Art as an Act of Social Justice: Introduction to Art, Music, Poetry, in the Time of Social Distance

In this special issue in the Journal of Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Scholarship Art, Music, Poetry, in the Time of Social Distance, five contributors write about the impact of injustice and COVID-19 on their creative works and emergent challenges facing artists, composers, and writers. Providing a cultural and socio-political lens, the essays include images of video, poetry, and art to explore and expose our day to day lived experiences of the pandemic—from notions of isolation, normalcy, community, and distance to the larger impacts this has had on historically targeted groups

An Exploratory Study of School Counselors\u27 Experiences with and Perceptions of Asian-American Students\u27 Concerns

A study examined school counselors\u27 experiences with and perceptions of Asian-American students. Participants were 154 school counselors in 113 East Coast schools. Results suggested that Asian-American students tended to seek help for academic, family, social, and cultural concerns. Results showed that counselors tended to address these concerns by using Rogerian therapy techniques, directive counseling, and group counseling; involving family and social networks; being aware of pertinent social issues; and employing creative arts activities. Counselors seemed to encounter challenges to counseling that were integrally related to Asian-American cultural contradictions with current counseling models. Counselors reported student coping strategies that involved seeking social support, internalizing or avoiding problems, and acting out more often than seeing a counselor. Further results and implications of the results are presented

Breathing Dangerously

Smoke from the devastating wildfires throughout California greatly impacted air quality, but there also are other unseen pollutants that impact our everyday lives. Christine Yeh explores the hidden danger of air quality on vulnerable communities

Self and belonging in movement

Christine Yeh writes about displacement and new identities created through movement in There There by Tommy Orange

Radical Reckoning Requires Hope

In Volume 7 of the special issue of the Journal of Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Scholarship A Time for Reckoning: Reflections and Analyses for “The Sum of Us”, seven contributors consider, grapple with, debate, and reflect upon Heather McGhee’s 2021 book, The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together. Through cultural, psychological, historical, and socio-political lenses, the authors in this special issue contemplate and analyze how McGhee’s work impacts their creative works, community projects, and research. The essays span different settings - from the Arizona-Mexico border, to the US prison system - to different opinions and emotional responses. Some are inspired and hopeful after reading McGhee’s book, while others are more skeptical about the innovation of the work and cautious about the potential for tangible systemic change. These essays provide multiple frameworks for reviewing her work and raise important question to consider as we attempt to reckon with racism’s enduring legacy in America

Are We Greater than the Sum of Us?

In Volume 6 of this special issue of the Journal of Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Scholarship A Time for Reckoning: Reflections and Analyses for “The Sum of Us”, eight contributors consider, grapple with, debate, and reflect upon Heather McGhee’s 2021 book, The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together. Through cultural, psychological, historical, and socio-political lenses, the authors in this special issue contemplate and analyze how McGhee’s work impacts their creative works, community projects, and research. The essays span different settings - from the Arizona-Mexico border, to the US prison system - to different opinions and emotional responses. Some are inspired and hopeful after reading McGhee’s book, while others are more skeptical about the innovation of the work and cautious about the potential for tangible systemic change. These essays provide multiple frameworks for reviewing her work and raise important question to consider as we attempt to reckon with racism’s enduring legacy in America

Social, Ecological, and Multicultural Issues Related to Students\u27 Spirituality

Spiritual issues are integrally bound to students’ social, ecological, and multicultural worlds and represent important cultural assets. In this article, we explore the association between spirituality and students’ experiences in various social contexts. Case examples are provided to highlight the complexity and multi-dimensionality of students’ spiritual lives. Implications for counselling in diverse urban schools are discussed

Multicultural Training, Self-construals, and Multicultural Competence of School Counselors

A study explored the role of prior academic training in multicultural counseling and school counselors\u27 self-construals in predicting self-reported multicultural counseling competence. Surveys were completed by 156 school counselors from the greater New York City metropolitan area who attended a local school counseling conference. The results of the study indicated that self-reported multicultural counseling competence in female school counselors was significantly predicted by the number of previous multicultural counseling courses they had taken. It was also found that male school counselors reported significantly higher interdependent self-construals than their female peers and that higher independent self-construal scores were significantly predictive of self-reported multicultural counseling competence in female school counselors. The importance of having multicultural counseling courses represented in school counseling curricula is underscored by these findings

Exploring Place and Identity in a Modern World: USF Scholars Respond to There There by Tommy Orange

Using the novel as a source of inspiration, USF faculty across the university were invited to provide their research, artistic, and scholarly perspective through essays, reflections, or artistic pieces on themes about “place and identity in a modern world.