This fall, a group of students from Miami University and Northern Kentucky University lived and worked in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood as part of their coursework.

The project was coordinated by Tom Dutton, a Miami University architecture professor and founder of its Center for Community Engagement in Over-the-Rhine.

Students Cassidy Pierce and Katie Kaser were asked by The Cincinnati Enquirer to write essays about the experience – what they learned, how their perceptions of Over-the-Rhine have changed, what they see as the neighborhood’s stengths and challenges.