Social Justice Education as Anti-Poverty Work: Undergraduates Facilitating Culturally Relevant Learning Among Local Youth

This research studies social justice education as a critical instrument in anti-poverty work. The project specifically calls attention to how social justice can be implemented through literacy based lessons that engage students with hands-on activities as well as one another. Congruently, the project seeks to understand community partnerships by examining how experiential learning within college classrooms better connects undergraduate students to nearby towns and schools. Based on previous social justice research, there is a rising commitment to make education more universally accessible and applicable to all students. By grounding lesson plans in methods more culturally relevant (Ladson-Billings 1995; Gay 2010) to student life, studies (O’Meara 2017) have found that students are more likely to have long-term positive outcomes. Literacy based activities, in particular, have proven to yield higher rates of classroom participation at all ages by providing a platform for student expression at a personal comfort level (Cairney & Breen 2017). Across all social justice research, there is a call for experiential learning as a channel for critical reflexivity and identity awareness raising (Akella 2010). Experiential learning has been deemed especially crucial for future educators as the demand for field experience (Coffey 2010) grows. This research aims to further understand the impact of culturally relevant pedagogy and how it deviates from what we currently know about traditional education practices. This project looks to illuminate how educator-to-student relationships emerge when curriculum shifts to have a more student-centered foundation. Finally, this research hopes to further unravel the correlation between literacy-based activities and student expression as well as discover how these particular social justice based lessons contribute to the fight against poverty

Human rights, sanitation, and sewers

The human rights that are enshrined in most western democracies are based on enlightenment ideals of freedom, equality, and justice. Although these core principles are inspirational, their application has not necessarily been equitable or complete enough to provide for the stability, safety, health, and security of all citizens. A more modern understanding of human rights encompasses that which is needed to establish human flourishing, including guaranteed access to water, particularly the clean water provided by adequate sanitation. Without confidence in broad safety and health, and established norms for individual protections, it is difficult for a society to be stable and flourish.  Although this argument begins with political philosophy, it ends with a case study in Alabama, one of the poorest states in the United States.  This study evaluates the dysfunction caused to local communities and greater society when governmental organizations fail to provide sanitation and guarantee public health for their communities.Los derechos humanos que están consagrados en la mayoría de las democracias occidentales se basan en los ideales ilustrados de libertad, igualdad y justicia. Aunque estos principios básicos son inspiradores, su aplicación no ha sido necesariamente equitativa o completa para proporcionar estabilidad, seguridad y salud a todos los ciudadanos. Una interpretación más moderna de los derechos humanos abarca lo que se necesita para establecer el florecimiento humano, incluido el acceso garantizado al agua, en particular el agua limpia que proporciona un saneamiento adecuado. Sin confianza en la seguridad y la salud en general, y las normas establecidas para las protecciones individuales, es difícil que una sociedad sea estable y florezca. Aunque este argumento comienza con la filosofía política, termina con un estudio de caso en Alabama, uno de los estados más pobres de los Estados Unidos. Este estudio evalúa la disfunción causada a las comunidades locales y a la sociedad en general cuando las organizaciones gubernamentales no brindan saneamiento ni garantizan la salud pública de sus comunidades

Bioactive Natural Products from Monarda for Control of Tomato Disease

Environmentally-friendly methods to control plant disease are needed in order to reach the goal of sustainability in agriculture. Because diseases caused by soil-borne organisms significantly reduce crop yields, identifying environmentally friendly methods for control of these diseases is imperative. The purpose of the research described in this thesis was to determine the impact of bioactive natural products on disease control in tomato production. The specific objectives were: 1) to determine the effect of adding herbage (dried and ground leaves and flowers) of three Monarda cultivars to greenhouse growth media on seedling losses caused by Rhizoctonia solani, and 2) to evaluate biological pesticides (alone and in various combinations) for control of Pythium disease. Experiments were designed as factorials with two rates of herbage, 0 or 10% (v/v) and two rates of R. solani inoculum, 0 or 2% (v/v) with 20 replicates in a randomized complete block design. In a second set of experiments, seedlings were transplanted into a substrate-based hydroponic system, and commercial production methods were used. The impact of herbage from three Monarda cultivars, one isolate of a commercial plant growth promoting rhizobacteria preparation, and one isolate of the pathogen Pythium myriotylum (all of which were substrate additives), as well as two isolates of Beauveria bassiana (seed treatment), alone and in combination was tested. Amending germination mix with herbage from \u27Marshall\u27s Delight\u27 increased seedling height and germination above that of control regardless of R. solani infestation. Amendment with \u27Sioux\u27 did not protect against R. solani. In experiments with P. myriotylum, the pathogen rarely impacted fruit quantity or weight. Herbage did not increase fruit yield over nontreated controls, and treatment with B. bassiana reduced yield. However, there were significant interactions among treatments; for example Grade 1 tomatoes, treatment with P. myriotylium and B. Bassiana increased yield above that of treatments with P. myriotylium alone. Neither treatment was greater than control. Although additional research is needed, based on these results, these environmentally-friendly methods hold promise for disease control in tomatoes

A study of concerns expressed by new mothers & their relation to the role of the public health nurse

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit

Tools to Help Horse Owners Deal with Muddy High-Traffic Areas

Muddy and overstocked horse paddocks are a common sight at riding stables. The University of Vermont equine program has improved the conditions at the horse facility by renovating the worst portion (gate area) of the paddocks, thereby allowing drainage under the compacted area. After the renovation of three paddocks one fall, the decrease in mud and ice was so remarkable that the four remaining paddocks were renovated in the spring. A full-color pictorial guide was created to show others how the renovation process works

Effective Use of Community Partnerships to Maximize Impact

Through collaboration with community partners, UVM Extension has been able to reach and have an impact on a large audience at Everything Equine, a statewide educational equine event and consumer tradeshow. By partnering with Champlain Valley Exposition and others, UVM Extension is a major player in an event that would be time/cost prohibitive and virtually impossible to produce alone. All partners bring different strengths and resources to the event, resulting in a well-rounded 2-day educational and shopping experience for Vermont horse industry members. This event has also brought positive attention at the state level to this growing agricultural industry

Solutions for Financial Inclusion: Serving Rural Women

This document presents a CaseStudy for solutions for financial inclusion. Using Uganda as a CaseStudy, Women's World Banking set out to better understand the needs of rural women and to use the research and lessons learned there to make recommendations on the design and delivery of microfinance products within Uganda and throughout sub-Saharan Africa. The research highlights the specific gender-based social, cultural and legal barriers that rural women face in accessing and using financial services and examines operational challenges to effectively serving this market

Promoting Biosecurity in the Equine Community: A New Resource for Extension Educators and the Equine Industry

For biosecurity practices to be effective in the equine industry, they must be tailored to the unique challenges faced by horse owners (e.g., close animal contact, manure handling, and reliance on heavy visitor traffic). The Tools For Promoting Biosecurity in Vermont\u27s Equine Industry CD-ROM will help Extension educators with limited equine background answer questions regarding horse housing, health, and management. The CD-ROM also enables horse owners to evaluate their facilities in terms of how much risk of infectious disease they face and helps them design preventative plans to make their facilities safer for both animals and clientele