Skip to main content

Recent Urban Studies Department Scholarship

By

New CityLab Report

Urban Studies faculty and students have recently released a new CityLab report, Suspension in Worcester:  A Continuing Conversation.  

 Written by Dr. Thomas Conroy and Dr. Madeline Otis Campbell with Urban Studies students Dannielle Morrow and Jennifer Velez, the report explores the reasons behind a suspension disparity in Worcester Public Schools.  In that disparity, Latino students, who comprise 38% of the WPS population receive 53% of the total system suspensions.  The report solicited input from students, parents, teachers, and principals to better understand the story behind the statistics. 

The Vincent "Jake" Powers CityLab is a research instiute and archives housed in and managed by the Department of Urban Studies.  Its mission is to engage in informative projects with and for the people, groups, and organizations of Central Massachusetts about topics of interest to their lives and the world around them. 

Student To Present Paper at Conference

Kaitlyn Benoit, a junior Urban Studies/History major, will present a paper at the April 2014 Meeting of the New England Historical Association. 

The paper, entitled "Illusion Wrapped in Superficiality":  The Civil Rights Movement in Worcester, MA, came out of her Urban Studies coursework last semester and the title comes from a Martin Luther King, Jr. speech delivered in the Temple Emanuel in Worcester, across from Worcester State University. 

Katie will join 5 other WSU students from the History Department, and history professors Dr. Tona Hangen, Dr. Erika Briesacher, and Prof. Bruce Cohen in presenting papers at the conference.  For more see:  http://www.newenglandhistorians.org/
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Results of the 28th Manhattan Short Film Festival votes worldwide and at WSU

By
The results of the 2025 Manhattan Short Film Festival are in!   Here's the word from the Manhattan Short website:  " We Have Sinned Before You , written and directed by Ifat Nener Orgad (Israel), is the Gold Medal Winner of the 28th Annual Manhattan Short Film Festival. We Have Sinned Before You , a family drama set around a game designed to pass the time on Yom Kippur, resonated with viewers around the world."   In second place worldwide and winning the silver medal was  Passarinho , directed by Natalia García Agraz (Mexico). This film was "about two teenage girls who try to meet their favorite soccer player, but their plan is threatened when one of them gets a red card. The film is dedicated to all the Messi Mums in the world."   Finally, winning the bronze medal was Beyond Silence , written and directed by Marnie Blok (The Netherlands). This film "tells the story of two women from two generations who experience a singular trauma. One retre...
Post a Comment
Read more

The 2026 Urban Studies Commencements Round Up

By
The faculty and staff of the Department of Urban Studies congratulates all of our 2026 graduates.  IN all, 11 Urban Studies majors, 12 Urban Studies or Social WOrk & Social Policy minors, and 11 graduate students graduated in two different ceremonies.   The following students received their their Baccalaureate degrees at the undergraduate commencement on Saturday, May 16, 2026 at the DCU Center in Worcester.   B.S. in Urban Studies Benjamin Barter Amanda Blouin Lamar Brown-Noguera Hunter Chilton  David Clark  Matthew Rabeuf  Abby Rickert Hira Rizvi David Simpson Casey Thomas Mary Thulare  Minor in Urban Studies Amanda Adamuska  Olivia Muscatell Izaiah Njuguna Keeshauna Santouse Aleisha Toussaint Ava Vasquez Minor in Social Work & Social Policy Lainey Bassett Felicia El Karim Victoria Nascimento  Wilianny Ovalle Torrey Provost (we're happy to note that Torrey chose to walk with her classmates in the Urban Studies major at com...
Post a Comment
Read more

New Article by Urban Studies Faculty Member, Professor Shiko Gathuo

By
Not in This Together: COVID-19 and People of Color  by Shiko Gathuo, Ph.D. Shiko Gathuo, Ph.D. Professor and Graduate Program Director of Urban Studies Presidents, prime ministers, royalty, celebrities. These and other rich, powerful and famous people have contracted COVID-19. When the pandemic first took hold, it was easy to throw around phrases like “we are in this together,” “the pandemic does not discriminate,” and “united in the fight.” These warm and comforting sentiments quickly became hollow as it became apparent that, in fact, the pandemic does discriminate and it has negatively affected the poor and people of color disproportionately and in many different ways. People of color are experiencing the health aspect of COVID-19 including infection, testing and treatment differently. The virus has also exacerbated other already existing conditions such as economic deprivation, food insecurity, and the education achievement gap. COVID-19 has also had a significant negative effe...
3 comments
Read more