In this article, “Applying Geography Course Projects to Issues in City Resilience and Global Connectivity” by Ronald V. Kalafsky and Helen M. Rosko, the authors present the findings of a course project for upper-division undergraduates that explored the impact of geography, city resiliency and global connections. One of the missions of the course project was to bring different intellectual perspectives from varying fields and apply found knowledge to real-world problems in an engaging application of geographic knowledge. The students were prompted to analyze many different factors and risks that cities face and use critical geographic planning to best prepare and plan for long term socioeconomic and global impacts. The authors found that creating opportunities for students to think and engage in spatial and geographic terms can lead to an increased interest in geography and geographic impacts such as social welfare and environmental health. Each student was assigned a different global city and engaged in a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis to ask central questions to the project including the strengths, weaknesses and global connectivity of a city; whether it benefits from external opportunities/obstacles; the external threats to the city as they relate to global economic networks. I was able to relate this to my topic by looking specifically at the results students found in terms of city resilience in cases of natural hazards and disasters as well as the role of human capital and (inadequate) infrastructure in cities like Dubai, Bristol, and New Orleans. Although the results of the analysis for the related topics focused largely on opportunities for redevelopment in the hopes of designing a “global city” stray from the perspective of my proposed research, it provides an opportunity to gather more organizational and economic data as I explore other sources of information and perspective.

Kalafsky, Ronald V., and Rosko, Helen M. “Applying Geography Course Projects to Issues in City Resilience and Global Connectivity.” Journal of Geography 116, no. 2 (March 4, 2017): 67–78.

Welcome back!

The Spring, 2019 version of the University of Redlands’ Hunger & Homelessness course has begun.  Follow this space to see what research literature our students uncover for their design projects.

— JS

The goal of this research was to  examine the ‘percentage of female elite athletes and controls reporting sexual harassment and abuse (SHAB), and whether a higher percentage of female athletes with eating disorders (ED) had experienced SHAB’.  The data type uses was a questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed to 660 female elite athletes and 780 controls ages 15–30. Sexual harassment and abuse were measured by 11 questions on the questionnaire, ranging from light to severe SHAB. 121 Athletes and 81 controls results turned out to be “at risk” for ED and non‐ED controls participated in a clinical interview.  This study used qualitative analysis and was qualitative research. This study was incredibly eye opening to me.. I never thought of how these two variables could have possible correlations. The fact that athletes who struggled with eating disorders were found to be more often than faced sexual harassment/abuse is scary. It really made me think about the effect eating disorders can have on people in more ways that just internally.  This also showed me that sometimes when researching, some variables we might not think to have correlations can actually be strong correlations. We need to think outside the box.

Sundgot‐Borgen, J. , Fasting, K. , Brackenridge, C. , Torstveit, M. K. and Berglund, B. (2003), Sexual harassment and eating disorders in female elite athletes – a controlled study. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 13: 330-335. doi:10.1034/j.1600-0838.2003.00295.x

The goal of this research was to ‘examine the prevalence of anorexia nervosa(AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), anorexia athletica (AA), and eating disorders not otherwise specified (ED-NOS) in both male and female Norwegian elite athletes and a representative sample from the general Norwegian population’.  

 The researchers created a 2-step study.  This study included a self-reported questionnaire as well as clinical interview.  For data method, I was obviously classify this as questionnaire as well as using expert opinion.  This is qualitative analysis and data. In conclusion the study showed that the “prevalence of EDs is higher in athletes than in controls, higher in female athletes than in male athletes, and more common among those competing in leanness-dependent and weight-dependent sports than in other sports. A collaborative effort among coaches, athletic trainers, parents, physicians, and athletes is optimal for recognizing, preventing, and treating EDs in athletes”.  As an athlete myself this is shocking. Since athletes are known as people who are supposed to take incredibly care of their bodies would do exactly that instead of putting their bodies at risk…But it looks as if it is just the opposite. There is so much pressure to be perfect and perform to a certain standard, that we do what we think is going to help us succeed, but instead we are doing more damage and harm to our vessels that allow us to perform our sport.  This provides excellent insight to my research because it gives me an idea of the types of studies that have been done before, but has inspired me to go even deeper and get more specific, this inspired me to want to conduct research specifically on athletes at Redlands and see what I could find.

Sundgot-Borgen, J, and M K Torstveit. “Prevalence of Eating Disorders in Elite Athletes Is Higher than in the General Population.” Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine : Official Journal of the Canadian Academy of Sport Medicine., U.S. National Library of Medicine, Jan. 2004, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14712163.

Joy E, Kussman A, Nattiv A
2016 update on eating disorders in athletes: A comprehensive narrative review with a focus on clinical assessment and management
Br J Sports Med 2016;50:154-162.

This research is a review of ‘2016 update on eating disorders in athletics: comprehensive narrative review with a focus on clinical assessment and management. This article focuses on how eating disorders are incredibly devastating effects on health, especially in an athlete’s performance. To summarize, through survey, questionnaire, and in dept interview(data collection methods), this is about how Athlete medical teams need to systematically screen athletes (both male and female) as a part of the preparticipation evaluation. In addition to the team physician, dietitian and mental health professional, athletic trainers play a key role as the ‘eyes and ears’ of the healthcare team on the practice field and in the training room and oftentimes serve as the confidant and support person for the athlete who is struggling with and recovering from an eating disorder. These results was incredibly interesting and very helpful for my research proposal. It really sheds some light on the fact that eating disorders and disordered eating patterns can affect everyone-even those who are seen as “mentally tough”.
The type of data needed is qualitative and the method of data analysis qualitative research.
This was incredibly interesting research and a well done study.

I found a book that talks specifically about the Hawaiian culture and encouraging a culture based education that implements a Montessori education and not a place-based education. I thought that it would be important for me to continue to research what has been done in the past in regard to the improvement of public school education. This study was done specifically in Hawaii which is one of the main reasons why I chose it. I can look through this text and see what my results are and if this Montessori education encouraged a similar result. I also thought that it would be important to look into this study because they used the Montessori education which is actually pretty similar to a place-based education. Marie Montessori encouraged students to, in a way, discover and learn for themselves. She believed that students needed to have tangible resources so that they could learn through a more hands-on experience. This includes a close proximity and involvement with nature, with other students and with learning tools. This is all very similar to the place-based education. The place-based education encourages close proximity and involvement with nature and people as well, however, it also encourages involvement in community and it emphasizes how students can relate through the place that they live in. A Montessori education is more culture based and it focuses on the cultures and backgrounds of the students to create a cohesive classroom.

I grew up in the Montessori education so it does work and helps students to learn and to create a good relationships with classmates. However, it did not encourage a lot of community involvement. It created it’s own world within the classroom which is not what I prefer in the education of my future students and what I believe is the most beneficial for students.

Schonleber, Nanette S. “Hawaiian Culture-Based Education and the Montessori Approach:        Overlapping Teaching Practices, Values, and Worldview.(Report)(Author Abstract).”                  Journal of American Indian Education 50.2 (2011): 5. Print.

For my research example I read an article from the Journal of the American Medical Association titled: “Clinicopathological Evaluation of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) in Players of American Football.” It describes an experiment that sampled 202 deceased American football players who’s brains were donated by family members. There were six different levels of football that the 202 players competed in; pre-high school, high school, college, semi-professional, Canadian football league, and the National football league (NFL). 177 of the 202 players were diagnosed with CTE. 110 out of 111 NFL players in this study were diagnosed with CTE. Meanwhile, 48 out of 53 college students were diangosed, 9 out of 14 semi-professionals were diagnosed, and 7 out of 8 Canadian football league players were diagnosed.
This study suggests that CTE is likely to be related to prior participation in football. Additionally, palyers of American football are likely to be at increased risk of long-term neurological conditions. Lastly, the higher level of play, the more likely one is to be diagnosed with CTE.
Technological advancements will continue to provide more information on the CTE dilemma surrounding American football.
Organizational data is a type of data, while public and private records is a data collection method being used.

Citation:

Mez, Jesse, Daniel H. Daneshvar, and Patrick T. Kiernan. “Clinicopathological Evaluation of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in Players of American Football.” Journal of the American Medical Association, July 25, 2017, 360-70.

For this research example I looked at “The effects of music listening on psychological stress and maternal-fetal attachment during pregnancy.” Woman go through high amounts of pain during Pregnancy as well as stress. The study was was a randomized controlled trial that had two groups, the experimental group got routine rental care as well as being able to listen to music. The control group only received routine rental care with no music. There were 320 participants, experimental had 162 woman and the control group had 158 woman. Some measures were pregnancy stress rating scale, perceived stress scale, and maternal-fetal attachment scale. The music group had crystal music, nature sounds, classical music, lullabies, and symphonic music. The results found that the experimental group had a lot of reduced stress due to the music choices they listened to. The music choices that the woman favored the most were crystal music, nature sounds, classical music, and then lullabies. When listening to these types of music, the experimental group, often listen to their music when they were resting, leisure time activities, and performing some sort of chores. The study found that pregnant woman have less reduced stress when listening to their choices of music.

Chang, H., Yu, C., Chen, S., & Chen, C. (2015). The effects of music listening on psychosocial stress and maternal-fetal attachment during pregnancy.Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 23(4), 509-515. http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.redlands.edu/10.1016/j.ctim.2015.05.002 Retrieved from http://ezproxy.redlands.edu/docview/1717415647?accountid=14729

This researcher presents a case study about the repatriation claim for two sets of human remains discovered at the University of California, San Diego.  The repatriation controversy existed between the Kumeyaay Cultural Repatriation Committee, which represents twelve federally-recognized Native American tribes.  Mayes explores the significant scientific interest in the skeletons by University researchers.  He also explains how determining the origins of the remains was vital to determining if they could be classified as Native American.  Interestingly, Native American tribes have a variety of cultural beliefs surrounding the treatment of human remains.  Some cultures strongly oppose any invasive investigation of a human remain.  Other cultures have evolved their cultural beliefs to allow for DNA analysis in order to aid in their repatriation process and provide evidence.  The Kumeyaay requested a noninvasive investigation of the remains.  Mayes argues that cultural miscommunication between tribal and scientific communities was the key issue in the repatriation of the La Jolla skeletons.  Paleoindians and archaic human remains are often classified as culturally unidentifiable which sparks controversy and clashing beliefs between the two sides.  He also explains how osteological analysis provides crucial information for determining a skeleton’s origin.  He analyzed the physical data of the skeletons and argues how they qualify as Native American.

I found this case study to be extremely detailed regarding the physical data of the skeletons.  He argues from the perspective and expert knowledge of a physical anthropologist with information about forensics and osteology.  He used qualitative data that he obtained through reports of the scientific studies of the remains.  It was helpful to me to learn more specifics about DNA extraction and the controversy it can pose.  It was interesting to consider how some tribes desire a human remain to be repatriated, but certain methods for determining cultural affiliation do not align with their customs.

Mayes, Arion T. “These Bones Are Read: The Science and Politics of Ancient Native America.” American Indian Quarterly, vol. 34, no. 2, 2010, p. 131., doi:10.5250/amerindiquar.34.2.131.