Urbanization and Air Pollution: Its Effects on Children\u27s Health

Heavy industrial pollution is detrimental to the health of community members, especially regarding the respiratory system. Even more so, these pollutants are hindering the health of individuals, beginning in their childhood years. As children are being exposed to such pollutants, this level of pollution can potentially harm the neurological development of the child. This harm has been associated with cognitive and motor delays, behavioral disorders, among other health issues. There is an abundance of research and data retrieved on the effects of urbanization and pollution on the health of children that are constantly around such toxic environments. The purpose of this study is to present an integration of data and analyses of the impact pollution has on children short- and long-term. Secondary research methods were utilized to gain insight on the impact of air pollution in the health of children. This study is intended to provide an overall analysis of such research and the potential methods of prevention and protection from the hindrance of the health of community members

“It’s Like Where Do I Belong?”: Latinx Undocumented Youth Activism, Identity, and Belonging in North Carolina

This qualitative case study explores how undocumented students in North Carolina navigate their identity, belonging, and decision-making about activist efforts. Drawing on fieldwork and interview data (2017-2019), we provide policy context and empirical evidence through the voices of undocumented youth about their everyday realities and dilemmas that being undocumented with the benefits from the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) present. We shed light on local resistance and the complexity of undocumented youths’ lives as they navigate their immigration status and find belonging in the local community of activists.

Using Color, Comics, and Creativity to Cultivate Comfort for Military-Connected Kids

Since the events of Sept 11, 2001, military service members have experienced frequent war-zone deployments, causing issues of separation, anxiety, and stress in military youth. As part of a 4-H project, a high school student and military teen developed and implemented an activity that uses art to allow military-connected children to express their feelings in a safe, inclusive environment. As someone who has experienced the effects of having a parent in the military, the 4-H student worked with a licensed counselor to develop age-appropriate art activities that are engaging and fun and allow military children to share their experiences. Using established learning models and curriculum development tools, participants will learn more about this lesson and how to implement and evaluate with military-connected audience. Although the lesson was specifically designed for military audiences, it appropriate and can be implemented with non-military youth audiences

Introduction to the Special Issue

To illustrate the commitment of the Center for Leadership, Equity and Research, we came together to develop a theme for this special issue of the Journal for Leadership, Equity, and Research (JLER)..

Oral History Transcript - Isabel Amaro Rodriguez

https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/spanishlandgrantsoralhistories/1032/thumbnail.jp

Skin Topography Analysis for Forensic Application

Skin topography analysis, especially fingerprinting, has been used with high levels of success in forensic studies to identify individuals. Since fingerprints are not always left at crime scenes, we investigate the potential utility of prints left from other anatomical sites as a means of identifying their subject. An image processing and pattern recognition code is used to identify key features in images of skin topography of the mid-anterior forearms, back of the hands, and underneath the wrists over a 1-2 month period. These features are then analyzed to determine if topographical features in skin other than fingerprints remain the same over time. Preliminary evidence indicates skin topography, not just fingerprints, stays consistent over time, suggesting that topographical skin prints from multiple regions of the body can be useful for forensic identification of individuals at crime scenes. A larger study including multiple subjects, however, is needed to verify these findings.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2023/1083/thumbnail.jp

Inspirations for Awake: Expressions of Trauma Through Fiction and Autoethnographic Literature

Awake is a novella based on true events in my own life. This capstone project addresses my own experiences with intimate partner violence. While it is inspired by my life, I chose to write a fictional narrative rather than a strictly biographical piece of nonfiction. Instead, this novella illustrates a few of the traumas that I went through from within the lens of a fictional narrative. This enabled me to tell about my experiences by crafting my memories into a story, without the pressure of submitting an accounting of them. Writing Awake has been helpful to me in that it led me to confront several of the issues that I have come up against while struggling to process these experiences and the way that they have affected me. I created this novella to share my story, both as part of the healing process for myself, and as part of my desire to connect with my community. This project has been inspired by many texts that I have read during my classes in the CUNY MALS program, both in and out of the classroom. By reading these works, I was able to see how one can share their voice, receive validation, and contribute to our cultural conversations by telling their story. A few of these works include Beloved by Toni Morrison, Bag of Bones by Stephen King, and The Parallel Lives of Women and Cows: Meat Markets by Jean Halley. I noticed connections between fiction, autoethnography, and the ways in which we tell about trauma. Fiction provides the unique opportunity to explore trauma with creativity, whereas autoethnography welcomes experimental writing but stays true to realistic description and often engages with the theoretical frameworks that inform their context. Each of these methods of writing were inspiring to me and contributed to the vision for this novella

I Do Activist Things Even Though I\u27m Nothing: A Critical Ethnography of Immigrant Youth Identity Formation in an Urban Community-School

This dissertation explores how Latino immigrant youth make sense out of their educational experience, identity, and sense of belonging in an urban, public high school. This critical ethnography examines their social interactions. The youth live in a segregated neighborhood that is largely abandoned by policy-makers and recently impacted by massive school closures by the district. The youth, within the context of a community-school partnership, advocate for immigrant rights, march in solidarity with their teachers, and engage in organizing to transcend their immigration status and/or achievement status. The central question is: How do Latino immigrant youth in a community-school experience identity formation in relation to community belonging? Across a traveling field, I interviewed youth to deepen the understanding of their identity formation as they encounter the community-school partnership. The chapters of this dissertation reveal the multiple ways in which youth identity forms. The analysis here builds upon previous sociological studies of racial/ethnic identity and its interaction with student achievement and moves away from cultural-deficit models as explanations of racial/ethnic minority under-achievement. In addition, the analysis here highlights the positive social identities that emerge for students involved in the community-school programs. This is a key contribution as it emphasizes the role of community-school partnerships on social identity production. In this study youth position themselves as agents of social change. Youth interpret community as a set of social relations across spaces, e.g. a protest at the Board of Education headquarters and an act of civil disobedience in an intersection. This study asserts that youth from low-income communities can transcend the labels from their immigration or racial/ethnic status, or their perceived propensity for failure. By highlighting moments of youth organizing and their articulations of justice, it is evident they engage in critical thinking beyond what their achievement data reveals. The data lead us to consider how schools often fail to reward social identities and alternative pedagogic spaces--provided through community-school partnerships--such as a protest or a service trip, but there exists cultural and symbolic value when asserting a particular social identity. The research offers insight into the disconnection between how institutional forces and policies situate youth and then abandon or intervene through false assumptions. I suggest we build on youth\u27s knowledge and assets