works closely in supporting and advising student organizations including the Black Student Union and Latino Student Organization. Driving to the location of our interview, I made note of the campus running parallel to the main drag into downtown. The backyard of the campus is the downtown, with its quiet streets and sidewalks of inlaid red brick, lined every 15 feet or so by large trees. A two way street, changing into a one way street, runs down the middle of downtown and separates the sides of the street, lined with bistros, coffee shops, microbreweries, and local businesses of fashion, art, and restaurants. I was immediately drawn to the attractiveness of this area. Outside the restaurants, patrons are invited to sun drenched seating areas to sip their coffee or beer and chat, or to read their paper and watch the people strolling by. During our first interview, it was nearly fall, so there were not many folks taking advantage of those locations, but I imagine in the heat of July, people walking with children and their family dog up and down the block, meeting neighbors and taking in some brunch. I felt familiar with this type of neighborhood. The suburbs around Chicago, where I live, try to duplicate these streets, which offer a strange sense of nostalgic joy. I sat inside the coffee shop, drinking coffee and watching patrons walking by outside the large windowed storefront. Outside the coffee shop is a statue of children at play, a bronze monument that only adds to my sense of nostalgic joy—childhood captured in frozen bliss—young girls in dresses with pigtails and boys with ball caps and t-shirts watching a kite overhead. I looked for some explanation nearby of this monument, seeking some context. From my interpretation, the features of the faces of these children suggested to me that they were
works closely in supporting and advising student organizations including the Black Student Union and Latino Student Organization. Driving to the location of our interview, I made note of the campus running parallel to the main drag into downtown. The backyard of the campus is the downtown, with its quiet streets and sidewalks of inlaid red brick, lined every 15 feet or so by large trees. A two way street, changing into a one way street, runs down the middle of downtown and separates the sides of the street, lined with bistros, coffee shops, microbreweries, and local businesses of fashion, art, and restaurants. I was immediately drawn to the attractiveness of this area. Outside the restaurants, patrons are invited to sun drenched seating areas to sip their coffee or beer and chat, or to read their paper and watch the people strolling by. During our first interview, it was nearly fall, so there were not many folks taking advantage of those locations, but I imagine in the heat of July, people walking with children and their family dog up and down the block, meeting neighbors and taking in some brunch. I felt familiar with this type of neighborhood. The suburbs around Chicago, where I live, try to duplicate these streets, which offer a strange sense of nostalgic joy. I sat inside the coffee shop, drinking coffee and watching patrons walking by outside the large windowed storefront. Outside the coffee shop is a statue of children at play, a bronze monument that only adds to my sense of nostalgic joy—childhood captured in frozen bliss—young girls in dresses with pigtails and boys with ball caps and t-shirts watching a kite overhead. I looked for some explanation nearby of this monument, seeking some context. From my interpretation, the features of the faces of these children suggested to me that they were
Pollom_Dissertation_Final.docx