawing from design-based research, this case study examines how a project-based service-learning (PBSL) engineering design unit contributed to students’ sense of purpose in life and perceptions of engineering. It takes an ecological approach in that it considers the perspectives of students, the teacher, professional engineering mentors to understand and outline guiding principles for PBSL engineering experiences at the pre-college level. Student perspectives on the PBSL unit centered around six themes: impact of the unit; affect; meaningfulness; learning; teamwork/collaboration; and, agency. Three themes characterized student reflections on purpose in life: notions of purpose in life; student purposefulness; career aspirations. Students also discussed engineering along two broader themes of their: engineering notions and engineering interests. The educators’ (teacher and mentors) perspectives on teaching priorities and strategies for the unit aligned along seven themes: exposure; messages about engineering; hands-on/physical experience; encouraging student ideas; room for mistakes and failure; teamwork; and involving expert engineers. They identified at least six positive aspects of the unit: exposure; engineering design process and habits-of-mind; authenticity; motivation and purposefulness; student ideas; and student accomplishment. Conversely, they also discussed at least four primary areas of improvement: facilitating teamwork; adhering to design specifications and constraints; involving expert engineers throughout the process; and timing. Overall, the findings suggest that student participation in PBSL engineering units can contribute to their purpose development by facilitating opportunities for socially purposeful engagement within a STEM context. Furthermore, PBSL engineering units concretize the socially purposeful aspects of engineering, subverting wider public perceptions of engineering as a socially-unconcerned profession. Future PBSL engineering units at the pre-college level should emphasize: student input, ideas, and hands-on engagement; process over outcome, especially the engineering design process; involving the community; and, reflection.
Shadia Igram Interview
(2018-10-23) Institute for Diversity & Civic Life; Department of Religious Studies
This interview is with Shadia Igram, founder and executive director of Muslim Space in Austin, TX. Shadia speaks about how her experience growing up in a close and vibrant American Muslim community inspired her to create Muslim Space. She talks about her desire to build such a welcoming community in Austin and to improve continuously on its diversity and inclusivity. Shadia also discusses her goal of dispelling the notion of American Muslims as others and outsiders within broader American culture.
Staging sustainability : an indigenous performance approach to development communication
(2012-05) Aluko-Kpotie, Oluwabukola Omolara; Jones, Omi Osun Joni L., 1955-
The process of communicating notions of sustainable development in rural grassroots communities in the oil-rich region of southern Nigeria, West Africa, is complex and remains an on-going challenge. The material consequences of ineffective communication between community leaders and their constituencies are evident in the Nigerian communities examined in this dissertation, where poverty is pervasive and where a large majority of the population can neither read nor write in English. Popular performances, specifically theatre, are an essential medium of communication and information dissemination on community development projects in these communities. Theatre for Development (TFD), as these form of popular performances are called, was first introduced to the country in 1975. Its methodology is an adaptation of the techniques of Theatre of the Oppressed created by theatre scholar Augusto Boal. The method is aimed specifically at effecting dialogue, encouraging critical thinking, and motivating the desire for community development and social change. A number of challenges, however, limit the effectiveness of this method in achieving these goals. They include funding constraints, which restrict the amount of time TFD participants spend working in any community and limit follow-up visits to sustain integral dialogues begun during a post-performance discussion. In essence, funding restrictions limit the possibility of achieving sustainable community development. To address this key challenge of time constraints and to facilitate sustained development dialogue between community stakeholders, this dissertation examines the use of indigenous performance practices staged by local performers in rural grassroots communities. By creating and staging a TFD performance using structural elements of oriki, an indigenous performance practice in the region, I address a core research question: How do structures and contents of indigenous performance practices create forums for sustained dialogue and collective consciousness awakening? The answer to this question lays the foundation for sustainable development projects in Nigeria and offers a practical way to improve the effectiveness of TFD as a medium of information dissemination, a tool to facilitate sustained dialogue, and a community development approach in rural grassroots communities in the country.
The activation of the social is the art : SUPERFLEX and the development of Superkilen
(2018-05-03) Voss, Michelle Leigh; Adejumo, Christopher O., 1959-
The symbiotic relationship between contemporary culture and public space is leading to new modes of creating and experiencing art. In this emerging form of artistic practice, artists directly engage with communities to create new work. Defying easy categorization, this practice has received numerous labels in an attempt to more clearly define the genre, including socially engaged art. One distinctive element of this collaborative form is the role of the urban environment, and, specifically, public space. This study explores how the Danish artist collective, SUPERFLEX, collaborated with community members in the ethnically diverse neighborhood of Nørrebro in Copenhagen, Denmark to create Superkilen, a public park spanning roughly one kilometer of urban terrain. Engaging community members with SUPERFLEX’s concept of participation extreme, Superkilen evolved into a constellation of more than one hundred curated objects from over fifty different countries. The result of many years of collaboration between artists, architects, designers, and community members, the site demonstrates how public space can be renegotiated in the urban context. This study also investigates the essential concepts underpinning the creation of socially engaged art for public spaces, as well as the implications of critical spatial practice and the activation of the social sphere in works of art. For art education, further investigation into the realm of socially engaged art offers avenues for exploring how art can have practical implications in society. Most critically, art educators can demonstrate how creative exchange can be a pathway for underserved groups and invisible communities to participate in the public sphere.