Addressing Educational Challenges: Justice, Rural Higher Ed, Pandemic Impact, Attention Economy, and Urban Gentrification

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

This symposium will present and discuss five papers on the theme of experiential education and community engagement from multiple perspectives. Topics include: the shift towards rehabilitative justice in the American prison system; the underrepresentation of rural students in top universities; the impact of the pandemic on student learning; the unethical nature of the attention economy; and the role of urban colleges in promoting gentrification. All aim to address educational and social issues through various approaches and solutions. This collection of papers are part of the New Jersey Scholars Program (NJSP), a five-week, highly selective summer program for rising seniors throughout the state of New Jersey. Following a general introduction of NJSP, each Scholar will present their papers.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Experiential Education and Community Engagement: Scholarship and Practice

Chair

• John Mullen, Rowan University

Papers

• Reversing the Poverty-to-Prison Pipeline: Correctional Education as a Means of Rehabilitative Justice - Nkechinyelum Nwoye, The Pennington School

• Barriers In Higher Education for Northeastern Rural Students - Jenna Perrone, Northern Burlington High School

• A Draining Dependency: How the Pandemic Reduced Student Attention and Learning Quality - Claire Jiang, The Lawrenceville School

• The Problem of the Attention Economy and Its Implications - Julia Mieszkowicz, Independent Researcher

• Capital and Spatial Spillover in Urban Gentrification: A Case Study of Columbia’s Harlem Expansion - Aarush Santoshi, Bergen County Academies