Asst. Professor

Dept. of Communication 

       When I first began teaching COM 419 (Mediated Communication Theory–one of our Department’s capstone classes), I structured this course around a semester-long research proposal assignment.  I soon realized that this project felt rather anti-climactic as a capstone experience; in fact, I recall students commenting in my course evaluations that the theory-driven material was “dry” and “boring.” As a result, I began working with Professor Ron Leone (who also teaches sections of this course) to develop a community-based learning (CBL) component that combined media theories, media literacy, and young people from outside the Stonehill community.  What evolved from this shared vision was a CBL component through which our students currently serve as media literacy facilitators at local afterschool programs. Since the Spring of 2009, my CO419 students have volunteered at Davis Commons, an after-school program in Brockton where they serve as “media literacy facilitators.” This partnership requires my students to create and lead lessons and activities with young people between the ages of 7 and 16, with the goal of encouraging the afterschool students to think critically about media messages.  There are several components of this CBL project, which I briefly describe below.

A Closer Look at the CBL Project

       First, as noted above, each week my students prepare lesson plans and activities that guide their visit at Davis Commons.  Their lesson plans relate to topics covered in our class (e.g., gender portrayals in media, television violence, deceptive advertising, Internet safety, etc…).  Our CBL program lasts ten weeks and I typically have three groups of Stonehill students visiting weekly for a total of 30 visits per semester. We spend considerable time in the beginning of the semester discussing age- and topic-appropriate lesson plans.  It is the responsibility of the entire group to give careful thought and consideration as to the preparation and facilitation of their weekly lesson plan. Each group is required to turn in their weekly lesson plan, as well as a reflection/evaluation of their performance each week.

       Second, throughout the course of the CBL project, my students create a media product that documents their experiences at Davis Commons.  In the past, CO419 students have created videos (one documentary; one mock newscast) that have fulfilled this requirement. Incorporating a media production component has several benefits.  Not only does it allow my Stonehill students to gain hands-on skills in the area of video production, but it also tends to spark the interests of the Davis Commons youth and motivates them to be active participants in our media literacy partnership.  Further, since I am not on-site at Davis Commons with my students, having them create a video project that chronicles their experiences allows me to see first-hand the wonderful work they are accomplishing at Davis Commons. 

       Third, a project of this nature requires consistent reflection and evaluation, both through written work and oral presentations.  Throughout the course of the semester, students reflect on their CBL experiences and connect them to course readings and discussion.  This comes in the form of lesson plan evaluations, a media literacy critique paper, a final self-evaluation document, the media production group project, and consistent participation in class discussions.

       Finally, as a way to celebrate the students’ capstone experience, the class coordinates an on-campus end-of-the-semester celebration for the youth of Davis Commons. This event typically involves a campus tour, a film screening of the CO-419 video, and a pizza party.  The CO-419 students are responsible for carrying out the necessary event-planning tasks.  In the past, this event has truly served as a “capstone” experience, whereby all involved (my students, the Davis Common youth, the after-school program coordinator, and myself) are able to celebrate our collective accomplishments and the benefits derived from our CBL partnership.

       During the week of November 8-10, our Mediated Communication Theory class took on the topic of cyber-safety with the children of Davis Commons, in Brockton, Mass.  We thought this topic was important, and had to be addressed considering the amount of time children and adolescents spend on the internet.  According to a 2005 study by the Pew Foundation, those in the age range of 12 to 17 had the highest (87%) number of users online (Strasburger).  This particular age group uses the internet differently than adults.  They prefer playing games, instant messaging, and social media sites, like Facebook and Myspace.  We broke our cyber-safety week into three lessons:  cyber-safety, cyber-bullying, and online marketing.

        The first group visited Davis Commons on Tuesday, Nov. 8.  They introduced the general topic of cyber-safety, discussed cyber-safety tips, and offered a hand-out for the children to take home and use the next time they surf the web.  Tips included preferred privacy settings on Facebook, and what information is acceptable to display on the internet.  For example, a child shouldn’t put their age on their on-line social media pages.  This makes them more vulnerable to be targeted by others.  During the discussion, the group found that most of the children are already somewhat safe on the web.  Common responses were, “We already do this,” or “My Facebook is super private.”  The Stonehill students were surprised, but it was great news to receive in such a technologically-savvy world where kids are constantly on the web.

The following day, the second group tackled the topic of cyber-bullying.  The group stressed to the students that cyber-bullying can be done through various forms of media, including posting a threatening status about someone on Facebook, or texting gossip about a peer through a mobile phone.  Much to the group’s surprise, many students at Davis Commons admitted to cyber-bullying someone in the past.  The most popular form of cyber-bullying was posting a vague status on Facebook directed towards someone, but not mentioning their name in it.  However, their initials would be capitalized in the status, so they could easily figure out it was directed towards them.  An example would be if John Smith was cyber-bullied, and a status was posted saying, “Just watch your back, don’t Sleep tonight.”  The J and S would be capitalized, since it targets John Smith.  We were amazed to find out this tactic, and couldn’t believe it happens among most of the Davis Commons students.  We had the children each write down anonymously a time when they were cyber-bullied, or when they cyber-bullied someone else, and then read the responses out loud.  Names remained anonymous, since cyber-bullying is often anonymous, as well.  Some of the responses we heard were surprising.  One child got suspended for three days because of cyber-bullying.  We hoped that after our lesson with them, the children will walk away wanting to think twice before they post something about one of their peers. 

At the end of our week-long lesson on cyber-bullying, we thought the children had a better understanding of the matter at hand.  However, many of them still may not realize how much cyber-bullying can affect someone, or how much cyber-safety matters in a world where predators lurk online.  In the future, we hope these kids will alter their privacy settings if they’re not already highly private, and make an effort to stop the vicious cycle of cyber-bullying.  Our lessons were a start, and now the students must carry on the responsibilities and actions themselves.

       This week at Davis Commons, we taught the students about Public Service Announcements. Since we make our visit on Thursdays and are the final group of the week, we first did a “mini review session” by asking the students what they talked about during Tuesday and Wednesday’s lesson.  The students reported that they talked a lot about what Public Service Announcements actually were so they had a good foundation for our discussion. They defined Public Service Announcements as a type of advertisement on some type of medium (radio, tv, etc.) that aim to raise awareness among the public about a specific issue and maybe even persuade the public to change their mindsets on that issue.  That being said, during our session at Davis Commons, our goal was to film our own Public Service Announcement.  A hands-on activity such as this is important, especially given the fact that media production is an essential part of being a media literate person.

       First, we asked the Davis Commons students what kind of Public Service Announcement they wanted to create. We asked them to think about certain issues in our society that are prevalent and important to talk about. We came up with several issues, but the one that they found most pertinent and that they wanted to film about was the issue of pollution and taking good care of our environment.

       Next, we talked about who would do what during the filming of our Public Service Announcement. From our initial visits to Davis Commons we have talked about the importance of advertisements and filming that we see on the television. Along with this, we have emphasized that in advertisements, there are a lot of people and components that are behind the scenes. Therefore, for everything that we filmed with the students, we asked them what roles they wanted to fulfill in the production process. For our PSA we chose a director, a video recorder and actors. All the students contributed to the script writing and the props/layout of the scene.

       The actual filming was a success! One of the students threw some trash on the ground as he walked by a trash can. As two of his friends approached, they told him how bad littering is for the environment and led him to the trash can to throw away his trash. As simple as this PSA was, the students took it very seriously and wanted it to be perfect. This just shows how valuable media production is in media literacy education. We are constantly exposed to advertisements and PSA’s on the television and radio. We sometimes lose sight of the fact that behind these short and simple PSA’s , there is a team creating this message—and it typically takes a lot of time, effort and consideration to make an effective PSA. Teaching students about the process of media production was very beneficial because it captures the attention of the students and makes them aware of the decisions that go into creating media messages. Again, this is just one reason why incorporating media literacy into a young person’s education is both important and necessary.  Being aware and informed from a media literacy perspective is crucial because of the amount of media we consume and are exposed to daily.

       Advertisers bombard us with messages all day, every day. “Buy this.” “Wear that.” “Eat there.” It seems we are constantly being told what we need, why we need it, and how great you will feel if you have it.  As our world becomes increasingly media saturated due to the 24-hour-access of portable media landscape, we become less and less aware of the sheer amount of advertisements we are exposed to daily. Even with just one click onto a website, dozens of ads pop up. And these aren’t just any ads. These are messages personalized to you. As consumers, we are under the microscope, as the industry picks us apart and finds new and better ways to captivate us.

       The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), a theory proposed by Petty and Cacioppo (1986), is a “cognitive processing” model that seeks to explain how persuasion occurs in mass media messages. ELM defines two main routes by which people might be persuaded: the central route and the peripheral route.  The central route involves highly rational thinking, where people scrutinize the message and pick it apart, which often leads them to challenge it and pose a counter-argument. This route requires a sense of higher thinking, which often occurs if the message conflicts with their existing attitudes or beliefs. Those following this route are more difficult to persuade.  Those that take the peripheral route of persuasion tend to take a “mental shortcut,” giving the message little cognitive thought or scrutiny. This route is strongly tied in with emotion, and the person’s likelihood to fall for persuasive cues, like the attractiveness of models or characters, the presence of humor or the use of a catchy slogan. 

        Which route we take as audience members depends on our motivation and ability. Is a four year old capable of scrutinizing an advertisement? No, because they don’t have the cognitive development to even differentiate between the TV programming content and ad content. What about a 15 year old? Yes, because they, at least, have the cognitive ability to understand that the purpose of an ad is to sell them something, which is more likely to make them view the ad negatively and not want to buy the product. But teens still give into ads so easily. Teens are easily persuaded by advertisers because the ads link “being cool” with having those jeans, or eating that cereal. Also, ad industries are very aware of ELM and spend a lot of time and money working to get around the central route, and reach consumers before they put their guard up and reject the message. This is why today’s ad campaigns are entertainment-themed and chuck-full of emotional cues, which overtake our ability to view it critically.  This concern relates to media literacy or lack of it. Without having that higher-ordered understanding of media, we become a vulnerable group that advertisers zero in on.

       Our Mediated Communication Theory class at Stonehill College works against this force through our Community Based Learning program with the after-school kids at Davis Commons in Brockton, Mass. The group of high-school students we work with fall right into that soft spot.

One week our media-literacy themed lesson plans focused on advertising and commercialization. My group focused on food advertising, which has recently been in the national spotlight due to the debate over increasing obesity rates. Many point fingers at the ad industries for the excessive amounts of advertising of unhealthy foods and snacks, which account for 83 percent for ads on children’s TV, while only 3 percent of ads are for healthy food.

       To kick off our lesson, we drew the USDA food pyramid on the board. Next to it, we drew the “prime-time” pyramid, displaying how it would be divided up according to the media, which said 41 percent of our diet should be fats, oils and sweets, with only 6 percent going to fruit and vegetables.  This was no surprise. We asked the Davis Commons kids to think of any commercials they have seen on TV for fruits or vegetables. Needless to say, there are few to none. Yet, junk food and fast food chain ads, selling fatty, sugary foods, are run one after the other.

       We discussed with the kids how the ad industry uses techniques to persuade people, such as catchy slogans, fun and happiness, celebrity or character endorsements, and the glossy, appetite-inducing images. Think about the last time you ordered a frosty from Wendy’s, did it look like the picture in the magazine ad? Nope, because yours was edible and not made from glue and shaving cream. Or what about when you were choosing which cereal to buy from the grocery store; you probably picked up the one with your favorite character or celebrity pictured on the front. These are tricks used by the ad industry to push consumers to follow the peripheral route, and give into their persuasion. Ultimately, by addressing this topic at Davis Commons, our goal is to enhance the youth’s media literacy level, which means encouraging them to scrutinize media messages (i.e., applying the central route of persuasion, according to ELM theory).

       This week at Davis Commons, our class focused on teaching the kids about the way in which gender roles are portrayed in the media.  I am part of the first group to visit every week, Tuesday’s group.  While Wednesday and Thursday’s groups typically teach a more specific component of the topic each week, such as gender roles in sports in the media this week, we usually start the week with an overview and introduction of the topic. 

       After brainstorming and looking through lesson plan ideas, we thought it would be best to have the kids first tell us what they knew about how men and women are typically represented in the media and then try to open up their eyes a bit to the common media stereotypes.  To get a grasp on their knowledge, we first had them describe common stereotypes they had heard, such as blondes being dumb, and then dove into gender stereotypes specifically.  On the board, we wrote the two phrases “Act Like A Man” and “Be Ladylike” and asked the kids to shout out anything they could think of that would fit these categories.  They threw out characteristics such as men should be strong, tall, and in control of situations and women should be pretty, shorter, and listen to the men.  After compiling these characteristics, we spoke to the kids about the typical roles men and women are cast in in movies, such as how women tend to only star in romantic comedies and rarely get to star in action films.

       Next, we thought it would be neat to have the kids go onto YouTube in small groups and find clips of both what they believed were traditional gender roles in the media and nontraditional gender roles.  It was rewarding to see what they came up with as they chose very accurate depictions based on what we had taught them.  For a traditional man role, for example, they chose a clip of a man eating his dinner very sloppily, that the women had prepared for him, with poor table manners.  For a counter-stereotypical gender role, for example, the kids chose a clip of a girl on her high school’s football team scoring a touchdown.

       Overall, I think that Wednesday and Thursday’s groups would agree that the kids at Davis Commons thoroughly enjoyed learning about gender roles in the media this week.  It feels great to see the kids understand and expand their previous knowledge and thoughts on different topics each week and this week was no different.   Next time they view a movie with stereotypical gender roles, I hope they notice these roles and stop to think about why they are occurring—and how to challenge them– instead of simply passively accepting them.  If we as facilitators can make them think critically, we are making a difference.

   This week was the first week in which my Senior Capstone course, Mediated Communication Theory, joined forces with the kids at Davis Commons Afterschool Program to begin a semester of media literacy workshops and activities. Through this semester-long project, my peers and I will be both studying the theories of mediated communication in addition to teaching students, ages from 7 to 16, the fundamentals of media literacy. The first week is focused on building a partnership and getting to know the students of Davis Commons.

       The media literacy program this semester runs on three separate days: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Each week the facilitators, or the students from the Mediated Communication Theory course, will discuss a different topic. Tuesday’s group of facilitators will introduce the topic of the week. Wednesday’s facilitators will follow up with a more specific lesson plan on a more specific sub-topic for that particular week’s focus. And lastly, the Thursday facilitators will also teach a lesson plan that delves into a specific sub-topic pertaining to the theme of any given week, and these facilitators will provide conclusions to that week’s general topic.

       This first week was merel a meet-and-greet to familiarize the students at Davis Commons with the Stonehill media literacy facilitators. Each group came prepared with several different icebreaker games designed to engage the students in the course. Thursday’s group introduced the camera to the students and reviewed the concepts of production. This was done because the end of the semester capstone project will be delivered in a video format based on the work done at Davis Commons, thus many of the classes with the students will be filmed. Also, a survey of the students’ media consumption was taken in order to gain a better understanding of the youths’ media habits.  Specifically, this provided valuable information about what media the students consume, why they choose to watch and listen to what they do, what they find favorable in their media diet, etc.  By having this information, we are better equipped to create interesting and relevant lesson plans for the Davis Commons kids this semester.  All and all, week one effectively introduced the course to the Davis Commons students and established the semester objectives for the Media Literacy Partnership between the Stonehill students and the Davis Commons students.

Could it also be the post-Spring Break acknowledgement that we are in the final sprint towards summer vacation and my sprinting is severely restricted? But in my few “turning lemons into lemonade moments” I have realized two things.

One is that having a certain physical challenge, albeit temporary and slight, reminds me of the many challenges many people overcome on regular basis. The campus itself has its advantages—I live for those handicap door opening buttons and the like, but curse when they aren’t there for heavy doors that swing back too quickly.

Ramps are useful, but we need more and ones that don’t add a half a mile to the trip. I have been lucky to miss “weather” (although snow is coming Friday, I hear), but even a little rain makes many of the stairwells and hallways VERY slick. Not sure what can be done, but I am sure something.

The second realization—different but connected to the first—is that, as I suggest in my new textbook on social problems, “difference” is not  a social problem, the inequities that arise from difference and social systems and the policies that create and propagate those inequities are problems.

When it comes to physical challenges, we must start from the premise that all people have the ability to contribute and some people have incredible capacities to forward and articulate commitments to the social and public welfare. The question is how much do we make possible the maximization of their capacity?

Some people confuse this question with one of welfare, or special interests, or handouts. But this is misguided. Not that charity, etc. is necessarily good or bad, but it is not an issue of charity. What is needed is as full a commitment as possible to equal and adequate access to ENHANCE society for ALL of us. The better able people are to contribute fully, the better off we all are.

And, come to think of it, isn’t that really true for all of the systemic ways in which we should be helping all people have access to the fullest realization of self, creativity, expression, work and social responsibility?

So much of our work with area youth is about the inequities of the system in giving them the educational and other tools to contribute to a full realization of their dreams and talents and sense of social responsibility.

What we call social programs and services FOR youth should be more accurately called programs for the rest of us. We are all better off when intelligent and talented youth are given opportunities to maximize their potential. Such opportunities may eventually be all that keeps us from extinction as a species.

So, I welcome these weeks’ challenges as forced reflection, if you will, on the nature of ability and capacity, the social construction of both dynamics, and the commitment we must all have for social justice—equal access and opportunity for all individuals in the hope of finding adequate resources and mechanisms to maximize the skills, and talents, and creativity of those too often marginalized.

And if you see me struggling with my bags, know that I can get the door myself, but I don’t mind help, either.

Looking for post-grad service opportunities can be an overwhelming and daunting task, especially if you don’t know where to start looking! Here are some popular service programs with diverse opportunities to help you get started on your search!

AmeriCorps –www.americorps.gov/

VISTA: AmeriCorps VISTA, or Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), was founded in 1965 as a domestic version of the Peace Corps. The program was incorporated into AmeriCorps and renamed AmeriCorps Vista with the creation of AmeriCorps in 1993.^[8] VISTA provides full-time members to nonprofit, faith-based and other community organizations, and public agencies to create and expand programs that ultimately bring low-income individuals and communities out of poverty. There are currently over 5,000 VISTA members serving in 1,200 VISTA programs nationwide.

NCCC: AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) is a full-time, residential team-based program for men and women ages 18–24. Members serve at one of five regional campuses located throughout the United States (Perry Point, MD; Vicksburg, MS; Vinton, IA; Denver, CO; and Sacramento, CA). Each campus focuses efforts on states within its region but may travel to other areas in response to national crises. Former campuses were located in Washington, DC; Charleston, SC; and San Diego, CA.

SN: AmeriCorps State and National is the largest of the AmeriCorps programs, and provides grants to local and national organizations and agencies, including faith-based and community organizations, higher education institutions, and public agencies. Grants assist these groups in recruiting, training and placing AmeriCorps members to meet critical community needs in education, public safety, health, and the environment.

City Year– www.cityyear.org/

–a nonprofit AmeriCorps organization whose primary goal is to build democracy through citizen service, civic engagement, leadership development, and social entrepreneurship. The program offers 17- to 24-year-olds the opportunity to engage in 10 months of full-time community service. These young leaders come from diverse backgrounds tutoring and mentoring school children, reclaiming public spaces, and organizing after-school programs, school vacation camps, and youth corps such as the Starfish Corps, Young Heroes, and City Heroes.

Gap Year– http://www.gapyear.com/volunteering/

Comprehensive database that allows you to search for your own international volunteer opportunities.

Jesuit Volunteer Corps–www.jesuitvolunteers.org

–an organization of lay volunteers who dedicate one year or more to voluntary community service working with people in need–the homeless, abused women and children, immigrants and refugees, the mentally ill, people with HIV/AIDS and other illnesses, the elderly, children, and other marginalized groups.

Lutheran Service Corps—http://www.lscomaha.org/index.php?

Lutheran Service Corps volunteers have the opportunity to serve for eleven months as
a full-time, non-paid employee in one of several social service agencies. Each individual makes a commitment to work for social justice, live in community, live simply, and develop
spiritually. Expenses paid.

Peace Corps–www.peacecorps.gov/

–an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand U.S. culture, and helping Americans understand the cultures of other countries. Generally, the work is related to social and economic development. Each program participant, (aka Peace Corps Volunteer), is an American citizen, typically with a college degree, who works abroad for a period of 24 months after three months of training. Volunteers work with governments, schools, non-profit organizations, non-government organizations, and entrepreneurs in education, hunger, business, information technology, agriculture, and the environment.

Teach for America—www.teachforamerica.org

– provides a critical source of well-trained teachers who are helping
break the cycle of educational inequity. These teachers, called corps members, commit to
teach for two years in one of 39 urban and rural regions across the country, going above
and beyond traditional expectations to hel

We attended the CBL Summer Institute last summer in hopes that we would reinvigorate our Learning Community (LC).  The LC, Through the Looking Glass, has run each semester for the past 6 years. The course requires students to deeply explore various social policies through research and debate, and we felt that the students could not fully learn about social policy without direct experience with the populations the policies impact.

While we were happy with the LC, we wanted to further strengthen the CBL component of the course and heighten the connections between the learning done in the classroom and the community experience. The Summer Institute gave us the opportunity to examine the course more intentionally. We had the great fortune to work with our wonderful community partner Lila Burgess of the Old Colony YMCA’s Family Life Center/David Jon Louison Center.

Our students had been placed at the YMCA’s housing programs for families experiencing homelessness for several semesters with good results.  With the knowledge gained from the Institute, we planned to give a greater experience to the students, the community partner agency and the residents of the centers.

We were uniquely fortunate that in the semester following the Institute, we were scheduled to run two sections of our LC.  This enabled us to run one section the way we had always done it in the past and one section with the new elements we had designed in the Institute in consultation with our community partner. We planned to compare the two sections of the course and examine the differences between the two approaches.

The Summer Institute featured a tour of Brockton given by Mr. Willie Wilson, former Brockton High School teacher and member of the Brockton Historical Society.  Willie was a wealth of knowledge and provided us with a depth of knowledge about the history of Brockton and how the city evolved from a place of great wealth, to the city it is today, facing many hurdles.

We were so impressed with the tour that we planned to incorporate the tour into the course, and have done so in both semesters this year.  It is this type of extended immersion in the community that the CBL Summer Institute encouraged us to increase student’s engagement and investment in their community service.  Moreover, adding opportunities like the tour, facilitate a greater appreciation for the students of the role the agency serves in the larger community.

Another benefit of the Institute was the ability to work intensively with a student. It gave us great insight into the possibilities of incorporating an Undergraduate Course Assistant in the development and facilitation of the class. The UCA has become an indispensible member of the LC team. He is an invaluable resource for students, serving as a mentor and coach.  He has added valuable insight into course design that has enabled us to improve the student experience without decreasing academic rigor or compromising our instructional goals.

While some of the ideas we came up with during the Institute have not worked out in the ways we had expected, the experience of thinking intentionally about our course goals and the way we work with community partners has been invaluable.

There have been benefits to working with one agency and working more closely with their institutional objectives. The fact that the students have had a uniform CBL experience has enabled classroom discussions to be relatable for all class members.  Because all students are familiar with the agency’s mission, they can compare and contrast how their experiences serve to fulfill this mission.

In addition, as the instructors only have one agency liaison, we are able to collaborate intensively with them to ensure that our students are providing meaningful and worthwhile services for the clients of the agency.

Another benefit is that we have been able to increase the connections between the staff and the students.  This greater access to the staff has allowed students the advantage of learning from the staff’s expertise in their field and provided more opportunities to process what is happening at the site.

There have been some drawbacks as well.  While the uniform experience has had some benefit for classroom discussion, having students placed at multiple agencies gave a diversity of perspectives that brought unique viewpoints to discussions.

As this is a sophomore class and for many students their first CBL experiences, having students at multiple sites gives an understanding of the broad range of services available to the disadvantaged.  It allows them to compare the mission and practice of numerous approaches and critically analyze what service best empowers people.

In some ways, this better suits the goals of the course.  I do believe, however, that if we returned to working with multiple agencies, we would now apply the model of more intentional planning and immersion that the CBL Institute set us on the path towards.

The CBL Summer Institute was an invaluable opportunity to spend several days deeply examining our course, questioning the way we have run things and opening our eyes to possibilities we had never considered.   This thoughtful approach to planning CBL will have lasting impact whether we work with a single community partner or multiple partners within a semester.

~~~

If you would like more information on applying to be a participant in the 2011 Summer Institute, please visit: http://www.stonehill.edu/x19934.xml for more information.

I am very excited tonight as I wind down the midnight hour with a little Wilson Pickett in the background. Spring break is over, mid-terms are coming in, and we are getting ready for the sprint towards semester’s end.

Today Tim Black gave an excellent talk about his award winning book, When a Heart Turns Rock Solid: The Lives of Three Puerto Rican Brothers On and Off the Street. He told the story of his 18 year ethnography and wove an intellectually brilliant tale about how individual lives are framed and influenced by local and global conditions, and how within the resulting sets of institutional and social forces, individuals struggle to shape their lives.

I was also impressed by the question and answer period afterwards and always struck by how insightful our Stonehill students are in the questions they ask. Keep up the good works folks.

We are also preparing for next semester by generating new classes and preparing for new partnerships. We have just announced open applications for our CBL summer institute.

Last year, we had six teams of faculty, students and community partners work to design new CBL courses or revamp older ones. We have had some wonderful successes with these and will be featuring some blog postings from faculty, student leaders, and community partners who have worked on them.

We hope to have 5 or 6 new teams this summer. Please check out our website for more information.

Finally, I am very excited to announce the launch of a new on-line magazine called This Week in Sociology [TWS].  Along with Jason Smith, a George Mason University graduate student and some other folks, I am presenting this example of the Sociological Imagination in real time. TWS features 5 or 6 articles a week by social scientists commenting on current events and pop culture.

This week’s issue includes an excellent piece on the disaster in Japan, recent revolutions in the Middle East, Uprisings in Wisconsin, Mardi Gras, and the 100^th anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. And, of course, we have a great piece on the 99^th anniversary of the Girl Scouts written by Stonehill’s own Professor Patricia Leavy. Please check it out.

Ok, time for bed. More tomorrow, there is always more tomorrow.

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Dr. Corey Dolgon is the Director of Community-Based Learning and a Professor of Sociology