Ms Katherine Nesse - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Personal InformationCountry: United States City: Champaign Nationality: USA Personal Profile: Follow me on Twitter at katenesse. |
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Personal ContactsAddress: Dept. Urban and Regional Planning 111 Temple Buell Hall, MC-619 611 Taft Drive Champaign, IL 61820 E-mail: klnesse2@illinois.edu |
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Research InterestsGeneral Research Interests: Demographics, regional economic development, and governance PhD/Postdoctoral Research Title: CULTURAL CHANGE AND POLICY-MAKING: THE GROWTH OF THE HISPANIC POPULATION IN TOWNS ACROSS THE MIDWEST AND ITS AFFECT ON GOVERNANCE PhD/Postdoctoral Research Abstract:: There has been a considerable cultural shift in many places in the Midwest with the influx of Hispanics since the early 1990s. But it is not clear is how this cultural shift has affected policy making. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate whether culture is an important factor in governance and policy-making. I study this through the lens of local education policy, a local policy area that is particularly likely to respond quickly to changes in the community. I hypothesize that cultural factors contribute to policy changes within school districts in the Midwest that have experienced high growth of their Hispanic populations. In addition, I hypothesize that successful decisions made in response to these cultural changes incorporated communicative actions in the policy-making process. Both of these hypotheses have not been fully examined, particularly in light of recent demographic changes taking place in the Midwest. By examining them I will better understand the role of culture in policy-making and the influence of the new Hispanic population in shaping their communities. I will also be able to contribute to communicative planning theory by testing some of the assumptions that it is built around, namely that both the cultures of community members and the process by which they are involved in decision-making matter to policy outcomes. |
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