Master of Arts, University of Toledo, 2018, Geography

Research has shown that neighborhood has significant effects on health outcomes; this emphasizes the importance place plays in health care planning and urban health geography. As much as a place or a spatial location is essential, the people who live in such neighborhoods or area are also important. Pharmacies everywhere in the world play a significant role in the overall wellbeing and welfare of people. It is vital that while business owners and professionally trained pharmacists seek to locate their stores in locations where they would make the maximum profits; it is also essential to ensure that everyone regardless of demographic status has equal access to it. Accessibility could be defined in many terms, but this study focuses more on spatial accessibility on how people living in different geographic locations( demand locations) enjoy relative ease to a place of service(supply location). To measure this relative easiness, this study uses two geographic information system based technique; the proximity analysis and the two-step floating catchment area method to analyze how all the population in Lucas County access their pharmacies. The study uses the census block group data as a unit of analysis, and the results were compared to the outcomes of Multnomah County. The reason for this comparison is to observe if the expected variations in accessibility in Toledo would be the same for Portland that is adjudged as a model of 21st-century urban planning in the country. The final results from the two methods show that African Americans enjoy better accessibility than white, and people living below the poverty line also enjoy better accessibility. A simple OLS regression was used to analyze the relationship between accessibility scores and socioeconomic and demographic status. The results show that in Toledo, Blacks, Whites, Bachelor's degree, Poverty have a significant relationship with accessibility. However, in Portland, housing units stocks, whites, people with a bac (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Sujata Shetty (Advisor) Subjects: Geographic Information Science; Geography; Urban Planning

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2016, Leadership and Change

Negative attitudes toward racial minorities and consequent maltreatment of non-Whites continue to be a crisis in America. The crisis of racism is still realized in phenomena such as residential segregation (Bonilla-Silva, 2014), health disparities (Chae, Nuru-Jeter, & Adler, 2012; Chae, Nuru-Jeter, Francis, & Lincoln, 2011), and in the not-so-uncommon unjust arrests and imprisonment of persons of color (Alexander, 2012). Improvement in race relations through the development of meaningful cross racial relationships in racially integrated settings is one avenue that may lead to reduction of racism (E. Anderson, 2010; Fischer, 2011; Massey & Denton, 1993). Christian congregations are common settings in America, and Christian teachings are primary sources of Western ethics and moral values. Historically, Christian practices have affected American attitudes such as with regard to elder care, have influenced legislation such as child labor laws, and have even swayed the contents of the United States constitution. Yet, racial segregation has been the norm in Christian congregations from the end of American slavery until today. Since there may be a relationship between the persistence of segregation in Christian congregations and the persistence of racism in America, racial integration in Christian congregations may impact racial attitudes and relationships. Using Participatory Action Research, this study explored ways to improve racial integration and race relations in Christian congregations. This study utilized volunteers in a 30-day exploration of racial integration in a congregation, a small church in one of the two Cumberland Presbyterian denominations. Data from observations, interviews, racially integrated events, reflection sessions, and participant journaling were collected and analyzed. Intentionality in racial integration in one congregation resulted in cumulative positive change, at times difficult and incremental. Findings revealed that adaptive, proactive lea (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Laura Morgan Roberts Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Jon Wergin Ph.D. (Committee Member); Daniel J. Earheart-Brown Ph.D. (Committee Member); Craig Keener Ph.D. (Other) Subjects: African American Studies; African Americans; American History; American Studies; Behavioral Psychology; Behavioral Sciences; Bible; Biblical Studies; Black History; Black Studies; Clergy; Divinity; Ethics; Ethnic Studies; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Religion; Religious Congregations; Religious Education; Religious History; Social Research; Sociology; Spirituality; Theology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2014, Sociology

For decades, sociologists of education have tried to determine the extent to which schools either promote social mobility or reinforce the stratification system. Wide-ranging research suggests that schools do both. Socioeconomically disadvantaged students and racial minorities have inferior educational outcomes in terms of test scores and graduation rates. It is possible that schools offer learning environments that produce unequal outcomes, but seasonal comparison research demonstrates that schools may actually serve to equalize educational opportunities, especially when compared to the resources and learning opportunities children have access to outside of school. This dissertation explores specific school contexts that could either promote or obstruct equal educational outcomes of students from disadvantaged social positions. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Kindergarten Class 1998-1999 (ECLSK), I explore how different educational contexts, in particular the racial composition of schools and school sector (Catholic versus public), affect math and reading learning rates in kindergarten, first grade, and the intervening summer. I use seasonal comparison analysis, multilevel modeling, and propensity score matching to estimate the effect of these school contexts and to overcome many of the methodological limitations of prior research. This dissertation shows that the context of schooling plays a meaningful role in academic inequalities, but not necessarily in the ways that prior research would predict. Students in minority-segregated schools gain math skills at the same rate as students in schools with few racial minorities, but in the first grade, students in minority-segregated schools gain reading skills significantly slower than those students in schools with few racial minorities. However, when we take into account summer learning, black students experience the largest disadvantage compared to whites in schools (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Douglas B. Downey PhD (Advisor); Claudia Buchmann PhD (Committee Member); Rachel E. Dwyer PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Sociology; Sociology

MA, University of Cincinnati, 2007, Arts and Sciences : Sociology

Extensive research on White attitudes toward racial and ethnic minority groups shows that large minority concentrations produce a threatened response in Whites, leading to prejudice and discrimination. However, little research has examined the extent to which minorities perceive such discrimination. This analysis utilizes several theoretical frameworks to test hypotheses regarding the effects of neighborhood minority concentration on minorities' perceptions of discrimination. The buffering hypothesis claims that high concentrations of in-group individuals operate as a shield from discrimination from Whites. In contrast, the enclosure hypothesis and ethnic community theory predict that segregated neighborhoods create a heightened sense of racial/ethnic differences, leading to the perception of more discrimination. In this paper, I test these predictions with data from a large multi-city survey. Findings are largely in support of the buffering hypothesis, in that segregated neighborhoods reduce the likelihood of respondents' perceiving housing and labor market discrimination.

Committee: Dr. Jeff Timberlake (Advisor) Subjects: Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies