The Roles of Ethnic Theater in Immigrant Communities in the United States 1850-1930

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries millions of Europeans left their homes to form immigrant communities in the United States. Much of the literature about those immigrant communities focuses upon problems such as their ecomonic [economic] hardships, prejudices against them, and their difficulties adjusting to an unfamiliar environment. It is equally important, however, to study the strengths of these communities, their rich internal life, and the institutions that expressed and sustained that life. One of the most significant and least studied of these institutions was the foreign language, or ethnic, theater

Assessing the relative poverty level in clients of microfinance institutions

Many microfinance institutions (MFIs) receive public support. In return for this support, governments and donors demand MFIs not only become financially sustainable but also reach the poor, or even the poorest of the poor. Effective evaluation of the achievement of these objectives requires appraising both the MFI's financial sustainability and the relative poverty of its clients. In recent years, several tools have emerged to assist donors in their assessment of the financial sustainability of MFIs. For example, the Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest (CGAP), which seeks to promote sustainable microfinance institutions for the poor, disseminates a number of tools that allow assessing the financial sustainability and other aspects of institutional performance of MFIs. Currently, no operational tool exists for measuring how well a MFI reaches the poor through its services. In order to gain more transparency on the depth of poverty outreach, CGAP supported research at IFPRI during 1999 and 2000 to design and test a simple, low-cost operational tool to measure the poverty level of MFI clients relative to nonclients. This policy brief summarizes the main features of the tool, how it can be applied, and what type of results can be obtained.Microfinance Evaluation. ,Poverty Research Evaluation. ,Poverty Research Methodology. ,Financial institutions. ,Sustainability. ,Microenterprises Finance. ,

The role of water in petroleum migration

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Comparing automated methods for identifying areas of critical heat demand in urban space

In recent years, urban heat supply has shifted to the center of attention of German energy policy. It is believed that heating grids are an important instrument for climate protection. For one, they open up a heat sink (i.e. a circle of heat customers) large enough to be able to take up heat from cogeneration, which needs a certain minimum scale of operation to be economically viable. Secondly, they allow the relatively easy tying-in of renewable energy sources. However, heating grids are not the one-fits-all solution. As heat transport is associated with losses, a minimum heat density in urban space (that is: MWh per hectar urban space) is needed to make a district heating grid lucrative (and, possibly, ecologically worthwhile – depending on the source of the heat). At the same time, given the nature of the heat generator, a larger area served may offer economies of scale. Opportunities to construct small and medium-sized grids often are overlooked, as information about critical parameters like heat density in a neighborhood are not obvious to potential initiators of such grids. This paper offers a comparison of methods to systematically search an urban heat demand map for areas of critical heat density. Urban heat demand maps are now developed by many municipalities; they are usually constructed using electronic cadastre data, combined with an energetic building typology into which the buildings in the cadastre are mapped. Some potentially interesting opportunities for developing district heating grids may be visible to the experienced eye; algorithms that automatically search over the entire heat map may offer yet more insights. As algorithms I apply (1) a tessellation of the city into tiles of comparable size, and (2) a clustering method used to identify hot spots with two different approaches. I use selected neighborhoods in Hamburg to compare the results of both methods

A study exploring the process of adjustment to the experiences of psychosis and a diagnosis of schizophrenia

A qualitative methodology was used to explore the narratives of participants about recovery from the initial experiences of psychosis, and a diagnosis of schizophrenia. A process of psychosocial adjustment to the experiences of psychosis, and a diagnosis of schizophrenia, appeared central to recovery. The psychosocial impact of a diagnosis of schizophrenia on this adjustment process was also explored. Factors that impeded, or assisted, this process of adjustment were identified. Semi structured interviews were conducted with 12 participants, six men and six women, who had received a diagnosis of schizophrenia within the last ten years. These interviews were audiotaped, and transcribed, and Grounded Theory was used to analyse the data. The results formed a temporal stage model of the process of adjustment to the experiences of psychosis and a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Implications for clinical practice and further research are discussed

How Youth-Led Grantmaking Benefits Young People, Their Communities, and the Philanthropic Sector

In this brief, we explore Youth Philanthropy as a model with the potential to make grantmaking more democratic, inclusive, and responsive to the needs of underserved communities. It is also a model that, if more widely supported and expanded, could contribute significantly to the preparation of sophisticated future grantmakers who share social justice values. This brief explores the landscape of youth philanthropy in the United States, providing concrete examples of best practices in youth philanthropy, particularly for teenagers. We review youth philanthropy's potential benefits for both communities and for young grantmakers themselves. We also offer recommendations to funders for how to best support youth philanthropy or how to expand and deepen their support for this growing practice.