UMD Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3

New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.

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Subject: search.filters.subject.civic engagement

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Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Discourse and Dissent in the Diaspora: Civic and Political Lives of Iranian Americans
    (2013) Zarpour, Mari Tina; Freidenberg, Judith N; Anthropology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This study examines the political agency of Iranian immigrants. Through the rhetorical device of "political talk" which encompasses politically- and civically- oriented discourse, action and ideology, this research follows political talk as it presents itself in two locations within the public sphere: in the life course of Iranian Americans, and through online discourse. Methods used included a combination of conventional ethnography (participant observation, informal interviews, life history interviews), and virtual ethnography to develop a typology of political and civic action. Life history interviews provided an understanding of the meanings informants assigned to political and civic action within the larger trajectory of their lives, especially within the context of migration experiences. Virtual ethnography involved the analysis of three different Iranian digital diaspora communities. First, this research found that the civic and political spheres of engagement are linked, and that Iranian immigrants use organizations to learn participatory democracy. It illustrates how ethnic organizations, online and offline, act as both vehicles and activators for immigrant political participation and further civic engagement in the U.S. Additionally, this research uncovers how factors (age at migration, length of time in U.S., particular migration experience) impact notions of belonging and solidarity. It unpacks immigrant political agency to demonstrate the range of behaviors and activities which constitute political and civic participation. It contributes to understanding modes of citizenship and belonging by relating individual, historical, and situational variables in order to understand the relationship between homeland events, immigrant politicization and political behavior. Analysis of the three digital communities evidenced the multiple ways that digital diasporas can be a forum for engaging politically and in creating political community by allowing for a diversity of voices. Finally, merging conventional and virtual ethnography highlighted the dominant discourses about participation in larger society, and demonstrated the formation of a distinctly Iranian-American civil society.
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    Exploring the effects of social perspective-taking and socio-cultural issues discussions on college students' civic identity
    (2012) Johnson, Matthew Robert; Komives, Susan R; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Colleges and universities have a long-standing tradition of preparing students to be civically engaged (Colby, Beaumont, Ehrlich, & Corngold, 2007; Jacoby, 2009; Kezar, 2002). In response to a decline in civic engagement among college students and the greater American public, colleges and universities began offering a wide array of civic engagement efforts designed to increase students' involvement in civic life (Jacoby, 2009). These efforts, such as service-learning, volunteering, and community service opportunities are prolific within higher education. However, the extent to which these civic engagement efforts effectively engage elements of diversity remains mostly unexplored (Dunlap & Webster, 2009; Hero, 2007; Hurtado, 2001, 2003, 2006). The primary research question in this study examined the role of social perspective-taking and socio-cultural issues discussions on college students' civic identity, while the secondary research question examined whether these relationships varied by race. Using 45,271 cases from the 2009 Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership, structural equation modeling was used to explore a model that included four latent variables: social change behaviors, socio-cultural issues discussions, social perspective-taking, and civic identity. Results from the primary research question showed positive, moderate relationships of social change behaviors on civic identity, social change behaviors on socio-cultural issues discussions, socio-cultural issues discussions on social perspective-taking, and social perspective-taking on civic identity. Weak, positive relationships were found for social change behaviors on social perspective-taking and socio-cultural issues discussions on civic identity. These results indicate that the direct effect of the relationship between engaging in social change behaviors on students' civic identity is much stronger than the indirect effects derived from including socio-cultural issues discussions and social perspective-taking. In addition, engaging in social change behaviors did not predict social perspective-taking and engaging in socio-cultural issues discussions did not predict civic identity. The secondary research question explored the differences by race in the structural paths in the model. This analysis showed significant variant paths between students of color and White students on every path except social change behaviors to socio-cultural issues discussions.
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    A MULTILEVEL ANALYSIS OF CONTEXT EFFECTS ON ADOLESCENT CIVIC ENGAGEMENT: THE ROLE OF FAMILY, PEERS, SCHOOL, AND NEIGHBORHOOD
    (2009) Wilkenfeld, Britt Skeens; Torney-Purta, Judith; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The relations between multiple contexts of influence and adolescents' civic engagement were examined in order to facilitate understanding of how adolescents are being prepared for citizenship. This study extends previous research by simultaneously examining the family, peer, school, and neighborhood contexts, including how contexts are interrelated in their influence, and by employing multilevel regression techniques. The purpose of the study was to understand how contexts interact to produce positive outcomes for adolescents, especially those deemed at risk for poor civic outcomes. Utilizing data from the 1999 Civic Education Study and the 2000 U.S. Census, I examined a nationally representative sample of 2,729 14-year-olds from 119 schools in the United States. Access to the zip-codes for each school that participated in the study enabled the connection between neighborhood characteristics and schools and students within schools. Given the multifaceted nature of civic engagement, the current study considered context effects on four different aspects of civic engagement: civic knowledge, support for the rights of ethnic minorities, anticipated voting behavior, and anticipated community participation. Predictors pertain to adolescents' demographic characteristics, political discourse with parents and peers, civic experiences in school, and the demographic composition of the neighborhood. Political discourse with parents was positively related to civic knowledge, attitudes, and anticipated behavior, indicating the consistency with which socialization occurs in the home. Across the contexts examined, student measures of civic experiences in school (or civic learning opportunities) had the most consistently positive relationships with students' civic outcomes. Civic experiences in school include student confidence in the effectiveness of school participation, perception of a classroom climate that is open for discussion, and learning about ideal civic practices. Interactions between the school and neighborhood contexts indicate that higher levels of civic learning opportunities particularly make a difference for students attending schools in impoverished neighborhoods, sometimes substantially improving their civic outcomes. Schools, although implicated in the existence of a civic engagement gap, have the potential to narrow the gaps. Civic experiences in schools contribute to the preparation of youth for active citizenship and full access to these experiences reduces civic engagement gaps between students of different demographic groups.
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    EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG LIVING-LEARNING PROGRAMS, PEER INTERACTION, CRITICAL THINKING, AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT ON COLLEGE STUDENT OPENNESS TO DIVERSITY
    (2005-05-25) Longerbeam, Susan D.; Inkelas, Karen K; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG LIVING-LEARNING PROGRAMS, PEER INTERACTION, CRITICAL THINKING, AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT ON COLLEGE STUDENT OPENNESS TO DIVERSITY Susan Longerbeam, Doctor of Philosophy, 2005 Dissertation directed by: Assistant Professor Karen Kurotsuchi Inkelas Department of Counseling and Personnel Services This study uses a college impact model to examine how living-learning programs and other college environments contribute to students' perceptions of growth in openness to diversity. The study tests the Allport (1954) contact hypothesis that meaningful, equal status relationships among college students working towards common goals in the context of institutional support enhance their openness to diversity. The population is undergraduate students in 274 living-learning programs in 34 universities, representing a broad range of programs and universities. Openness to diversity is defined as the awareness and appreciation of other ideas and values, and of racial and cultural differences. The Residence Environment Survey of the National Study of Living-Learning Programs is used to understand how living-learning programs contribute to 12, 241 students' openness to diversity from several different perspectives, by examining differences in students' perceptions by (a) thematic types of living-learning programs, (b) structural elements of living-learning programs, and (c) involvement in living-learning programs nested within a comprehensive conceptual model of college impact on openness to diversity. The study uses mean differences, cluster analyses, and multiple regression analyses to examine openness to diversity from these perspectives. The study determines that students in upper-division living-learning programs have higher perceived growth in openness to diversity than students in most other program types on openness to diversity. The cluster solution distinguishes among the groups of living-learning programs, but there are no mean differences in openness to diversity among the cluster types. Hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis indicates several items successfully contribute to the model for openness to diversity. They include gender; standardized test scores (negative relationship); socially supportive residence halls; majors in applied social sciences; class level; peer interaction; undergraduate students as mentors in living-learning programs; multicultural programming in living-learning programs, critical thinking; and civic engagement. The primary implication is that student affairs and higher education professionals contribute to student learning by creating environments that are conducive to positive, meaningful interaction among diverse peers. Resources should be allocated to facilitate meaningful, purposeful peer interaction in living-learning environments primarily during the first two years of college.