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*These files are in PDF format. In order to view this file you will need the latest version of Adobe Reader available as a free download from the Adobe website. Introduction: Understanding Civic Activism and City Life
Download and print the full article (text and photographs).
Download and print the full article (text and photographs).
Download and print the full article (text and photographs).
Download and print the full article (text and photographs).
Download and print the full article (text and photographs). << back to Perspectives Introduction |
People often misperceive today's cities as "concrete jungles" fraught with danger and decay. This series of papers illuminate how CCUC's Urban Research Initiative can contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of contemporary urban concerns. This initiative facilitates dialogue among various community organizations and involved citizens, and provides alternative insight on city life. Projects implemented through the Urban Research Initiative share three common themes within their scopes of inquiry: the meaning of community, the importance of place, and the construction of American identity.
In recent years, the Chicago Housing Authority has undertaken a massive plan of demolition and re-development, which is displacing many of its residents in the process. By tracking patterns of mobility of the relocated CHA residents, Mario Longoni assists CHA Childcare Services with their dilemma of how to continue serving a displaced clientele. Longoni's research points to trends that maintain socioeconomic and racial divisions. In order to better understand these patterns and their underlying reasons, he recommends in-depth analysis of societal structures that reinforce stereotypes of poverty and serve to perpetuate social injustices.
Vacant lot gardens are sprouting up throughout the city of Chicago as a means of beautifying neighborhoods while building community. Christine Dunford analyzes the gardening initiative as a type of human behavior, specifically focusing on the gardens and the gardeners of the North Lawndale area. Dunford discovers a web of complex interactions among the gardeners, their neighbors, and the greening agencies that facilitate urban gardening projects. By delving into what the gardens mean at individual and community levels, the Dunford's research contributes to an ongoing conversation about the importance of space and the communicative potential of cooperative endeavors.
Victoria Hegner provides a vivid portrait of elderly Russian-Jewish immigrants residing in a Section 8 building in a Chicago neighborhood. Hegner examines how these seniors forge new lives for themselves in America while maintaining a link to their cultural background. Processes of immigrant acculturation can be complicated in the most ideal circumstances, but these Russian-Jews face additional complexities as their neighborhood undergoes increasing gentrification. Working with the Agudas Achim North Shore Congregation, Hegner investigates how the Uptown area can be gentrified in an equitable manner without displacing the Section 8 dwellers. A unique component of this paper—The Camera Project—enables readers to view a glimpse of Uptown through the eyes of the Russian-Jewish immigrants. 
"At-risk" is a term commonly employed to describe urban youth, particularly those from lower socioeconomic or ethnically diverse backgrounds. While analyzing the important role of after-school organizations in acculturating urban youth, Gabriel Culbert highlights three organization in Chicago that revise the notion of "at-risk." The Crucial Dancers of Chi-Town, the Blackstone Bike Co-op, and the Lowell School all structure their youth programs around the productive potential of "risk-taking" and provide opportunities that compensate youth for their talents in addition to educating and rewarding them.
| Center for Cultural Understanding and Change (CCUC)
Perspectives on Civic Activism and City Life |
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