Archive of "Social Sciences and Humanities Journal (SSHJ)"
Volume 2, Issue 7
Jul 2017

Social relations in a multi-ethnic residential area: discourses and practices on ethnic relations

Social Sciences and Humanities Journal (SSHJ), Volume 2, Jul 2017

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Abstract
This paper is based on field work carried out in a major residential area in Copenhagen inhabited by a mix of people with ethnic majority and minority backgrounds. The paper explores questions related to living in a multi-ethnic neighbourhood, and it focuses especially on notions and practices of neighbourliness and the form and content of interactions, relationships, and attitudes among neighbours of respectively ethnic minority and majority backgrounds. The paper maintains that there is a discrepancy between the residents discourses and practices of interethnic relations. Whereas residents formulate inter-ethnic relations in the residential area as non-existent, separate, or even hostile, in practice the conditions of sharing a residential area as neighbours imply several forms of relation making.

Author(s): Tina Gudrun Jensen

Narrated and negotiated identities ? narratives about Jewish refugee activities, communities and identities in individual life stories

Social Sciences and Humanities Journal (SSHJ), Volume 2, Jul 2017

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Abstract
In the research project (funded by the Swedish Research Council)?Swedish- Jewish refugee receptions. Narratives and negations of ?Jewish? identities and communities in Sweden ca 1945?2005?, I work with narratives about and by ?Jews? in Sweden. The ?Jew? has been a crucial category and even a stereotype in the formation of different Swedish national identities in different social contexts over time. In contrast to most other research projects with a focus on narrative material, I want to analyze how a marginalized group like the Swedish Jews are negotiating their own identities and communities by othering and marginalizing or including other Jewish groups over time. I will do this by examining how the Swedish Jewish refugee activities have been narrated in different materials and contexts over the period 1945?2010. In this paper, I will focus on how Swedish Jewish identities and communities have been negotiated in relation to Jewish refugees and survivors in Sweden, concentrating on individual life stories collected from ?Swedish? Jews during the years 1994-1998. The paper discusses questions like: Who is talking about Swedish-Jewish identities and communities in relation to refugee work and the Jewish survivors in their life stories? How and what is narrated about Swedish-Jewish identities and communities? How are ?the Swedish- Jews? and the ?survivors? related to the Swedish-/Jewish-society in the individual life stories? How are different groups and conceptions of identities created, while defined and categorized in the narratives about the refugee reception and activities?

Author(s): Malin Thor

Rethinking Institutional Models: Cross-Pollination of Museum and Community Engagement Practices

Social Sciences and Humanities Journal (SSHJ), Volume 2, Jul 2017

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Can art be a factor in community building? Is it possible to evaluate projects that explore this question, and if so, how ? Can seemingly disparate institutions, such as those dedicated to the arts and those dedicated to social work, collaborate to produce meaningful output and outcomes for a community? In fall of 2007, The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts and the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis partnered to explore questions of the social relevance of art and how social work and all that it encompasses (e.g., evaluation, community work, case work) could unite with a museum-like arts institution to play an active role in the revitalization of a community. The current efforts developed through this partnership are founded on the principles of social inclusion and basic concepts of community building, i.e., promoting the formation of relationships within the community to strengthen the social network. An example of the programs created by the partnership took place in the fall of 2008. The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, in partnership with Grand Center, Inc., the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and three other area arts institutions (St. Louis Art Museum, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, and White Flag Gallery) presented the Light Project and accompanying Community Light Project. Both projects were inspired by the work of Dan Flavin, whose work was on display in the Pulitzer with the exhibition, Constructed Light: Flavin. As the fluorescent lights of Dan Flavin spilled out of the building, the Pulitzer decided to spill out of its doors for the first time, jointly commissioning outdoor light installations from contemporary light artists. A main goal of the project was to explore the impact of symbolic value on a struggling urban environment?to begin defining what relevance art, and in this case contemporary art, has in todays society. Further exploring this theme, the Community Light Project sought to connect members of the immediate neighborhood to these light installations and the work of Dan Flavin through work in the schools, featuring a curriculum that incorporated music and light. This culminated in a festival featuring drums constructed by area students that lit up when struck, compositions of percussion music with the students, and outdoor light installations created by four area schools in response to the Light Project installations. Through both the Light Project and the Community Light Project, the Pulitzer sought to engage new community members and enhance all community members personal relationship with art, while beginning to carve a new role for itself in the urban environment as an agent of revitalization and social inclusion. The outputs of the aforementioned Light/Community Light Project are easy to identify. The outcomes, however, are somewhat less obvious. It was of great interest to all of the partnering institutions to learn more about the impact these projects had on the immediate neighborhood and on the St. Louis community overall. Thus, the perfect opportunity for social work expertise to influence museum practice arose, and an evaluation plan was developed under the guidance of an external evaluator, who holds an MSW and a PhD in Social Work and also has extensive experience evaluating arts education and outreach initiatives. To begin understanding the impact of this program but to also establish a baseline of information against which future efforts could be compared, a mixed-method model of evaluation was proposed and implemented. These methods included the collection of both quantitative and qualitative data through observation, intercept interviews with participants in Light Project and Community Light Project events, focus groups with various stakeholders (including teachers and students from the participating area schools), and stakeholder interviews.

Author(s): Matthias Waschek, Betul Ozmat, Leslie Scheuler, Lisa Harper Chang

The assessment of knowledge competence by patient report (writing essay)

Social Sciences and Humanities Journal (SSHJ), Volume 2, Jul 2017

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Patient reports (writing essay) are a part of assessment for medical students. It is believed that the quality of reports is correlated with knowledge and problem-solving/reasoning ability. Summary of work: We analyzed scores of 5th year students in internal medicine rotation, and compared scores between patient reports (6 reports, rubric score) and MCQ (150 questions). t-score was used in each assessment method and grading into A to D+ (4 to1.5point sequentially). Summary of results: There were 60 students in this study (6 rotations, 10 students/rotation). Difference of reports and MCQ grading points in each student ranged from +2 to -1.5 points. 36 students had difference of ? 0.5 points, 23 had ?1 to ? 1.5 points and 1 had ? 2points. Reports points were less than MCQ points in 25 students, more in 21 students and no difference in 14 students. Conclusion/Take-home message: Patient report score from 6 reports cannot evaluate the knowledge of students precisely. It should be a small part or minor role in grading and not used as pass/fail decision in knowledge competence.

Author(s): Paworamon Sribussara