In reality, communities are complex, multi-faceted and ever changing.
To achieve a better understanding of the forces that bring people together with a shared set of interests and responsibilities, Montclair State University has established the Institute for Community Studies.
The Institute's purpose is twofold, said coordinator Jerry Kloby, an MSU graduate who received his Ph.D. in sociology from Rutgers University: "First, to serve as a resource for groups that strengthen community and, second, to place students in positions in community groups where they can benefit from guided non-classroom learning experience. Essentially, the ICS seeks to promote a reciprocally beneficial relationship between the University and the community at large."
The ICS, located in Dickson Hall's Room 263, will benefit from an advisory panel comprised of Dr. George T. Martin and Dr. Janet Ruane of MSU's sociology department, and Dr. Andrew Maxwell of the anthropology department.
Ruane, adviser for the sociology department's graduate program, is optimistic about the Institute's potential: "Daily events remind us of the pressing need to better understand the forces that unite us and separate us," she said. "The Institute for Community Studies, in dedicating itself to the study of these social dynamics, will be an important educational resource for the 21st century."
Among the Institute's immediate aims are research projects that will examine the nature of community and develop a clear notion of the forces which encourage community and those which inhibit its development. The ICS aims to gain a better understanding of the physical characteristics of successful communities as well as the less tangible traits
Maxwell says that there is a very real need for the Institute: "There has been an on-going process of economic restructuring taking place in the United States and this has serious consequences for ordinary citizens. Establishing an institute of this sort is an outstanding, timely idea with the potential to be of great benefit for students and faculty."
Additional information can be obtained by calling the ICS at 655-7920. Or visit their Web site at www.montclair.edu/pages/ics/ics.html
MSU is located at the intersection of Valley Road and Normal Avenue in Upper Montclair. The campus is one mile south of the junction of routes 3 and 46, 14 miles west of New York City.
More information on the University is available on its website: www.montclair.edu.
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