Research after Natural Disasters: Recommendations and Lessons Learned

When natural disasters occur, university researchers and their community partners, particularly those in the disaster areas, are often expected to assume responsibility for generating knowledge from these events. As both natural and man-made disasters continue to occur, more faculty will be unexpectedly thrust into the arena of disaster-related research. This article explores the opportunities and challenges experienced by four social work faculty who made their initial forays into disaster-related research in the midst of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The research projects, partnerships, innovations, and problems associated with their research endeavors are discussed. In addition, recommendations for engaging in disaster-related research for researchers new to this area of inquiry are explored.

A Case Study of a Sustainable Tourism Project in Southern Appalachia: Collaboration Is Key

This case study describes a semester-long project completed by 46 undergraduate college students involved in courses in tourism planning and marketing, our community partner, and me the instructor.

Widening the Circle: Prison Arts Performances as Gifts

After outlining the major benefits — and problems — of both in-class and public prison arts performances, and presenting an explication of gifts found in Lewis Hyde’s The Gift: Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property, I offer a normative lens through which these performances should be viewed: as exemplary instances of gift giving.

The Pub, the People, the Place, the Passions, and the Principles: The Social and Personal Context of Engagement in a Collective Action

Towards the end of 2006 the owners of a small, historic public house withdrew from sale the locally produced beer that had been sold there for many years. Pub regulars instigated a boycott in an attempt to have the beer reinstated. Following a four-month widely supported boycott and considerable media coverage, the pub company owners returned the local beer to the pub. This paper reports on a selection of the experiences of some of those taking an active role in the boycott. Following intensive semi-structured interviews, we extracted a number of themes from participants’ accounts. We identify potentially important factors in the “causal net,” explaining their involvement in the boycott. Affective experience, collective interests, and deontological considerations [the obligation to do the right thing even if doing so could be personally damaging] emerge as important dimensions of people’s discussion of their participation. The findings are discussed in relation to theoretical perspectives bearing on an understanding of action choices.