Emerging Leaders Study (ELS)

The Emerging Leaders Study (ELS) aims to investigate and contribute to the formation of emerging adults as productive, multicultural leaders.  We are particularly interested in how the activities of giving, believing, learning, and working are changing across generations and the implications of these changes for the future of cross-generational mentorship and social support.

The project involves three interconnected sets of issues in contemporary America:

  • ​The Millennial generation and the social changes this generational cohort represents.​

  • Responses to the social problems and needs arising from recent social trends.​

  • Changing leadership, redefined for a networked and globalized United States cultural context.

Details

Immigration and News Media

Using both qualitative and quantitative methodology, this project engages a number of debates within the general public and academic research regarding immigrant reception by:

  • Examining changes over time in media discourse regarding immigrants high-impact, national papers;

  • Tracking local paper coverage and framing with an emphasis on the community characteristics associated with media behaviors;

  • Investigating the impact of article prominence and those used as sources within immigration-crime news articles.

The Built Environment and Crime

This project involves an interdisciplinary team from sociology, criminology, and mathematical sciences engaging community stakeholders throughout Arkansas to explore the spatial and temporal patterns of crime.  The project emphasizes patterns of movement, infrastructure, and the interdependence of locations as drivers of how crime is located in space and time.

Contexts of Health

This project emphasizes the many ways that where we live impacts our health and well-being.  Involving sociological and criminology faculty with diverse interests, this project explores features including:

  • Family and individual characteristics of health;

  • Access and permeability of movement;

  • Inequalities in organizational strength across locales;

  • Historical patterns of residential settlement.