Service to the community is a key element in mission statements of public and private universities. In the 21st century, higher education shifted by establishing community engagement offices and encouraging student community service through service-learning. Previous literature indicated that experiential learning increased ethnocultural empathy and volunteerism among college students. This study compares two experiential learning programs’ influence on the ethnocultural empathy development among college students at Mississippi College, a private, religious-affiliated university to explore how this empathy increases community service. 38 students were asked to complete the Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy (Wang et al. 2003) and were interviewed about their service-learning and mission experience. This study found that service-learning students develop more cultural empathy than mission trip students. These findings show that applying anthropological methods to evaluating service-learning programming can help understand how it develops cultural empathy and give insight into how to continue to increase intercultural competence among students.

In recent years, cities worldwide have employed various tactics to control homeless people's use of urban space. Yet such measures never fully accomplish their goal, because homeless people develop ways to adapt the hostile landscape. In so doing, they not only respond to tactics of spatial control but they also create their own conceptions of urban space that serve to compensate for the structural systems that fail or even punish them. Thus, just as legal categories of property ownership leave homeless people without access to private spaces, they in turn create their own concepts of ownership and continually seek to privatize public space. Whereas legal restrictions are passed that criminalize homelessness in order to protect housed urban residents' "quality-of-life," homeless people develop tactics to protect themselves from the dangers of street life. Just as municipal authorities remove various amenities and add deterrents to try to prevent the use of certain locations, homeless people are attracted and repelled by features that are often beyond the control of authorities. While social services are relocated to encourage either spatial dispersion or concentration, homeless people build internal support networks that often serve their short-term needs better than social services. In short, homeless people not only respond to spatial control tactics in a variety of ways but also create their own landscape that often frustrates attempts to control their use of space. Drawing on interviews with 60 homeless people in Tucson, Arizona, this dissertation attempts to shed light on both these facets of street life, revealing that homeless people constantly strategize to find or make private, safe, functional, comfortable, and supportive places for themselves in a landscape designed to exclude them. Findings indicate that restrictive urban polices aimed at controlling the movements and actions of street people are not only ineffective but also exacerbate the problem of homelessness. These policies have the greatest impact on newly homeless individuals, pushing them toward existing street community in order to access vital information and support networks.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Kansas, 1980. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 157-170).

The purpose of this research was to conduct a needs assessment for the city of Denton, Texas to learn how residents view Denton's aging-friendliness. The research design was based on the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services' Aging Texas Well Toolkit and was funded by a two year grant from that agency. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to gather data on six community indicators: demographics, housing, transportation, health care (including mental health and substance abuse services), recreation, and community supports and services. Input from city residents was gathered through focus groups, followed by a survey of the broader community in the city to validate and prioritize the needs identified. The research found gaps in Denton's aging-friendliness. Denton residents feel that although there are some services for the aging in the area, other services are lacking. The top needs identified by residents were a single point of contact for, and better communication about, resources currently available, as well as a need for increased transportation options.

D.Litt.et Phil. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

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The Analyzing 18th Century Lifeways of Anza Expedition Members in Northwestern Sinaloa & Southwestern Sonora Mexico project was the last one Dr. Dobyns worked on before he passed away in 2009. Richard Stoffle and his team dedicated the final report to him. Dr. Stoffle wrote the included obituary to honor Dr. Dobyns' contributions to not only the Anza study but to Applied Anthropology.

Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; / Thesis (M.A.)--University of South Florida, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: U.S. fisheries legislation requires National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to attend to the critical social and economic issues surrounding the definition and identification of fishing communities, and to the effects that changes to the physical environment and regulatory decisions can have on such communities. To fulfil their mandate, National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) sponsored the research entitled "Identifying Fishing Communities in the Gulf of Mexico" to study the economic, social and cultural status of potential fishing communities along the Gulf of Mexico. NMFS contracted the research project to Impact Assessment, Inc. to study 80 plus potential fishing communities in the Florida Gulf Coast. I worked as an intern in the research and visited the communities with other team members. The task of our project was to provide NMFS with basic profiles of fishing communities for NMFS to develop a culturally appropriated intervention. / ABSTRACT: Research methods include Rapid Assessment Procedures (RAP), semi-structured key informant interviews, participant observation, and archival and secondary research mainly for community histories. Apart from my internship research, I also conducted some additional interviews and observations for my thesis. My findings indicate that fishing communities along the Florida Gulf Coast encounter with challenge from increased regulation, "dumping" seafood imports and virtually uncontrolled waterfront development. By a comparison of three groups of fishing communities, i.e., "diminished communities," "residual communities," and "resilient communities," the thesis explores how communities respond to the challenges and encourages fishermen to take action to preserve their generation-long fishing tradition. / ABSTRACT: In conclusion, the thesis suggests that a solution to ease the decline of fishing communities requires cooperation of all parties concerned, including the fishery regulatory agency, commercial fishermen, and the federal and local government. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 157 pages. / Thesis (M.A.)--University of South Florida, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: This thesis describes an internship for the Department of Anthropology that was part of the Florida Health Literacy Study (FHLS) conducted at the University of South Florida College of Public Health, Department of Community and Family Health in the spring and summer of 2003. The FHLS implemented Pfizer Inc.'s For Your Health program, a type 2 diabetes and hypertension education programs, at 14 community health clinics across the state of Florida. The internship was designed to elicit the experiences of 10 bilingual health educators about their experiences and their perceptions of the experiences of their Latino patients with type 2 diabetes with the Spanish version of Pfizer'ts For Your Health or Para Su Salud type 2 diabetes education program. This internship examined the Para Su Salud program for its cultural appropriateness for the diverse Latino population in the community health clinics in Florida. / ABSTRACT: This internship combined the fields of anthropology and public health to provide a holistic analysis of the issues important to the Latino Health Educators participating in Pfizer's Para Su Salud type 2 diabetes education program. Through anthropological methods including in-depth interviews, class and clinic observations and patient satisfaction surveys, this internship found that the program was well-liked in the community health clinics and it could provide more culturally appropriate themes and food options for type 2 diabetic Latinos in Florida. This thesis makes nine specific recommendations for improving the appropriateness and ultimate success of the Para Su Salud educational program. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

This is an analysis of how young Latino men and their female dance partners communicate their romantic intentions while dancing, or perhaps through dancing. I find that apparent ethnic and class distinctions and levels of romantic interest affect the way these people dance, especially in three key indices of romantic intentions: eye contact, hand placement, and hip position. Because these intentions are culturally unspeakable in this context, talk is important mostly for its non-referential effects.