Education

BA Hunter College, 1964, Anthropology

MA Hunter College, 1970, Anthropology

Ph.D. City University of New York, Graduate Center, 1974, Anthropology

Research and Pedagogical Interests

Dr. Brook’s research interests have been based on the applications of anthropology to the resolution of locally identified community issues in the United States. More specifically, he has focused his applied research on the study of the informal social support systems of older adults living in suburban communities. In addition, his previous research interest concerned the delivery of a variety of mental health services to poverty-stricken inner city residents. As the first designated MSU service-learning scholar, Dr. Brook worked in collaboration with several colleagues to create and implement MSU’s Service-Learning Program and the subsequent Center for Community Based Learning. Furthermore, he worked in collaboration with several colleagues to obtain multi-year grants from the Corporation for National Service and HUD COPC to support the two previously mentioned structures. As a senior fellow of the Center for Community Based Learning, Dr. Brook has worked to introduce and implement the process, philosophy and pedagogy of service-learning.

Relevant Publications

2003 Building a Service-Learning Program: A View from Inside. (co-authors: Freyda Lazarus and Marybeth Henry), Kappa Omicron Nu Forum, Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 9-22.

1986 Growing Old in Suburbia: The Experience of the Jewish Elderly of Mount Vernon, NY. (co-authors: Marjorie Cantor and M. Joanna Mellor). NY: Brookdale Research Institute on Aging, Third Age Center, Fordham University.