This article explores the pedagogical potential of closely reading and writing hardboiled detective fiction in a Canadian secondary English Language Arts classroom. Grounded in narrative theory and co-taught with a local high-school teacher, the unit focused on the cynical narration and stylistic elements of authors like Raymond Chandler and…

Anchor movements rest on the premise that people- and place-based initiatives can be mutually reinforcing. The community development movement, however, has been haunted for years by the people-place dilemma -- the idea that efforts to help people harm efforts to uplift places and vice versa. Most of the literature on the anchor strategy has…

Can verse mediate between the educational institution and the wider community of which it is a part? Utilising a case study of a specific taught module, this essay considers whether the performance of poetry as an experiential learning activity has a role to play in the emerging concept of the university as an anchor institution, a term that…

Shifting from a traditional lecture-based teaching approach to a student-centred approach, such as Problem-Based Learning (PBL), demands significant changes in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs). It requires changes for teachers, students, institutional management, and even the physical learning environment. Once a university is not designed…

This article examines how martial arts students retell their stories about being left behind and how they have experienced, viewed, and struggled with the invisible violence. Popularly known as the "hometown of Chinese martial arts," Dengfeng is home to 48 registered martial arts schools and more than 70,000 full-time students. Drawing…

This article explores the pedagogical implications of students' embodied and emotional reactions to difficult course material inside and outside of the classroom. Scholarship on teaching typically focuses on dimensions of students' cognitive engagement and development, yet geographical coursework often involves emotionally fraught topics:…

Globalization would appear to be a subject that easily could be addressed in geography classrooms, yet this is not always the case. In terms of pedagogy, many geographers are concerned whether the field has been adequately engaging various components of this topic (e.g., connectivity, core-periphery), especially in terms of making the subject…

The end of World War II heralded an era of urban disinvestment in the United States. While some cities began to rebound in the 1990s with population and economic growth, others--including large cities like Detroit, Cleveland, and St. Louis as well as many smaller cities and towns--did not, and have continued to decline. As these communities…

This report examines education gaps and industry demand in the nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas. Metropolitan areas are a natural unit of analysis given that they offer the best approximation of a regional labor market. Moreover, the wide variation in metropolitan area economic performance, as documented by the Brookings MetroMonitor…

This paper presents the results of an exploratory, small-scale qualitative research enquiry into the perceptions and experiences of young people in communities afflicted by deprivation in Glasgow, Scotland's largest city. The context within which we address this focus contains a culture reputed to involve sectarianism, territoriality and gangs.…

This article compares American and Albanian college students' urban political experiences in order to understand the relevance of American models of urban politics to developing nations. Urban growth in Albania has created needs for teaching students about urban governance. The evidence presented here suggests that Albanians' conceptions of urban…

Although not every American is touched directly by violence, it is hard for anyone to escape the problems of violent crime completely. This book, designed for the education of young readers, discusses violence and explores reactions to it. It is stressed that violence is not a new problem in the United States or in the world, but rather a…

The origins and history of the skinhead movement in the United States are traced, beginning with their links with skinheads in England and focusing on racist skinheads rather than the less-well-known nonracist skinheads. How skinheads have developed within the larger youth group scenes, their ideas and activities, the role of music in their…

This third annual report discusses recent progress and challenges that lie ahead for U.S. cities and metropolitan regions. Part 1 examines social and economic trends affecting U.S. cities and the potential for a city/suburb alliance to promote a common agenda that would address the challenges and seize the opportunities reflected in the trends.…

The story of the Stop the Violence movement among rap music artists and music industry colleagues is told, along with the story of a video that was produced as part of this initiative. The Stop the Violence project grew out of the reaction to violence among concert goers at a 1987 rap concert on Long Island (New York). Rap musicians have joined…