8411 research outputs found
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Shining in Times of Crisis: How Refugee Women Display Leadership and Transform Hardship
Full text linkAbstract
There are currently approximately 122.6 million people displaced globally (UNHCR, 2024). This figure includes 43.7 million refugees (UNHCR, 2024). Nearly half of them are women. This qualitative study examined the following questions: How do women manifest leadership and agency in refugee situations? Subquestion: How do women contribute to peace, transformation, and healing through that leadership and agency? Five different individuals who had worked with women refugees for at least two years were recruited for the study. Two data collection instruments were employed: a preliminary survey and a structured interview. The study focused on the lived experiences of refugee women within the context of the above questions. It was discovered that refugee women manifest leadership and agency, and in doing so contribute to peace, transformation, and healing in myriad ways, under a wide variety of circumstances, and with varying levels of support and limitations. They manifested leadership and agency by pursuing education and employment, participating in focus groups, speaking out publicly against abuse, assuming formal or informal leadership roles, carving out positions for themselves and places at the table that previously did not exist, and volunteering to help new arrival refugee women. Their contributions were abundant, fulfilled needs, and were impactful in large and small ways. Refugee organizations must continue to support women, particularly in the areas of cultural assistance, community, and healing from trauma. Additionally, these organizations must create space for refugee women to ascend to the top rungs of the leadership structures in order to fully embody and fulfill their mission.
Keywords: refugee, refugees, women, leadership, agency, transformation, peace, healin
LET US BREAK BREAD TOGETHER: A HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF AFRICAN AMERICAN CHEFS’ INFLUENCE ON AMERICAN GASTRONOMY
Full text linkThis Capstone project examines the historical impact of African American chefs on American gastronomy, highlighting their substantial contributions to the nation\u27s culinary heritage from 1619 to 2024. By employing Jessica B. Harris\u27s book High on the Hog as a foundation, the research identifies a critical gap in existing study abroad programs: the Black diaspora within the United States. The proposed four-week educational program aims to immerse participants in African American culinary heritage across four culturally rich cities: Charleston, South Carolina; New Orleans, Louisiana; Chicago, Illinois, and Oakland, California. With a community cultural wealth framework, the program integrates historical research, hands-on culinary experiences, and community engagement to validate and celebrate the resilience and creativity inherent in African American food practices. Through a literature review, interviews with African American chefs, and an extensive needs assessment, the Capstone outlines a curriculum that emphasizes African American foodways\u27 historical, cultural, and social dimensions, thus fostering a deeper understanding of their impact on broader U.S. food culture. This culminating project seeks to promote inclusivity and representation in U.S.-based education abroad programs while addressing historical narratives that have traditionally marginalized African American culinary contributions
Qualitative Tools to Enhance Data Analysis from Diverse Sources of International Education Policy in Order to Create a More Perfect Evaluation Toolset
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This project proposes a new protocol for implementing meta-synthesis as a research tool. Meta-synthesis allows researchers to combine data sets from multiple sources that appear unconnected; it allows data sets to be extracted from multiple domains and knowledge banks that present as being unable to be combined or cross-transferable. This project presents a protocol designed to guide meta-synthesis which was used to extract critical relevant data from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to inclusive education and inclusive work and rehabilitation policies and practices. The project shows with deliverables how, with this data in hand, newly aggregated extracted data can be modeled and turned into evaluation tools for use by researchers and policy makers.
Keywords: meta-synthesis, meta-analysis, methodology, disability, inclusion
Beyond Borders and Binaries: A Queer Look at Study Abroad Advising for LGBTQ+ Students
Full text linkThis study examines the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ students studying abroad, the practices of study abroad advisors in their support of LGBTQ+ students, and their alignment with one another. Findings from qualitative analysis of survey responses from LGBTQ+ students that have studied abroad in the past five years and interviews with current study abroad advisors suggest that study abroad advising practices can unintentionally reflect a deficit-oriented perspective, emphasizing risks and challenges LGBTQ+ students may face while abroad over strengths and resilience. However, advisors embrace equity-based practices that seek to address barriers and affirm LGBTQ+ identities within study abroad, even when faced with institutional constraints and new challenges under the Trump administration. The study highlights the need for inclusive advising that incorporates LGBTQ+ identity into all resources and strategies, an emphasis on resilience-based dialogue, meeting students where they are physically and figuratively, and regular reflection by advisors on their advising strategies. Findings contribute to a broader discussion of LGBTQ+ inclusion in education abroad and the importance of shifting from a risk-focused approach to one that centers on student empowerment.
Keywords: LGBTQ+ students, education abroad advising, marginalized student experience, study abroad, equity-minded advising, higher educatio
Flow-nalytics: A Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Capacity Assessment of a Menstrual Health Education Organization
Full text linkThis capstone project explored the monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) capacities of an organization in Colombia that promotes comprehensive menstrual education. The current contexts surrounding menstrual health and hygiene management (MHHM) globally and in Colombia, the relevant policy environment and the MEL context of MHHM were featured prominently in the literature review. Concepts such as feminist pedagogy theory and the term “empowerment” were also explored.
The project methodology consisted of a desk review, facilitated discussions and observed workshops with the organization founder, which used the pseudonym, Tenara. In collaboration with the organization’s founder, the author identified various findings, challenges and recommendations for the organization from these activities. These included revising the theory of change narrative and identifying challenges and opportunities for Tenara to strengthen its MEL capacity. Unexpected insights and blind spots for Tenara and challenges encountered while working with MEL assessment tools for this project were also identified.
Key recommendations included that the founder engage in further exploration and research on MEL practices, defines a program strategy, conducts further research for cultivating safe spaces, and incorporates important stakeholders in the organization’s MEL strategy. Tenara should also continue its development and adaptation of MEL products such as the suggested revised theory of change narrative and visual and logical framework.
The findings and recommendations contribute to the field of MEL in relation to menstrual health education and menstrual health management programs. Additionally, this project contributed to Tenara’s continued learning and understanding of MEL concepts and how they can be applied to Tenara.
Keywords: Comprehensive menstrual health education, Women and girl\u27s rights, Monitoring evaluation and learning, MEL, Menstruation, Colombia, Menstrual health and hygiene managemen
TEXTILE WORK AND ITS INTERFACE WITH CLIMATE CHANGE FOR QUECHUA COMMUNITIES IN PERU
No full textEnglish – Indigenous communities have argued that their knowledge, lived experiences, and representation are crucial to address the climate transition because their communities have adapted to past climatic changes. Although climate change and culture can be interconnected in ways that are unique to each community, little research is done on how cultural practices can be catalysts for climate action. In fact, communities around the world have sparked socio-political movements from within their cultural context to solve both local and global issues. Therefore, this research asks how the practice of traditional textile making and weaving assist Quechua communities with adapting to climate change. To answer this question, this research took a decolonial, theoretical, and methodological approach through Indigenous Research framework and Genther Theory. Qualitative data was gathered for one month and half from mid-May to early July 2025 in four Quechua communities of the Potato Park in Cusco, Peru. Auto-ethnographic reflections, four observation sessions, two participant observation sessions, and 12 semi-structured interviews were used. This research found that the practice of textile making and weaving can assist Quechua communities with adapting to climate change in three different ways: a) identification of how changes in the climate are affecting the animals and plants in the territory, b) documentation of climate changes in their textiles using colors and iconography, and c) identification and projection of present and future problems, as well as to how to address them, within the context of interacting systems such as climate change, agriculture, and economy. In terms of gender, hierarchies are present and pose a risk to negatively impacting the gender division of labor for weavers in the case of worsening climate conditions. A communication-based climate change framework was found through the practice of weaving and proposed for further development to aid climate adaptation of indigenous communities. By learning how weavers mobilize to address climate issues from their cultural, economic, and ecological context, this research is significant because it demonstrates how a textile work, which is a labor often relegated as inferior, domestic, and private, can be actively and publicly utilized to document experiences, understand the positionality of a community, and to adapt to new circumstances in a changing world.
Español – Comunidades indígenas han argumentado que sus conocimientos, experiencias vividas y representación son fundamentales para abordar las transiciones del cambio climático, ya que sus comunidades se han adaptado a los cambios climáticos del pasado. Aunque el cambio climático y la cultura pueden estar interconectados de maneras únicas para cada comunidad, se han realizado pocas investigaciones sobre cómo las prácticas culturales pueden ser catalizadores de la acción climática. Por esta razón, esta investigación se preguntó cómo la práctica del tejido y la creación de textiles tradicionales ayuda a las comunidades quechuas a adaptarse al cambio climático. Para responder a esta pregunta, esta investigación adoptó un enfoque decolonial, teórico y metodológico a través del marco de Investigación Indígena y la Teoría de Género. Los datos se recopilaron durante un mes y medio, desde mediados de mayo hasta principios de julio de 2025, en cuatro comunidades quechuas del Parque de la Papa en Cusco, Perú. Se utilizaron reflexiones auto etnográficas, cuatro sesiones de observación, dos sesiones de observación participativa y 12 entrevistas semiestructuradas. Se encontró que la práctica del tejido y la creación de textiles ayuda a las comunidades quechuas a adaptarse al cambio climático de tres maneras diferentes: a) identificación de cómo los cambios en el clima están afectando a los animales y las plantas del territorio, b) documentación de los cambios climáticos en sus textiles mediante colores e iconografía, y c) identificación y proyección de los problemas actuales y 2 futuros, así como la forma de abordarlos, en el contexto de sistemas interrelacionados como el cambio climático, la agricultura y la economía. En términos de género y en caso de que las condiciones climáticas empeoren, existen jerarquías que suponen un riesgo para las tejedoras. Se encontró un marco de referencia de comunicación para atender el cambio climático y se proponen varias formar de cómo este marco de puede desarrollar para apoyar los esfuerzos de adaptación para comunidades indígenas. Al aprender cómo las tejedoras se movilizan para abordar los problemas climáticos desde su contexto cultural, económico y ecológico, esta investigación es significativa porque demuestra cómo un trabajo textil, que a menudo se considera inferior, doméstico y privado, puede utilizarse de forma activa y pública para documentar experiencias, comprender la posición de una comunidad y adaptarse a las nuevas circunstancias de un mundo cambiante.
Keywords: Textile Making; Weaving; Backstrap loom, Climate Adaptation; Gender; Quechua; Potato Park; Parque de la Papa; Peru
Holy Grounds and Coffee Grounds: Tourism, Authenticity, and the Adaptive Reuse of Sufi Shrines in Tunisia
No full textThis study explores the transformation of Sufi shrines in Tunisia into café spaces that cater to tourists while maintaining traces of religious significance. Through historical research, site visits, and interviews, I examine how these hybrid spaces navigate the tension between sacredness and commercialization. Using theories of authenticity and religious tourism, I analyze how Islamic aesthetics are repurposed to attract visitors, often without their awareness of the shrine’s spiritual role. An additional case study of a shrine now functioning as a ceramics studio offers an alternative model of adaptive reuse rooted in cultural sustainability. Rather than viewing commercialization as simple erasure, this study considers how shrine-cafés complicate our understanding of heritage, authenticity, and the ways sacred spaces are preserved, reimagined, and lived in today
We Are The Cemetery of Talents: Amazigh Reality in the Anti Atlas
No full textThis paper seeks to explore a dynamic in which the Amazigh people of the Anti-Atlas Mountains are forced to decide between stability and success at the expense of their cultural identity. The Imazighen are deeply prideful of their culture and history. But in Morocco, being Amazigh often comes with burdens that disproportionately encumber this culture when compared to general Moroccan society. I will discuss literature on linguistic dynamics with the Tamazight language, literature regarding Amazigh art, and Pan-Africanist literature in order to gain a well-rounded insight into the Amazigh situation. I will then synthesize this information, along with some of my personal experience in an Anti-Atlas Amazigh village called Ikniouen, to create an argument regarding this dilemma of identity and stability. An argument that ultimately states that the societal elite, the then colonial French and current Arab-Moroccan elite, have intentionally crafted this dynamic for the Amazigh people. They placed the Imazighen into this dilemma as a means to keep the Amazigh people underdeveloped and to force them into driving their profit-driven entities. An argument that states that the Amazigh situation is one of oppression from powers that seek to benefit off the backs of the Imazighen\u27s suffering and hardship. This paper hopes to offer a different perspective on Amazigh struggle; hopefully, it is a perspective that opens up paths to progress and the realization of Amazigh human rights
Navigating Early Intervention: The Experiences and Impact of a Parent Coaching Model on Immigrant and Refugee Families in Rural Massachusetts
No full textEarly Intervention (EI) programs play a critical role in supporting the developmental needs of children from birth to age three. This study explores the experiences of immigrant and refugee families engaging with EI services in rural Massachusetts, focusing particularly on the implementation and effectiveness of parent coaching models. Utilizing a mixed methods design that incorporates both narrative and phenomenological approaches, the research examines how families from culturally diverse backgrounds perceive and engage with EI services. This study discusses what barriers or facilitators they encounter throughout their journeys with Early Intervention. Preliminary findings suggest challenges related to language, cultural differences in child rearing, and training in culturally competent and trauma informed care. This study highlights the need for more inclusive and responsive EI practices to better support vulnerable populations in rural settings.
Keywords: Early Intervention, parent coaching, immigrant families, refugee families, cultural competence, rural home-based service
Shimmering Mirage or a Promised Land? Climate Change, Agriculture, and Internal Migration in Sabha, Jordan
No full textGiven the rapidly shifting climate, high vulnerability, and low adaptability to climate related changes that rural areas face, this study highlights the complex relationship between climate change -- especially water scarcity -- agriculture, and internal migration in rural Jordan. I predict that if water scarcity is present and climate changes are occurring, they will undercut the rural agriculture sector which could contribute to rural out-migration. To study this relationship, I conducted a case study in Sabha, a small rural community in the Northern Badia of Jordan. Data was gathered by engaging in semi-structured interviews with current community members in Sabha and migrants who are now living in Amman. The information gathered in these interviews was supplemented by scholarly literature and government reports when applicable. My findings indicate that while water scarcity is present and climate changes are occurring in Sabha and that these factors are impacting farmers, they have not led to significant migration from the community. This is likely due to a combination of factors in Sabha including its agricultural history, the unique demographic of farmers there, existing social structures, and a strong connection to the community and the land itself. This research should prove beneficial for scholars studying climate migration and understating how climate changes impact agriculture in rural communities.
Climate change, water, water scarcity, agriculture, migration, Jordan, rural economie