The mother's house of the San Francisco Zoo: the art of engendering space in the modern city

The Mother's House of the San Francisco Zoo opened in 1925 as a sanctuary for women visiting the grounds, and in the 1930s, was ornamented through an ambitious decorative program sponsored by the Public Works of Art Project. The program consists of long-overlooked murals painted by Helen Forbes (1891–1945) and Dorothy Pucinelli (1901–1974), and large-scale mosaics executed by the Bruton sisters—Margaret (1894–1983), Esther (1896–1992), and Helen (1898–1985). While the Mother's House could be interpreted as symbolizing a gilded cage that restricted woman's agency within the modern city, it can also be read as expanding women's roles in the public sphere. My article examines the Mother's House as a case study of the gendering of space wherein the site served not to inhibit woman's movement and participation in the modern city, but rather expanded the feminine realm beyond the domestic sphere, as well as supported the professionalization of women as public artists.     

A century (plus) of parenthood

This paper summarizes the broad foundations of the changing nature of parenthood by examining trends in coresidence with children under age 15. Our study uses data from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Samples (IPUMS) to provide a portrait of demographic parenthood in the US over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In describing changes in parenthood over the past 110 years, we distinguish between those living with own children and those living with other children. We focus in particular on changes in gender patterns of coresidential parenthood and changes in the likelihood that divorced men and women live with children. We also examine the impact of the baby boom on parenting. Our findings support a recasting of ongoing discussions of the parental roles of American men and women by shifting the historical demographic focus from biological transitions to the social aspects of parenting.     

The Praxis Assignment: Experiential Learning in a Large Social–Community Psychology Class

In this article, a faculty member, a graduate student teaching assistant, and four undergraduates describe their experiences with a “Day of Social Justice Praxis Assignment” as a form of experiential learning in a 120-person social-community psychology course. The faculty member lays out the goals of the course and her hopes for the specific assignment. The undergraduates reflect on their experience with the assignment, and the graduate student contextualizes how their work is reflective or not reflective of the work produced in the class and course concepts. The article ends with a critical and frank discussion of the benefits and drawbacks of the assignment.     

Civic Engagement in the Era of Big Stories

Most scholars agree that news coverage of politics is the product of complicated interaction between journalists and politicians. Yet, we know little about how the interaction affects the coverage. Our analysis examines U.S. senators' press events and subsequent national network coverage from 1980–1996. Our evidence suggests that all senators can increase journalists' interest in their press events by carefully choosing the type of event and which politicians attend. In turn, such interest often translates into actual news stories, although that coverage is not guaranteed. Thus, senators can structure press events in order to increase the likelihood of coverage, but reporters understandably resist their attempts to do so. As a result, the most newsworthy press events require senators to give up control over content, creating more potential for revealing unexpected information.