MANDEL SCHOOL
NEWS AND EVENTS

Mark G. Chupp, Ph.D., MSW, Visiting Assistant Professor at the Mandel School, will be one of the presenters at a seminar entitled "How Integrated are Stably Integrated Communities? A consideration of the role of nonprofit organizations in fostering inter-ethnic interaction." The seminar, sponsored and hosted by the Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations (Room 115, 11402 Bellflower Road), takes place February 14, 2008, noon-1:30 pm.

About the seminar

PRESENTERS: Paul F. Salipante, Jr., Ph.D., Professor of Labor and Human Resource Policy, Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University, and Mark G. Chupp, Ph.D., MSW, Visiting Assistant Professor, Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University and Associate at the Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development.

The U.S. censuses of 1990 and 2000 revealed that a growing number of U.S. communities are stably integrated. Among the first such American communities were Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights. Analyzing the ethnic composition of a youth organization in those communities, Paul Salipante (WSOM/CWRU) and Judith Weisinger (New Mexico State University) found that the organization had succeeded in attracting a diverse membership roughly representative of those communities. However, at a more disaggregated level, many of the organization's units in Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights had less representative compositions, suggesting a lack of meaningful inter-ethnic interaction. The lack of diversity was especially marked at the level of adult volunteers. Longitudinal analysis further indicated a tipping point in adult volunteer engagement when minority youth membership approached 75 percent. Qualitative research in another geographic location indicated that members of the youth organization experienced difficulties in creating successful interactions among members of differing ethnicities.

In contrast to stable integration, Mark Chupp (MSASS/CWRU) conducted research in a Cleveland neighborhood undergoing dramatic transition in racial makeup. Analyzing positive inter-ethnic relations in Slavic Village, seven pathways emerged in which inter-ethnic trust forms. The study also identified building blocks that facilitate inter-ethnic trust and obstacles that hindered social capital formation across race.

In addition to providing additional information about their research, the two presenters hope to engage participants in a discussion of the roles that nonprofit organizations play, and could play, in fostering meaningful inter-ethnic relationships.

Find out more about the Mandel Center.
Visit Mark Chupp's faculty page.