MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2004, Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning: Architecture (Master of)

Architecture for a Community is an architectural project intent on inspiring a sense of community in my hometown, Montpelier, Ohio. Based on the views of several residents who participated in the design process, the village's plan for development, and my own observations, the project looks to utilize the assets of the community to solve the problem of decentralization it faces. The solution developed from these observations is a community recreation center. By providing recreation space for regular use and flexible space to accommodate a wide variety of activities, the building is intended as a place for community to be engendered through the regular interaction of its patrons.

Committee: Nnamdi Elleh (Advisor) Subjects: Architecture

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2024, City and Regional Planning

This dissertation contributes to the existing body of knowledge on “community design” and “design justice” by examining the contemporary landscape of relevant organizations. In exploring community design, the dissertation focuses on Community Design Centers (CDCs), while for design justice, it investigates organizations within the loosely organized professional networks dedicated to it. Both CDCs and design justice organizations in the U.S. broadly share the goal of leveraging their planning and design expertise to better serve and empower underserved communities. Specifically, CDCs, first established by activist professionals in architecture, landscape architecture, and city planning, have provided various planning and design services, especially for low-income neighborhoods, since the 1960s. However, despite their long history and relevance in planning and design, CDCs have received limited attention from scholars. To gain deeper insights into the contributions of contemporary CDCs and design justice organizations to American communities, I conducted three research projects exploring various aspects of these entities. The first investigation examines whether the concept of “advocacy planning,” which motivated the establishment of the first CDCs in the 1960s, is still embedded in the organizational missions of contemporary CDCs. I identified seven roles the current CDCs aim to perform and their association with organizational characteristics by analyzing publicly available mission statements and conducting semi-structured interviews with organization leaders and key staff. The second research project investigates the range of community design practices, focusing on the types of services and areas of interest that CDCs provide and pursue. Through a content analysis of projects showcased on their websites, this paper uncovers a comprehensive list of service types and interest areas, along with their variations depending on university affiliation. The third project co (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mattijs Van Maasakkers (Advisor); Jesus Lara (Committee Member); Jason Reece (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture; Urban Planning

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2018, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

The sentiment of belonging exists in each one of us. The nature of man, makes him seek for different mechanisms of social interaction so that he can define his own identity. In a community, the concept of identity becomes a collective one. Public spaces in a city or village are the cradle where the unique identity of a community flourishes. This thesis aims to investigate and question other methods to generate the identity of a community through the proposal of a Community Center in a developing Village, located in Romania.

Committee: Michael McInturf M.Arch. (Committee Chair); Aarati Kanekar Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture

Master of Arts, University of Toledo, 2014, Geography

For over 100 years neighborhood-based initiatives have been enacted as a means to alleviate conditions associated with spatially concentrated poverty. And yet, these sociospatial strategies have shown limited success. The scope of this research attends to the range of initiatives encompassing schools and neighborhood centers and correlations to the contemporary community school reform movement. This point of reference is utilized to weigh the means to which community schools may stimulate broader neighborhood-based improvements. School-centered community revitalization rests upon a participatory development approach funded by an asset-based and capacity building framework for community development that utilizes resident-led initiatives and decision making that is context-based and affected from within. This research travels the recent academic reform of an inner-city public school in Toledo, Ohio. This course of inquiry draws from current literature and case study findings as a means of charting corridors to advance neighborhood-based revitalization efforts. This research also furthers the understanding of the broader issue of neighborhood-based initiatives.

Committee: Sujata Shetty Dr. (Committee Chair); Mary Beth Schlemper Dr. (Committee Member); David J. Nemeth Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Curriculum Development; Education Philosophy; Education Policy; Geography; Pedagogy

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2023, English: Composition and Rhetoric

This thesis investigates how undergraduate writing center consultants' engagement in their disciplinary and writing center communities mutually inform their conceptions of their disciplinary and consultant identity, expertise, and writing values. Through the lens of communities of practice (Wenger, 1998), I analyze data from interviews with seven consultants to understand how writing consultants' identities as writers and consultants are influenced by their academic disciplines and writing center training as well as explore the impact of disciplinary expertise on consulting strategies, addressing the question of how writing center consultants conceptualize, adapt, and engage with disciplinary affiliations and expertise during consultations. From this analysis, I detail implications for threshold concept-based tutor training on the development of consultant identity and provide recommendations for consultant development that focuses on working with disciplinary writers. Ultimately, this thesis explores participants' perceptions, stories, and values as disciplinary writers and writing center consultants, arguing that consultants' insights can inform and contribute to research on writing identity, disciplinary writing, and expertise, and enrich the very disciplinary and writing center communities of which they are members.

Committee: Jason Palmeri (Committee Chair); Elizabeth Hutton (Committee Member); Elizabeth Wardle (Committee Member) Subjects: Composition; Rhetoric

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2018, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Educational Studies

This study investigates the transformative experiences of the interfaith community at Xavier University's Center for Interfaith Community Engagement in Cincinnati, Ohio. Six different participant groups are analyzed within the larger case study, and a thorough cross-case analysis is conducted to determine if transformation is occurring as a result of engagement with this community. Once evidence of transformation is found, this study examines the nature of those experiences. Traditional and non-traditional qualitative methods such as poetic inquiry are used within a theoretical framework based on Mezirow's Theory of Transformative Learning.

Committee: Miriam Raider-Roth Ed.D. (Committee Chair); Mary Brydon-Miller Ph.D. (Committee Member); Stephen Kroeger Ed.D. (Committee Member); Lisa Vaughn Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Social Research

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2017, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

Despite the fact Islamic architecture historically follows very traditional typologies that have remained unchanged for nearly thousands of years, the functions and aesthetics it serves are largely of another people and time outside of 21st century westernized countries. Its inability to evolve and adapt characteristics specific to modern western values come at a sensitive time when American-Muslims find themselves at the center of the nation's political stage, and ultimately misrepresents their unique position within our society. What is currently being created does not fully explore new forms of Islamic architecture and lacks the stylistic and programmatic diversity that is necessary towards repairing and building stronger communities. Because of this, many members outside of the Muslim community are hardly presented with the opportunity to engage, interact with, and learn more about Islam and its complex history.

Committee: Elizabeth Riorden M.Arch. (Committee Chair); Christoph Klemmt A.A. Dipl. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2017, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

This thesis examines architecture's role in the unsuccessful prison institutions in the United States through its use of oppressive architectural elements. Architecture is proven to play a role in making peoples' lives better or worse, and the following examination pulls apart elements for a better design practice. By examining architecturally oppressive elements, spatial layouts and site specific information, new, more effective facilities can be built. Works of Michel Foucault, Michelle Alexander, Leslie Fairweather are instrumental in providing insight along with the works of practicing architects—Kyle May and Roger Paez or views from prisoners and witnesses of oppression itself from Reverend Kaia Stern. An examination of oppressive architectural elements in prisons, past and present, enlightens at what needs to change and why, creating a new facility in the neighborhood of Northside, in Cincinnati, Ohio which utilizes alternative solutions to the typical oppressive elements of American prisons.

Committee: Aarati Kanekar Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Edson Roy Cabalfin Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture

Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Education, Cleveland State University, 2016, College of Education and Human Services

This qualitative case study researched how adults from a community center and school acted as institutional agents in assisting youth navigating between community and school settings. The research was conducted in the context of Chagrin Falls Park, a historically marginalized community in the Cleveland metropolitan region. The research included semi-structured interviews with eleven participants across three participant categories, including institutional agents from Kenston Local Schools and Chagrin Falls Park Community Center and young adult Kenston graduates. The research explored: (1) the perceptions and roles of institutional agents in how Black youth construct identities, relationships, and navigate between institutional and community spaces within the sociological and historical context of Chagrin Falls Park; (2) how the racial-identity of adults influences their relationship with youth; and (3) whether institutional agents act as empowerment agents, viewing their role as providing access to social capital for Chagrin Falls Park youth and/or working against the tendency of schools to reproduce inequality (Stanton-Salazar, 2010). The research found that adults from both Kenston Local Schools and Chagrin Falls Park Community Center acted as institutional agents in supporting Chagrin Falls Park students, but rarely questioned institutional policies that reproduced inequality. Findings support the importance of adults acting on behalf of historically marginalized youth, and underscore the potential when agents from multiple institutions work together to support youth.

Committee: Anne Galletta Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Catherine Hansman Ed.D. (Committee Member); Brian Harper Ph.D. (Committee Member); Adam Voight Ph.D. (Committee Member); Karen Sotiropoulos Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Sociology

EdD, University of Cincinnati, 2016, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Urban Educational Leadership

The influence of African-American Othermothers on the stability of children in their care has been documented in research as a long-standing tradition since slavery. When families were separated at auction, Othermothers would become “fictive kin” to the orphaned children. This tradition continues in the Black community today. The advocacy strategies utilized by present-day African-American Othermothers for their children's educational attainment had not been explored in current research. This qualitative study documents the advocacy behaviors of 12 economically-disadvantaged, African-American Othermothers and their quest to ensure that the children in their care receive a quality education through semi-structured interviews. The findings address three pertinent questions. 1. How did the 12 economically-disadvantaged, African-American Othermothers, living in an urban environment, advocate for the schooling needs of children in their care? 2. What were the schooling needs of child in the care of Othermothers who participated in the research project? 3. What supports did Othermothers utilize as they advocated for the schooling needs of the children in their care? Using Critical Race Theory and Black feminist thought as a lens through which to view the findings, the author explicitly recounts the experiences of the Othermothers through counter-storytelling, which yield several emergent themes such as identification of prevalent advocacy behaviors among the women, the impact of racism on their advocacy efforts, and the need to construct metaphorical bridges with the school to meet their child's educational needs. In semi-structured interviews, 12 African-American Othermothers share their struggle and overwhelmingly cite their dependence on their network of professionals and faith for support.

Committee: Mary Brydon-Miller Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Miriam Raider-Roth Ed.D. (Committee Member); Lisa Vaughn Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2016, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

In the past quarter century, China has been developing at an explosive rate. However, social and economic inequity has become more and more severe issue, especially in the rural areas. Many villages and small townships are lacking the infrastructures, such as community center, educational and healthcare facilities, to support a healthy community. Even though the government has shifted a lot of their attentions towards these rural agriculture areas, these communities are still developing at much slower rate comparing to the urban eastern coastal regions.

Committee: Vincent Sansalone M.Arch. (Committee Chair); Udo Greinacher M.Arch. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2015, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Art History

Since opening in 1940, the South Side Community Art Center (SSCAC) in Chicago, Illinois has continuously met the need for a creative space in the local African American visual arts community. I support this assertion by focusing on three aspects of the institution's first fifty years: 1) the center as provider of education and access to the visual arts, 2) the center as an inclusive exhibition and market place, and 3) the center as a site for community building. The SSCAC has demonstrated a historical and contemporary commitment to enabling the production and appreciation of art through access and education, as evidenced by an extensive arts curriculum, its alumni and collection, and a strong exhibition history. I analyze how the SSCAC's programs and exhibitions combatted discriminatory and oppressive practices of Chicago's museums and academic institutions. Established by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the center and its programs were components of the federal government's strategy to restore the nation's economy by employing artists and encouraging community participation in the development of culture. Chicago, especially its predominantly black south side, was a fitting location for an art center as it had been founded as a feasible cradle of creative expression long before the government considered the area. In the first chapter, I provide an abridged history of the forces present in Chicago before the SSCAC came to be a significant African American cultural presence. In chapters two through five, I provide an account of the SSCAC's inception through its fiftieth anniversary. After the government withdrew fiduciary support in 1944, the Bronzeville community developed many solutions to keep the doors open. The community campaign included the inauguration of the wildly popular and lucrative Artists' and Models' Balls. Events like these enabled enable artistic production to continue and allowed patrons and residents to foster an appreciation for art. Du (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Theresa Leininger-Miller Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Mikiko Hirayama Ph.D. (Committee Member); Earl Wright Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Art History

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2015, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

In the United States, the population of homeless people increases every year despite government support. This is mainly due to the shortage of proper supportive housing, public indifference toward homelessness, economic hardships, and the absence of social policy for poor people. Additionally, shelters are stigmatized because they are often associated with crime, filth, and danger. Shelters should create an environment mutually beneficial to the homeless and the surrounding community. This thesis will focus on how the built world improves the well-being of humans and how architecture helps alleviate the isolation of the homeless in our society. Specifically, I will discuss the results of research on homelessness and how that research can be applied in order to suggest appropriate designs for the Homeless Shelter and Community Center in Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati. As well, I will analyze the environmental psychology and human-environment studies through many appropriate research results. By reviewing documents about the homeless and supportive housing, I will examine the effects of sensory experiences, shelter design and architecture, and space on homelessness and social isolation. This thesis is developed to investigate the impact of space on psychological healing via sensory experiences. It is important to consider how to affect behavior and mental condition through the quality of natural elements. This approach is articulated by critics such as Peter Zumthor, Frank Lloyd Wright, and others, who designed their architecture to heal mental problems through the pleasure of bodily experiences. The process of the design is presented in my critical essay which covers homelessness, designing supportive housing, and key considerations that can help to ensure their lives in society. I will test the program by designing a homeless shelter and community center integrated into the community that better socializes the homeless within their neighborhood (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Michael McInturf M.Arch. (Committee Chair); Aarati Kanekar Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2015, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

The Baby Boomer generation presents a care-giving challenge for America, both financially and ideologically. Not only are they a much larger generation than their parents, but a more diverse population with an entirely different set of aspirations and fears about the aging process. Due to these demographic and cultural shifts, many community based models for senior living have emerged in the past decade, which allow seniors to age in place and maintain independence. These models challenge traditional ideas about senior living design and planning, as they abandon communities generated by proximity in favor of ones generated by social processes.

Committee: Michael McInturf M.Arch. (Committee Chair); Aarati Kanekar Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture; Icelandic and Scandinavian Literature

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2010, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

With the increase of attention on historic structures in the United States over the recent decades, a critical architectural approach is needed to address the manner in which historic buildings are reclaimed for a new use within their community. This approach must be preceded by a thorough investigation of the existing structure as well as precedents that address the joints between historic and contemporary materials. This thesis begins this exploration with precedents such as David Adjaye and Herzog de Mueron and a site selection of a circa 1910 abandoned school building at 940 Poplar Street in the West End area of Cincinnati. Following the thesis exploration, a series of designs that address the historic nature of materials and their need to relate to a new function placed within the building emerge. Through design, details explain the relationship between the building's existing material culture and contemporary interventions. This relationship, however, shifts dependent upon the space in which it is designed. This thesis seeks to offer one group of solutions that illustrate the range of interventions available to an adaptive re-use project, from strict preservation to an existing space that has an entirely new perception.

Committee: Rebecca Williamson PhD (Committee Chair); Patricia Kucker MARCH (Committee Chair) Subjects: Architecture

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2006, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Architecture (Master of)

The small towns America was built upon have begun to deteriorate allowing for a loss of identity and a community without a sense of belonging. The center of the city has lost its importance with the loss of specialty stores and locally owned venues, along with the creation of new businesses and workplaces being established outside its boundaries. The integration of identity, local pride, and social organization were key elements implemented within the structure of the community. In order to reestablish identity and encourage civic presence once again, the city center must be revitalized. By exploring the history of the small town, researching examples of strong city center principles, investigating the essentials of civic space and the public realm, and examining the necessary elements that promote active citizens, this thesis proposes a solution to the decay of the American small town.

Committee: Jay Chatterjee (Advisor) Subjects: Architecture

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2006, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Architecture (Master of)

A semiotic analysis of architecture questions the role of signs in giving buildings signification, culturally and socially motivated to convey meaning. The problem lies within the codification of signs throughout a given culture, where classifications are developed and exploited to structure the built environment. The problem further positions itself in the transformation of phenomena in a given typology, here the historical asylum, which rely on the cognition of signs in order for architecture to produce meaning. This thesis hypothesizes that through the process of identifying typological intrinsic signs, a semiotic analysis of architecture can begin to speak of a construction of meaning. Disrupting the habitual sign cognition of a historically established typology involves the displacement of architecture as it used to exist. That is, the destabilization of meanings through the demotivation of architectural signs will begin to speak of an architecture that consciously constructs meaning through the process of building.

Committee: Dr. Aarati Kanekar (Advisor) Subjects:

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2001, Political Science (Arts and Sciences)

This thesis addresses authenticity's relationship with neighborhood centers using Columbus, Ohio as a case study. What is the process of an authentic city center's creation, who participates and in what form? And what is the structural organization of space produced by that process? Finally, the thesis addresses a third question critical to accessing authenticity. What are the uses within structures? Authenticity is closely associated with local citizen involvement in the process. Bittner assesses Columbus' various neighborhood centers through observations and both written and oral works, historical and contemporary. He concludes that authenticity occurs where the process is participatory with each local resident presenting his competing interests. To actualize a community center and to establish a multi-centered city, not a nuclei region as Columbus currently exists, the authentic process provides the opportunity for residents to express needs and interests as they arise out of this complex of relational identities.

Committee: Julie White (Advisor) Subjects: Urban and Regional Planning

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2009, Art Education (Fine Arts)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the affects that art programs in community centers can have on older adults. This is a case study that examined the activities and participants of an art program in a community senior center. Another aim was to consider how the program could influence the artwork of the students in the class. Finally, how these programs affected the participants cognitively, socially, and emotionally were examined. Qualitative research methods were utilized to gain insights and understandings of the research topic. The data consisted of observations, field notes, and interviews with the students and the instructor. It was found that this particular art program provides participants with many cognitive, social, and emotional benefits. It was also discovered that the program does have a positive influence on the artwork produced. The research suggests that other programs like this one could provide its participants with a beneficial and meaningful experience.

Committee: Rosemarie Basile (Advisor); Melissa Haviland (Committee Member); David LaPalombara (Committee Member) Subjects: Art Education

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2004, Counselor Education (Education)

The locus of care for mental illness in the United States has traditionally been described as either community based or centralized, asylum based. Most asylum case studies have focused on the inner workings of the institutions. None have studied in asylum in the context of its surrounding community. This research explores the nature of the connections between asylum and community by way of a historical organizational case study of the Athens Lunatic Asylum from 1867 through 1893 as it relates to the Village of Athens, Ohio. Sources consulted include official documents (government reports and records, census data), personal documents (letters and manuscripts), and popular culture documents (newspapers, atlases, and photographs). Between 1867 and 1893, the Asylum was connected with the Village of Athens in five areas: money economy, landscape, political and physical infrastructure, family, and social order. These connections were forged by the asylum's need for goods and services and by the needs of the Athens community for jobs and cash. They were also sustained by community needs for recreation and entertainment, for humanitarian resources for those with mental illness, and at times for a means of social control. The political and physical infrastructure as well as the formal and informal networks that controlled the commitment process served to make possible the connections that met the needs of both asylum and community. This research documents three aspects of asylum-community affairs receiving received attention from researchers. First, it identifies ways in which the Asylum functioned as customer and employer in the community. Second, it documents how the asylum grounds, as a permeable boundary between asylum and community, functioned as a community resource. Third, it shows how the Athens community used the state and local political infrastructure to advance its interests with regard to the Asylum; it also describes the ways in which the physical infrastructur (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: David O. Thomas Patricia M. Beamish (Advisor) Subjects: Education, Guidance and Counseling