Sustainability and Social Justice

Date of Award

5-2016

Degree Type

Research Paper

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Community Development and Planning (CDP)

Department

International Development, Community and Environment

Chief Instructor

Laurie Ross

Second Reader

Gino DiIorio

Third Reader

Hannah Yukon

Keywords

Play, Anthony Bourdain, Hopscotch, The Importance of Being (Earnestly) On Time, Conducting Research is Like The Time You Drank Old Milk and Put it Back In The Fridge Anyway, Worcester Is Cool, Y'all

Abstract

This research paper presents an alternative form of conducing Community Development Research. It highlights the gaps that currently exist in professional education with the community development and planning program at Clark University. The research paper employs a theatrical framework to encourage practitioners to ask more illuminating questions that informs the ‘human work’ that sometimes gets overlooked. In order to be authentic in the field of Community Development, practitioners need to be in touch with a less scientifically rational side of themselves, to truly embrace the complexities of the human condition. Drawing from my personal experiences, I wrote a play based on my field observations, conversations and interactions that I’ve had during my time in the program. This will hopefully provide both students and practitioners an alternative way to see their world and their encounters with people around them. By engaging with a theatrical framework, it is my hope that both students and practitioners also discover new ways of conducing research, and new ways of Being, both inside and outside the classroom.

Worcester

Yes

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