Reaching out: professors and students engage with communities near and far

topics: Communities, Human and Organizational Development

May 15, 2006 by Kurt Brobeck

Peabody College has long been known for its commitment to learners, including those who are disabled or at risk. But another dimension of the college's mission may be somewhat overlooked: its long tradition of helping people live in strong, healthy communities.

A new Center for Community Studies has brought together psychologists, anthropologists, sociologists and other social scientists to study and address issues facing communities.

“The center is an effort to pull together and expand on a lot of the various research projects we are already doing in communities locally, nationally and even internationally,” said Douglas Perkins, center director and associate professor of human and organizational development.

“For example, Professor Bill Partridge, an anthropologist, leads a summer field school for international education in Ecuador, where our graduate students work side-by-side with Latin American graduates and scholars on community development projects. Our work ranges from international projects, such as that, to local projects, such as a community assessment we did for South Nashville on behalf of the Woodbine Community Organization,” he said.

The center is organized around six topical working groups:

Healthy communities
Schools and community
Organizational change
Urban neighborhoods
International communities
Religion, spirituality and community

“The work groups represent clusters of researchers and projects as well as student interests,” Perkins said. “We come together within these projects and sometimes within larger work groups to share ideas and discuss proposals for future research.”

Center efforts include research, dissemination, outreach and capacity-building components. One emphasis that spans all six work groups is applying social science methods to generate data that a variety of agencies, institutions and individuals can use to build healthier, more vibrant communities. Center researchers work with community-based organizations to plan, collect and analyze data and to develop recommendations.

One project that exemplifies the center’s efforts both to partner with others and to strengthen communities is Professor Craig Anne Heflinger’s collaboration with Tennessee Voices for Children and the Center for Family Research at the University of Georgia to address disparities in health and health care access for rural populations. Heflinger and colleagues are conducting a qualitative study using in-depth interviews and non-obtrusive data gathering to examine service use and outcomes for children with behavioral health problems. The study is being conducted both in Georgia and Tennessee.

Maury Nation, assistant professor of human and organizational development, conducts research focused on school-based drug, alcohol, and violence prevention programs. Nation is particularly interested in understanding and preventing school bullying. He also is collaborating with the Nashville Prevention Partnership to reduce alcohol and drug use among middle-school students.

Other collaborations in Nashville include such organizations as The Neighborhoods Resource Center, the Nashville Civic Design Center, and Tying Nashville Together. On the national level, the center has worked with PICO, a network of faith-based community organizations.

The center has its roots in the college's long history of excellence in the field of community psychology, as embodied by the work of emeritus professor John R. (Bob) Newbrough. Newbrough was recruited to the faculty in the 1960s to lead an earlier incarnation of the center, then part of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center.

As community psychology has evolved—emphasizing action research and community empowerment—members of the Department of Human and Organizational Development have adjusted degree offerings and curriculum, as well. Vanderbilt now offers a doctoral program in community research and action and a master’s degree in community development action. Students in these programs have opportunities to participate in center workgroups and collaborations.

The center was given impetus in May 2004, when Perkins led a national conference at Vanderbilt that brought together community research experts from the United States and abroad. “The conference was designed to present some prominent examples of effective interdisciplinary community-based research and also to brainstorm how to do this type of work more effectively,” Perkins said. “A lot of us, including myself, were coming out of psychology and have been working with colleagues from other disciplines for some time. But there are still remarkably few good models for doing that well, and so this conference was geared toward that. At the same time, the conference was also geared toward gaining recognition for our center here as it was coming together.”