Students at the Table

This chapter explores the benefits of involving students in institutional decision making. The authors describe an action research project conducted at a public institution that involved a working group of students, faculty, and administrators researching and cocreating solutions to develop a more inclusive and equitable environment for learning and student development. The university gained direct insight from the students' viewpoints, and students earned course credit while gaining skills in research methods, leadership, communication, negotiation, and writing. The collaborative, cocurricular experience resulted in the development of a center for cross-cultural engagement on campus. The authors also discuss considerations for this model. Institutions must demonstrate a firm commitment to addressing the issues they investigate by providing sufficient resources and recognizing the labor inherent in the transformative leadership of the community members who work to create institutional change.

Creativity, health and wellbeing: challenges of research and evidence

Creativity, health and wellbeing (CHW) has emerged as a multidisciplinary field of research, policy and practice over the last 20 years. Its beginnings can be traced from the establishment of art therapies in the post war period and from the growth of community arts in the 1960s, which fostered connections between arts professionals, researchers, educators and policy advocates seeking to respond to local challenges (White, 2009). Subsequently the CHW field has grown through evidence building, advocacy and sector development and there is now a wider recognition of the contribution of arts and cultural engagement to a wide range of policy objectives. For example, policies such as social prescribing view arts spaces, activities and resources as community assets that can be used to improve health, to support people living with long-term conditions and to reduce pressure on health services. Nevertheless, the successful integration of arts and creativity into policy and practice is some way off, partly because of ongoing theoretical, methodological and political challenges (Daykin, 2020).

Difference in predictors and barriers to arts and cultural engagement with age in the United States: A cross-sectional analysis using the Health and Retirement Study

Introduction Arts and cultural engagement are associated with a range of mental and physical health benefits, including promoting heathy aging and lower incidence of age-related disabilities such as slower cognitive decline and slower progression of frailty. This suggests arts engagement constitutes health-promoting behaviour in older age. However, there are no large-scale studies examining how the predictors of arts engagement vary with age. Methods Data from the Health and Retirement Study (2014) were used to identify sociodemographic, life satisfaction, social, and arts appreciation predictors of (1) frequency of arts engagement, (2) cultural attendance, (3) difficulty participating in the arts, and (4) being an interested non-attendee of cultural events. Logistic regression models were stratified by age groups [50–59, 60–69, ≥70] for the frequency of arts participation outcome and [50–69 vs ≥70] all other outcomes. Results Findings indicated a number of age-related predictors of frequent arts engagement, including gender, educational attainment, wealth, dissatisfaction with aging, and instrumental activities of daily living (iADL). For cultural event attendance, lower interest in the arts predicted lack of engagement across age groups, whereas higher educational attainment and more frequent religious service attendance became predictors in older age groups (≥ 70). Adults in both age groups were less likely to report difficulties engaging in the arts if they had lower neighbourhood safety, whilst poor self-rated health and low arts appreciation also predicted reduced likelihood of this outcome, but only in the younger (50–69) age group. Adults in the older (≥ 70) age group were more likely to be interested non-attendees of cultural events if they had higher educational attainment and less likely if they lived in neighbourhoods with low levels of safety. Conclusions Our results suggest that certain factors become stronger predictors of arts and cultural engagement and barriers to engagement as people age. Further, there appear to be socioeconomic inequalities in engagement that may increase in older ages, with arts activities overall more accessible as individuals age compared to cultural engagement due to additional financial barriers and transportation barriers. Ensuring that these activities are accessible to people of all ages will allow older adults to benefit from the range of health outcomes gained from arts and cultural engagement.

Arts and cultural engagement, reportedly antisocial or criminalized behaviors, and potential mediators in two longitudinal cohorts of adolescents

Reportedly antisocial or criminalized behaviors (RACBs; those previously and problematically termed as “delinquent”) in adolescence are important for health and wellbeing. We investigated whether arts and cultural engagement reduced RACBs in mid- to late adolescence. We used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (n=10,610) and the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (n=15,214). Using structural equation modelling, we also explored mechanisms that might link arts and cultural engagement to RACBs. More arts and cultural engagement was associated with fewer RACBs, higher self-control scores, and fewer positive perceptions of RACBs concurrently and one to two years later. Arts and cultural engagement may provide opportunities for adolescents to realize positive developmental outcomes, reducing their risk of RACBs.

Staying Local, Going Global

Streaming technology has facilitated the global distribution of foreign language shows such as Netflix’s Dark. The worldwide popularity of Dark, the streaming giant’s first original series made in Germany, raises questions about Netflix’s business strategy of producing “local stories with global appeal” as well as the international allure of German culture today. This article examines how Dark’s pop-cultural engagement with nuclear power connects to Germany’s post-war policies on atomic energy and the circulation of the country’s sustainability politics on the international stage. The show’s particular blend of local and global aesthetics of nuclear power, sustainability, and climate change demonstrates how German culture is now viewed as a fitting medium to reveal, correspond to, and have an impact on today’s zeitgeist globally. It also signals a shift in the dynamic between local and global media forms, and thus German film.

Engaging Neighbourhoods: Interrogating urban geometries and the implications on community

<p>The urban geometries of New Zealand suburbs do not encourage social and cultural engagement amongst contemporary communities. In 2017, New Zealand is ‘Home’ to people from over 30 nations, however the planned suburban layout is still tailored for a bi-cultural ideal implemented in a country that had never experimented with suburban living design before and now struggles to break away from it. The planning of future neighborhoods in New Zealand is crucial at this time of housing crisis, where the priority is given to the quantity of dwellings that can be produced to house families, when focus should be on the quality of life that is being provided and the healthiness of the context in which communities exist. This thesis explores how New Zealand suburbs can be adapted through architectural and urban design interventions to allow for more immersive, healthy and sustainable living environments that facilitate cultural and social exchange.</p>

Engaging Neighbourhoods: Interrogating urban geometries and the implications on community

<p>The urban geometries of New Zealand suburbs do not encourage social and cultural engagement amongst contemporary communities. In 2017, New Zealand is ‘Home’ to people from over 30 nations, however the planned suburban layout is still tailored for a bi-cultural ideal implemented in a country that had never experimented with suburban living design before and now struggles to break away from it. The planning of future neighborhoods in New Zealand is crucial at this time of housing crisis, where the priority is given to the quantity of dwellings that can be produced to house families, when focus should be on the quality of life that is being provided and the healthiness of the context in which communities exist. This thesis explores how New Zealand suburbs can be adapted through architectural and urban design interventions to allow for more immersive, healthy and sustainable living environments that facilitate cultural and social exchange.</p>

The Voices of Tokelau Youth in New Zealand: Na mafialeo ona Tupulaga Tokelau i Nui Hila

<p><b>Tokelau is a minority group within New Zealand's larger Pacific community. New Zealand has a special relationship with the three small and very isolated atolls groups which make up Tokelau. The Tokelauan population in New Zealand is nearly five times that of the homelands. As a contribution to the global 'Youth Choices Youth Voices' study of youth acculturation, this research also contributes to the experiences of Pacific youth in New Zealand. The focus of this study is on Tokelauan youth and explores the perceptions of a group of Wellington based Tokelauan youth on their identity, sense of belonging, connectedness and hopes for the future. Also, the views of a group of Tokelauan elders are presented to set the background for the youth voices to be understood. The aim of this qualitative study was to capture the unheard voice of the Tokelauan youth, to explore their stories and experiences so that the information provided will inform policy and programme planning for Tokelauan youth, as well as Pacific and other minority groups in New Zealand.</b></p> <p>Using talanoa methodology, a combination of group maopoopoga and individual in depth interviews, valuable knowledge was shared giving insights into the experiences, needs and future aspirations of Tokelauan youth in New Zealand. Feelings of how Tokelauan youth construct their identity and sense of belonging in this new homeland were also explored. The findings were that while youth each have their own experiences, shaped by their own environment in New Zealand, all strongly identified themselves as Tokelauan revealing a strong physical, emotional and spiritual connection to the homeland. The shared stories of their families journeying to New Zealand in search of better life for their children and for Tokelau, strongly influence their sense of identity and belonging. Regarded by the elders as 'the lucky generation' and 'future of Tokelau' they felt a sense of responsibility to pass on the fakaTokelau to the next generation. The main agencies these youth connected with were the family (the core group), the Kaiga Tokelau Porirua (community group) and the Mafutaga Tupulaga (youth) sports groups, church and schooling. They expressed a real passion for cultural engagement, but raised questions about the lack of youth participation in decision making, and how this might influence future cultural security. Education was important to these youth andfor the future of Tokelau. Their lack of connection to schooling and education was of most concern to them and they strongly emphasised their desire and need for more family and community support in their education. Finally, all involved in the talanoa saw the need to engage in further studies.</p>

The Voices of Tokelau Youth in New Zealand: Na mafialeo ona Tupulaga Tokelau i Nui Hila

<p><b>Tokelau is a minority group within New Zealand's larger Pacific community. New Zealand has a special relationship with the three small and very isolated atolls groups which make up Tokelau. The Tokelauan population in New Zealand is nearly five times that of the homelands. As a contribution to the global 'Youth Choices Youth Voices' study of youth acculturation, this research also contributes to the experiences of Pacific youth in New Zealand. The focus of this study is on Tokelauan youth and explores the perceptions of a group of Wellington based Tokelauan youth on their identity, sense of belonging, connectedness and hopes for the future. Also, the views of a group of Tokelauan elders are presented to set the background for the youth voices to be understood. The aim of this qualitative study was to capture the unheard voice of the Tokelauan youth, to explore their stories and experiences so that the information provided will inform policy and programme planning for Tokelauan youth, as well as Pacific and other minority groups in New Zealand.</b></p> <p>Using talanoa methodology, a combination of group maopoopoga and individual in depth interviews, valuable knowledge was shared giving insights into the experiences, needs and future aspirations of Tokelauan youth in New Zealand. Feelings of how Tokelauan youth construct their identity and sense of belonging in this new homeland were also explored. The findings were that while youth each have their own experiences, shaped by their own environment in New Zealand, all strongly identified themselves as Tokelauan revealing a strong physical, emotional and spiritual connection to the homeland. The shared stories of their families journeying to New Zealand in search of better life for their children and for Tokelau, strongly influence their sense of identity and belonging. Regarded by the elders as 'the lucky generation' and 'future of Tokelau' they felt a sense of responsibility to pass on the fakaTokelau to the next generation. The main agencies these youth connected with were the family (the core group), the Kaiga Tokelau Porirua (community group) and the Mafutaga Tupulaga (youth) sports groups, church and schooling. They expressed a real passion for cultural engagement, but raised questions about the lack of youth participation in decision making, and how this might influence future cultural security. Education was important to these youth andfor the future of Tokelau. Their lack of connection to schooling and education was of most concern to them and they strongly emphasised their desire and need for more family and community support in their education. Finally, all involved in the talanoa saw the need to engage in further studies.</p>