Hello and welcome to another episode of Beyond Ourselves! Today I had the privilege of talking to a mentor and hero of mine, Dr. Ryan Alaniz. Dr. Alaniz is a Professor of Sociology at Cal Poly as well as the author of From Strangers to Neighbors: Post-Disaster Resettlement and Community Building in Honduras, which is the subject of our conversation. The book compares two resettlement communities a mere three miles apart created after a devastating hurricane; one in which residents were civically engaged and cohesive, and the other that suffered from rampant crime and corruption. Our conversation explores the different philosophical approaches to development taken by each community, how orienting communities towards ideals of trust and collectivism is essential to healthy development, and how to apply the tenets of his book to other social issues. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation, and I hope all of you can take something from it and apply it in your lives. 

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