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Effects of the Omrit Project on Student and Alumni Participants from Macalester College
Get PDFAs participation in short-term study abroad programs increases, practitioners seek to understand the effects of these programs not just in terms of increasing participation in study abroad, but also with an emphasis on understanding the effects of these programs on student learning. Some research indicates that program design, rather than length, determines a successful experience abroad; however, the literature also reveals concern that there is not enough data to understand the impact of short-term programs on student learning and that much of the available research is too focused on immediate rather than longer lasting effects.
This paper reports on a research study conducted with Macalester College students and alumni who participated in a short-term, faculty-led summer program in northern Israel, the Omrit Project. The Omrit Project began in 1999 and was designed and continues to be led by faculty members in the Classics Department at Macalester College. This research study was designed to understand the effects of this program on Macalester College students and graduates. The program’s effects were studied using an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach in which participants were invited to complete a survey, after which a number of qualitative interviews were conducted to provide additional depth to the quantitative findings. Study participants attributed to the Omrit Project substantial contributions to learning in the areas of disciplinary learning, self-awareness, cultural learning and applied experience. Results identify the program’s strengths as well as activities that are particularly effective in supporting student learning. While this study is limited in scope to Macalester students and alumni participating in this particular program, it augments the growing amount of information related to short-term, faculty-led programs and suggests areas for further research
FIGHTING FOR THE RIGHT TO BREATHE: EXPLORING PERSPECTIVES OF ENVIRONMENAL THREATS IN THE SOUTH DURBAN BASIN
Get PDFThe goal of this project is to understand the way in which community members in South Durban perceive the environmental threats that they face. I have contextualized the current environmental injustices present in the wake of the Apartheid legacy. I worked closely with the South Durban Environmental Conservation Alliance in preparing my questions and conducting my interviews. I conducted 24 interviews in three different communities in the South Durban Basin including Wentworth, Merebank, and Clairwood. Following the interviews in Merebank and Clairwood, I engaged the participants in a short participatory mapping exercise in which they highlighted where the pollution was coming from on a map.
Following my interviews, I transcribed and coded all of them while extracting pertinent themes. I found that all 24 participants perceived some form of pollution as the greatest environmental threat that their area faces. There was, however, variation among communities relating to the particular forms of pollution. Wentworth and Merebank community members primarily spoke about air pollution as a result of the refineries and other industries while Clairwood community members highlighted trucking pollution. All 24 participants also discussed negative health at a major consequence of the pollution. The participants expressed varying opinions regarding the changes they would like to see that would make the community healthier. These different attitudes depict the challenges inherent to the environmental justice movement
Why?-abetes: Understanding Diabetes Management in Rural Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa
Get PDFThis project will investigate how diabetics, family members, and community members involved with diabetes relate to the disease and its continued management in a rural area of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Although diabetes is an issue worldwide, it has been largely over-looked in sub-Saharan Africa. This study utilized interviews with diabetics, family members of diabetics, and clinic staff as well as personal observations to reveal the strategies, challenges, and stories of diabetes in this area. Conversations with local health experts verified that diabetes is a major issue in the area of this study. Topics of interest were support structures present; education; hardships with diabetes; diabetes management through medication, diet, and exercise; mode of access to health care; checking blood sugar; the use of traditional medicine; attitudes about diabetes; and the questions raised by the interview subjects. Education and support appeared to be the biggest problems for diabetics in this part of rural Kwa-Zulu Natal
A “UNIVERSAL VALUE”? PERCEPTIONS OF DEMOCRACY ACROSS RACE AMONG YOUNG VOTERS IN DURBAN, SA
Get PDFThis study seeks to explore perceptions of democracy among young voting age South Africans, and how they vary across racial communities. While perceptions of democracy encompass a broad range of topics, this study focuses on the more tangible aspects of youth engagement with democracy. This study questions what democracy means to young South Africans, how it plays out in daily life, how successful its implementation in South Africa has been, and what it would ideally look like in the future. Because youth engagement with these discussions will significantly affect democracy’s trajectory in the future, it is essential to understand young South Africans’ answers to these questions.
Information for this study was collected from open-ended interviews and informal conversations with young voting-age South Africans in Cato Manor, Chatsworth, and around Durban. Each individual that was interviewed about their experience with democracy had unique responses, and they each interpreted their involvement and relationship with the South African government differently. However, certain trends emerged in responses along lines of race and community. The meaning of democracy and its success in South Africa differed across Black, Indian and White South Africans. Furthermore, many participants across racial categories expressed a desire for a nonracial democracy in the future, but diverged on their specific expectations of government service provision and responsibilities
Social Responsibility and Enterprise: A Case Study of Les EauxMinéralesd’Oulmes Water Company in the Oulmes Region of Morocco
Get PDFAs Morocco continues its development efforts, one of the most visible disparities that remains is the divide between urban and rural development. Oulmes, a small town of under 10,000 people in the Khemisset province, is home to Les EauxMinéralesd’Oulmes, one of the wealthiest corporations in Morocco. While this would initially seem to be a major distinction in terms of opportunity for development, the area’s economy is primarily agriculturally driven, and by most indicators remains relatively poor. Les EauxMineralesd’Oulmes has a history of strained relations with the surrounding community following a 1999 strike of local workers. This project focuses on this relationship between Les EauxMineralesd’Oulmes and its surrounding Oulmes area by examining Les EauxMineralesd’Oulmes’ community intervention programs and conducting interviews to gain an understanding of local perceptions of the company and its policies. Through a series of interviews and discussions with both Oulmes citizens and individuals connected with Les EauxMineralesd’Oulmes, my research considers the evolving relationship between the corporation, local officials, and residents surrounding the factory and the implications of this connection for the future of Oulmes
Non-compliance in marine reserves: measuring the drivers of behavior among recreational fishermen within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
Get PDFThe Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP) provides outstanding ecological, cultural, social, and economic services to the number of communities that use it. Most of the park is regulated via a zoning system designed to protect its biodiversity and ensure the sustainable use of its resources (GBRMPA, 2004). Like any social institution, zoning regulations rely heavily on compliance in order to be effective. Recreational fishing on the GBRMP accounts for most of the noncompliance behavior associated with zoning (Arias and Sutton, 2013). Thus, understanding fishers compliance behavior is central to understanding how to best manage these areas. Using results from a survey conducted on recreational fishermen over a period of four weeks, this study explores the attitudes and beliefs of fishers on the GBRMP. It also uses data on fishers’ consumptive orientation and the importance of fishing to their lifestyle to determine if differences among fishers in these categories lead to different perceived social norms. Finally, It assesses the perceived level of the legitimacy of authorities on the GBRMP, and how that perception influences compliance behavior.
I find that the mean perceived norm among fishers on the GBRMP is that about 8.35% of fishers practice noncompliance. Fishers with a higher consumptive orientation tend to estimate higher levels of noncompliance than those with a lower consumptive orientation. Additionally, fishers who say that fishing is their most important activity are more likely to perceive a more compliant norm than those who do not consider fishing to be the most important activity to them. Finally, fishers tend to personally identify with marine parks personnel, and have a strong personal moral obligation to abide by zoning regulations. There seems to be a fairly strong perceived social norm positively affecting fishers’ decisions to comply with zoning regulations
Fish use of largely unexplored sub-tidal habitats in the Hinchinbrook Channel Estuary, Queensland
Get PDFThis study examines the use of sub-tidal open-bottom, rocky, and seagreass habitats by the Siganus genus (herbivores), Gerres genus (benthivores), and planktivores in the Hinchinbrook Channel Estuary in Queensland, Australia. The Hinchinbrook Channel Estuary, a tropical estuary cutting between Hinchinbrook Island and the Australian mainland, is surrounded primarily by mangroves. Its sub-tidal habitats are largely unexplored due to factors such as low visibility and the presence of estuarine crocodiles. In this study, I reviewed 699 underwater videos collected by James Cook University PhD candidate Michael Bradley in order to analyze feeding and movement behavior of pre-identified fish.
The results of this study show that Siganids feed mostly in seagrass areas but are often present in rocky areas, potentially using the rocky structures as protection and refuge. Gerres also feed mostly in seagrass areas but also feed in open-bottom areas, which suggests that while seagrass areas are important, even habitats that appear barren provide service to certain fish. I observed Gerres searching on the benthos in all habitats but did not see them feed in rocky habitats, and they were seldom sighted there. Planktivores, on the other hand, feed most often in rocky habitats and also feed occasionally in the other two habitats, suggesting a need to apply conservation efforts to all of these sub-tidal habitats. The videos revealed site-attached behavior (when fish remain in the same area for an extended period of time) mostly in rocky areas yet at least some site attachment in all of the habitats, again suggesting that all hold some importance for fish.
Understanding the use of sub-tidal habitats by these particular groups of fish is important, as they all are connected to other habitats like coral reefs through their movement and feeding, and thus the habitats studied affect these other ecosystems. Understanding these connections can help inform management techniques to maintain maximum connectivity and increase resilience of the ecosystems. I recommend management techniques including stringent fishing and recreation rules in the Hinchinbrook Channel and a reduction in agricultural chemicals used in the surrounding areas. I also recommend further research on other habitats and fish species in the estuary and similar research in other estuaries
What Does it Mean for a Teacher to Bring the Whole Person to the Classroom? Reflections and Strategies to Access the Authentic Self And Connect with the Energy of Joy in the Classroom Learning Experience
Get PDFSince I began teaching 10 years ago, I have been summoned by an energy, a vitality that is guiding me. Most days when I walk into the classroom, no matter what is going on in my life, I connect with an energy that makes my heart feel full, brings my whole body alive and fills me with joy. This thesis is an investigation of what I experience when I enter the classroom. I love the energy I have in the classroom. I don’t think it is special to me. I think this energy is available to anyone, if they are willing to do the work. Using the lens of David Kolb’s experiential learning cycle, I tell the stories of some experiences in my life, and what I have learned from them. This learning has led me to practices that, used over time, have helped me to access a vitality that has changed my classrooms and my life. At its core these practices are about welcoming the unwelcome parts of ourselves. When we can bring kindness to our darkest side, we become agents of peace in the world. I believe that any teacher can use this and transform their classrooms. I developed a five-week experiment for teachers to see if brief, regular practices could cultivate a sense of joy in the classroom. My goal was to offer small, easy-to-use, specific skills that practiced on a daily basis, could make a positive difference in teachers’ lives. In this thesis I share ways and practices that teachers can use to increase their personal joy and vitality, enrich the vibrancy of their classrooms and fill their students with self-love and love of learning. This is the fruit of self-knowledge
The Restoration Process: Lessons from a Community-Based Conservation Initiative in Tunkhel, Mongolia
Get PDFAs policy makers transition away from central planning, Mongolia’s natural resource professionals are challenged with cultivating community support for stewardship in a time of escalating ecological disturbance. Nutag Action Research Partners has partnered with community members and government officials in Tunkhel, a small village in north-central Mongolia, to develop local resource management capacity and jointly draft a Conservation Plan for a commonly grazed riparian pasture. This study is a preliminary assessment of the ecological and social factors influencing project implementation. Information was collected using a variety of qualitative methods including meeting observation, surveys, interviews, photographs, and a review of previous studies. Findings indicate that project success is at risk of being hampered by a host of factors including low participation rates, conflicting goals, time constraints, perceptions of resource devaluation, inaccurate ecosystem characterization, and failure of cross-scale collaboration. The case study offers actionable suggestions to mitigate threats to project success
Driving Away: A Macro and Micro View of the Prague Car Transit System
Get PDFThe purpose of the this study is to understand the rise in auto traffic in the city center of Prague since the Velvet Revolution and to use this understanding to make my own recommendations for policies I believe the city should enact to limit traffic in the macro and micro scale. The theoretical framework was created through observations of three specific streets and through interviews with urban planning experts. Although there are many different strategies for calming down traffic in Prague, the most important are to execute long term planning and to focus on limiting the numbers of cars in the city center rather than just focus on reorganizing them