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Geo-Spatial Elements as Symbols:
Exploring the Within-Campus Drinking Culture
Andrew Wall, Ph.D.
April 25, 2007, 1:00-2:00 pm ET
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The campus quadrangle - filled with green grass and bustling with student activity on a warm fall day is a symbol of college life. So, too, are the historic academic buildings that literally and figuratively are the halls of learning. Residential campuses are filled with buildings that help to represent the geo-spatial elements of the culture of a university. Peterson and Spencer (1990) suggest that "campus structures, statues, sculptures, traffic patterns and other construction conveys a wealth of information about the shared values and beliefs of the culture (p. 175)." Understanding campus culture certainly involves far more than geo-spatial elements, but the physical setting, or objects that become symbols of our campus environments can provide clues into the culture of campus life (Kuh & Whitt, 1988). An all-too-prevalent element of campus life is the culture of drinking or alcohol consumption. This presentation will use data on resident configurations and alcohol use to: (1) Map campus areas of heavy consumption as means to illuminate clues into the campus sub-cultures of alcohol use; and (2) identify geo-spatial symbols that can be used as a focus of alcohol abuse prevention efforts in the college environment.
About Andrew Wall
Andrew Wall, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the University of Rochester's Margaret Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development, focusing on higher education as a component of the P-20 spectrum. Andrew received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois and comes to the Warner School with experience directing a statewide higher education evaluation project, working as a social policy researcher, and working in student affairs in higher education. Wall's research and evaluation work has examined college student health and learning, learning outcomes, state educational finance, and public trust in education. Wall's recently published research focuses on college student health and safety, educational funding and adequacy, and program evaluation in higher education. He teaches classes in organization and governance of higher education, higher education policy, and evaluation in education.
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