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Community Organizations
Project Description : This project aims to create a database and survey community-based organizations in the Trenton Metropolitan area.
Diane Bates is Program Co-Director and Associate Professor of Sociology. She has worked since 1996 on documenting social and environmental change in Ecuador's Southern Amazonian region. Since returning to New Jersey in 2003, she has begun to research environmental issues in the greater Trenton area, including how the Delaware River floods in the previous three years have affected riverside communities and how regional planning laws affect the state's affordable housing and public education.
Elizabeth Borland is Program Co-Director and Assistant Professor of Sociology. She received her Ph.D. at the University of Arizona in 2004 and is interested in social movements, non-profit organizations, leadership and decision-making, and applied research that can benefit local communities. Before coming to TCNJ, Dr. Borland did community-based research in Tucson, Arizona with the Center for Applied Sociology at the University of Arizona, including a large-scale study of local homelessness and an assessment of the effects of welfare reform. She also did extensive fieldwork on the trajectories of organizations in the women’s movement in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Dr. Borland has published her work in Spanish and English in journals and edited volumes, and has presented at more than a dozen professional conferences.
Susan Cosgrove is from Langhorne, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Villa Joseph Marie High School with High Honors in 2003. Attending a small Catholic school started her on the path of frequently questioning arbitrary authority. She is a senior Sociology major with a concentration in Urban & Ethnic Studies. She began at TCNJ as a Psychology major, but quickly realized that Sociology would offer her a better understanding of the complex functioning of societies and the individuals that comprise them. She has been employed as a salon receptionist for the duration of her college career. In her free time, she can often be found reading, writing, and expanding her culinary repertoire of delicious vegetarian meals. Environmental issues, sustainability, and social justice are just a few of the many topics she enjoys reading about. She is a very active person who enjoys doing many activities outside, including running, cycling, kayaking, and playing virtually any team sport. In the past year, she has completed two marathons: the first, in Philadelphia in November 2007 and the second in Barcelona in March 2008. She plans to run many races in the foreseeable future, including a trail half-marathon in August, the Philadelphia Marathon again in November, and the San Diego Marathon in May 2009. She also enjoys traveling and has recently backpacked throughout Western Europe. She hopes to eventually earn a Ph. D. in Sociology, and use her knowledge and research to aid in solving some of the ongoing problems facing America and the world.
