Urban universities such as Gannon have a unique opportunity—and responsibility—to study the dynamics of the neighborhoods that surround them.
That’s exactly the challenge taken up by Christopher Magno, Ph.D., one of last year’s recipients of the three-year Cooney-Jackman Endowed Professorship.
An assistant professor of criminal justice, Magno has undertaken a three-year project researching the interrelationships among neighborhood risk factors in Erie.
"I believe that criminal justice is not only about studying crime, but most of all it is the praxis (theory integrated with practice) of justice," Magno said.
"Its main goal is to understand crime in the tenets of realizing justice. I organized the four mapping projects as research activities for my students within this framework of pedagogical transformative social justice learning. These community-based mapping projects could not have been accomplished without the endowment fund from Chris Cooney ['63] and Brian Jackman ['63]."
The Cooney-Jackman Endowed Professorship was created in 2011 to provide the recipients with the necessary time and resources to move their significant research forward, while also benefitting students, instruction and the national reputation of the University.