Abstract

This research project examines the relationship between a college and its surrounding communities. Literature relevant to this study includes that on community formation and degradation, sociological concepts of place and habitus, and existing scholarship on town-gown relations. This project determines the areas of codependence and sources of tension in between the relationship between Hamilton and Clinton. Multiple factors hinder the formation of sentimental bonds and community attachment, such as a wealth disparity and difference in perspective on the world. This being said, the College and the Village depend upon one another for a multitude of services that are detailed in this paper. The results of this analysis hopefully provide a structure upon which to further analyze town-gown relations, and help to guide future courses of action through potential improvements to interactions and policy. Utilization of semi-structured interviews was key to the cultivation of poignant and pertinent results in this study, as the personal anecdotes and sentiments of individuals in both populations are paramount in developing valuable findings. In an attempt to study two populations, respondents from both the college and the town had significant roles in the results and concluding sections.

Type of Work

Thesis - Limited Access

Department or Program

Sociology

Institution

Hamilton College

Degree

Bachelor of Arts

Date of Graduation

5-2018

Faculty Advisor

Jaime Kucinskas

Notes

Access to this thesis is limited to Hamilton College, Clinton, NY.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Download

Share

COinS