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…

A growing number of colleges and universities have come to recognize the role and responsibilities they have in the economic and social fabric of their surrounding communities and regions as anchor institutions. Yet, the conditions of urban communities surrounding even the most engaged universities--including under-resourced public schools,…

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…

Coaches often enter their profession in hopes of helping others and making the world a better place in which to live. In this narrative, the Author recounts a volleyball recruiting trip to Denver, Colorado. He stays in an area of the city plagued by homelessness and crime. What he saw and experienced made him question the real impact he has on…

Argues that students should get a world perspective on America's social problems in social studies. (DB)

One of the projects selected for the University Urban Interface Program at the University of Pittsburgh was that of studying and implementing some long-range goals for the city of Pittsburgh. Of the goals set up, reforms in the criminal justice system are seen as very desirable. Indeed, leaders in government and law in the black community programs…

Livingston College of Rutgers University, N.J., has established an Urban Communications Teaching and Research Center. Using an interdisciplinary approach, it offers an innovative approach to the study of communications systems in urban society, consolidating course offerings, independent study, internships, community service and research. Its…

Emphasizes the problems of Detroit, pointing out that, despite decentralization, the city remains dependent on the automobile industry, and that it is the automobile that has done so much to make Detroit an ugly place, the archetype of the factory city; and asserts that Detroit's problems "do not matter, for they do not touch people of wealth…

This essay with photographs describes the experiences of two runaways, examining why they left home and how they found help. Although runaways have a reputation for being irresponsible, they usually have good reasons for leaving home. The nun who ran Noah's Ark, where both the runaways featured found shelter and help, estimated that only about two…

Described in this paper are strategies and programs developed by the Control Data Corporation to address inner-city needs. Strategies cited include the establishment of new plants in economically depressed areas and the encouragement of local community support in business operations. Specific programs discussed are directed at the disadvantaged…

Forces are at work tending to minimize the home-to-work distance; however, these forces favor white workers in Detroit more than members of the Negro labor force. Residential segregation is the major factor controlling the home-to-work distance minimization efforts of Negro workers. (RJ)

Substance abuse among U.S. Blacks is discussed as the concomitant of a chaotic, rapidly changing, and exploitative society. The impact on families and children of drug and alcohol use is viewed as a personal issue; however, it is a public issue because its causes lie in the social structure. (SLD)

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…