Date: Jan 25, 2011

Suburban Studies Go Global

National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University® partners with British university to launch international research network

Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y. – The National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University® and a group of universities led by the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom have won a three-year grant worth approximately $108,000 to launch a Cultures of the Suburbs International Research Network.

The grant from the Leverhulme Foundation, based in the U.K., will help pay for a website, a network facilitator based at the University of Exeter and travel to a series of symposia examining a wide range of international suburban issues and trends.  The second symposium will take place at Hofstra, and is tentatively scheduled for Spring 2013.

Hofstra will be the U.S. affiliate in the network, which besides the University of Exeter, will include institutions from Australia, South Africa and Ireland. Dr. Christopher Niedt, NCSS academic director, said the network is among the first and largest efforts at promoting international study and understanding of suburban life.

In 2009, scholars from around the world took part in Hofstra’s “The Diverse Suburb: History, Politics and Prospects” conference, which explored the sociological, historical, and artistic dimensions of suburban diversity. The new international research network will continue the global reach of the NCSS’ work, providing a platform for discussion, debate, and collaboration, Niedt said.

“This provides an opportunity for international, cross-cultural comparison between suburbs,” Niedt said. “This will bring people together who haven’t had much opportunity to meet face-to-face and help us come to a better understanding of the ties between suburbs in different places.”

“Eventually, we hope to expand the network to include affiliates in the developing world,” he said.

The National Center for Suburban Studies® at Hofstra University is a non-partisan research institution dedicated to promoting objective, academically rigorous study of suburbia’s problems and promise. Rooted in the laboratory of Long Island’s diverse and aging suburbs, the National Center studies a broad range of local and national issues. The suburbs have emerged as the nexus of dynamic demographic, social, economic and environmental change. The tasks of identifying, analyzing and solving the problems of suburbia are key to the health of the country – and central to the Center’s mission.

Hofstra University is a dynamic private institution where students can choose from about 140 undergraduate and more than 150 graduate programs in liberal arts and sciences, business; engineering; communication; education, health and human services; and honors studies, as well as a School of Law and the Hofstra-North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine. The University also provides excellent facilities with state-of-the-art technology, extensive library resources and internship programs that match students' interests and abilities with appropriate companies and organizations. The Hofstra community is driven, dynamic and energetic, helping students find and focus their strengths to prepare them for a successful future.

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