Service Learning 293 - Learning Through Comm Engmnt

This course engages students in the practice of community engagement, including consideration of what constitutes appropriate and effective community service, and how to learn deeply from this experience. Each time it is offered, it is organized around a topic of public concern that draws on a variety of perspectives, and it places students with community organizations in service that relates directly to the course topic. Students therefore integrate academic learning with experiential learning. In preparing for community service, students will explore the course topic, and also explore what it may mean for them in their service to cross boundaries of race, ethnicity, class, or other strands of social identity. (Gen.Ed. SB, DU)

This course is the first course in a two-course curriculum. In class, students examine how race, class and a variety of historical forces shape students' access to quality education and impact college access for many low-income, first-generation, and students of color. In the spring, students apply their understanding to an educational issue of choice to research and develop a project or initiative. The courses include a community engagement component that offers an opportunity for each student to engage in a school-based community program at our community partner sites. In preparing for community engagement, students will explore the course topics, and also explore what it may mean for them in their engagement to cross boundaries of race, ethnicity, class, or other components of social identity. Students will therefore integrate academic learning with experiential learning (Gen.Ed. SB, DU).

Students enrolled are required to participate in a community engagement team where they will work with students from Holyoke, Springfield and Amherst schools or programs. This class has no prerequisites; contact the instructor for more information.