Overview: Narratives following each course name either outline the academic civic engagement component of the course or describe the entire course. For the most accurate and up-to-date course descriptions, please see the St. Olaf Academic Catalog.
FALL 2012
American Conversations: Declaring Independence 1607- 1865 – AMCON 101
Colin Wells & Steve Hahn
During the fall 2012 semester, American Conversations 201 and 101 students will concentrate on the election in order to consider the act of voting and the practices of citizenship. Attention to voting and citizenship – through observation, hands-on experience, conversations, reading, and reflection – will help students to think about how American political culture has been shaped both in the past and today. Working in partnership with the League of Women Voters, students will choose one of the following activities: voter registration; helping at a nonpartisan candidate forum; volunteering for a political or issue campaign; serving as an election judge.
American Conversations: Re-making America, 1865- 1945 – AMCON 201
Eric Fure-Slocum and Judy Kutulas
During the fall 2012 semester, American Conversations 101 and 201 students will concentrate on the election in order to consider the act of voting and the practices of citizenship. Attention to voting and citizenship – through observation, hands-on experience, conversations, reading, and reflection – will help students to think about how American political culture has been shaped both in the past and today. Working in partnership with the League of Women Voters, students will choose one of the following activities: voter registration; helping at a nonpartisan candidate forum; volunteering for a political or issue campaign; serving as an election judge.
Arts Management – MGMT 229
Sian Muir
Teams of students will research and write grants for various local arts organizations and present their projects at the ACE Showcase. Partners will include ArTour, Vintage Band, Salem Chamber Orchestra and A+ Art Club.
Community Health – NURS 388
Mary Beth Kuehn
Local partners including Rice County Public Health, Steele County Public Health, Steele County Human Resources and St. Lucas Health Care Center (Faribault) identified the need for a health fair for specific target populations. Students will utilize the nursing process, civic engagement skills and service-learning experience to plan, implement and evaluate a health fair. Students will draw from the American Nursing Association and course theories to reflect on their service-learning experiences. They will also present their project at the ACE Showcase.
Crime and Inequality – SOAN 119
Ted Thornhill
Students participate in a field trip to the Minnesota Correction Facility in Faribault and have the opportunity to hear from a number of guest speakers.
Garden’s Healing Powers – ENVST 381
Matt Rohn
This Environmental Studies course uses Northfield’s Way Park as a laboratory for exploring the role gardens can play in healing the broken relationship society currently has with the environment. The class will study the value of nature play, rain gardens, and healing and memorial gardens, and look into how each provides tools for sustainability. Way Park has rain gardens and seeks to include nature play and a hospital memorial garden. We’ll study best practices for further developing each garden type at Way Park, and how the gardens as a set can teach Northfielders, members of the class, and visitors about ways a themed set of gardens on community’s lands could teach valuable lessons in sustainability.
Language in Society – SPAN 311
Maggie Broner
Inclusive Practice with Individuals and Families – SW 254
Susan Smalling
Each student in the class meet for nine weeks with a resident at the Northfield Retirement Center that they do not know and engaged in conversation. The student told a short personal story to engender a reciprocal story from their “partner” elder. Students participated in training sessions with a community professional and reflected on their experiences in writing and in class discussion.
Issues in Education: English Language Learners – ED 246
Heather Campbell
Students enrolled in this class complete 20 hours of field experience helping in Northfield ESL classrooms, volunteering at Adult Basic Education ESL sites, mentoring students through the Reaching Our Goals program, or tutoring students through a variety of after-school programs. In addition, students write six times to a penpal enrolled in Burnsville junior high ESL classes. At the end of the semester, St. Olaf students meet their mentees at Burnsville Junior High and sit in on one class. These civic engagement activities are vital to the course; in whole class and small group discussion, students apply theories of second language acquisition to their community-based experiences.
Marketing – MGMT 250
Sian Muir
Student teams develop strategic marketing plans for various local for profit and nonprofit organizations. Students will present their recommendations to the community partners at the end of the semester.
Principles of Psychology – PSYCH 125
Gary Muir
Introductory psychology students in small groups present some aspect of the course material to local elementary school classes. The project challenges undergraduate students to demonstrate the deep level of understanding required to be able to flexibly communicate the presentation material in an age-appropriate manner to kindergarten through fifth grade students.
Research Methods – PSYCH 230
Grace Cho
Students learn how psychological research is conceptualized, designed, carried out, interpreted, and disseminated to the public. Use of library resources, ethical guidelines in the conduct of research, and the skills of good scientific writing are emphasized. Students will have the option to work in small groups on a semester-long project in collaboration with the Piper Center for Vocation and Career or the Office of Student Activities.
INTERIM 2013
Community Applications in Psychology – PSYCH
Dana Gross
Students learned about theories, skills and methods that psychologists use to address social problems and community needs through research, practice and policy. As part of the course, students completed service-learning internships (32 hours on-site) with local schools and nonprofit organizations such Arcadia Charter School, Growing Up Healthy, Northfield YMCA, Northfield High School, Northfield Healthy Community Initiative, and Faribault Early Childhood and Family Education.
I Want to Help People – SW 120
Susie Smalling
Students explore service to human beings as a profession, a vocation, and a volunteer commitment. Who needs help? Who helps? Where? How? What motivates people to help? Using the liberal arts as a foundation for helping people, students study vocational opportunities in areas such as health care, social services, ministry, youth work, and the arts. The class includes lectures, discussions, speakers and field visits.
Schools and Communities – ED 170
Eric McDonald
In this course, students examine how a Minneapolis school and community interact to provide support and developmental opportunities for school-age children. Through readings, discussions, lectures, field trips, and in-school and co-curricular placements, students gain an understanding of how race, class, ethnicity, national origin, and gender shape the complex character of urban youth and schools. Students spend one week on campus in orientation activities and then two weeks in a Minneapolis elementary school and after-school program. The last week of the program will be spent processing the experience back on campus.
Urban Seminar & Practicum – ED 379
Elizabeth Leer
SPRING 2013
American Conversations – AMCON 202
Eric Fure-Slocum and Matt Rohn
Students will examine, discuss, and evaluate the ways in which St. Olaf students act as citizens in their community. With grounding in ACE and ideas about citizenship after three semesters of work, the students will explore college students’ practices of citizenship and will present these stories by producing radio essays that can be shared around campus.
Asian Conversations: Interpreting Journeys – ASIAN 220
Bob Entenmann & Kathy Tegtmeyer Pak
Students will be required to present on independent research projects related to sustainability and the environment that they will undertake while in Beijing and Tokyo for the Exploring Asia [AS215] interim course. With the help of this grant, these presentations will be made public, incorporating not only other St Olaf students and faculty, but also Arcadia Charter School.
Ethnographic Research Methods – SOAN 373
Chris Chiappari
Students will have the option to utilize ethnography skills and knowledge to complete community-based research in partnership with HealthFinders Collaborative and other campus and community organizations. Groups will conduct interviews and produce a final report for the partner organization. Students will learn research, political, civic engagement skills; community-based research experience; and knowledge of Northfield and Rice County.
Environmental Studies Senior Seminar – ES 399
Paul Jackson & John Schade
Groups of students utilize skills and knowledge informed by environmental studies courses to conduct research and complete projects for various local organizations.
Evaluation of Social Work Practice and Programs – SW 274
Devyani Chandran
Ideals to Action: Cultivating Social Change – AMST 208
Eric Fure- Slocum
Students explore social change academically and practically, looking at the past, present, and future of such work in American Society. For the hand-on portion of the class, students will work in small groups to complete a variety of projects in collaboration with HealthFinders Collaborative. Projects will require students to utilize research, planning, teamwork, and communication skills. Students will also present their completed projects to HealthFinders staff members and at the ACE Showcase.
Immigration and Citizenship – PSCI 350
Kathy Tegtmeyer Pak
Students will study policy and politics related to the topic in a range of wealthy democracies; following the academic literature, most of our attention will go to Europe, North America and a few other places. As part of these studies, we will focus for a time on the relationship between national and local level political processes in constructing and maintaining various dimensions of citizenship (e.g., participation, cultural belonging). Building on the research that argues for the significance of the local level in immigration & citizenship around the world, then, we will also pursue a collaborative community-based research project for several weeks of the term. This term the project will be geared towards planning and hosting a problem-solving conference for local officials, community leaders, and non-profit staff in 3-5 small Minnesota towns.
Inclusive Practice with Groups, Organizations and Comm. – SW 261
Laura McKibbin
Students will participate in a community project that advances social and economic justice through community building, community/locality development, social action/reform, and/or social planning. Students use the social work problem solving process to do some or all of the following: identify community strengths and problems, gather information about the selected problem, develop a mutually agreed upon plan for change, enact the intervention and evaluate and terminate of change effort.
Intermediate Photography – ART 238
Meg Ojala
Students will create a collection of portraits to illustrate all of the many facets of the Laura Baker Services Association and install exhibitions at 5-6 sites around the community to invite Northfielders to “Take a New Look at Laura Baker.” Students will also participate in an orientation and tour with staff from Laura Baker.
Marketing – MGMT 250
Sian Muir
Student teams develop strategic marketing plans for various local for profit and nonprofit organizations. Students will present their recommendations to the community partners at the end of the semester.
Professional/Business Writing – ENGL 287
Rebecca Richards
English 287 is non-fiction writing course that focuses on workplace writing. Its primary goal is to give students the opportunity to develop their use of rhetorical strategies and communications technologies appropriate to workplaces. With an emphasis on written communication, students will engage in projects that require them to analyze and respond to a variety of situations. Students will plan and create a range of individual and collaborative projects including, but not limited to, employment documents, proposals, reports, brochures, newsletters, memos, letters, and other business genres. Students will partner with Rice County and the Northfield Area Family YMCA.
Research Methods – PSYCH 230
Dana Gross
Students learn how psychological research is conceptualized, designed, carried out, interpreted, and disseminated to the public. Use of library resources, ethical guidelines in the conduct of research, and the skills of good scientific writing are emphasized. Students work in small groups on a semester-long project for which they will design and conduct research.
Science Conversations: Cultural Context – SCICN 217
Tom Williamson and Doug Schuurman
Students consider the political, cultural, ethical, and theological underpinnings of scientific issues. Students will investigate various scientific issues and present that they have learned to the campus community through a public poster session.
Theater Senior Capstone – TH 360
Karen Wilson
Students will participate in community projects connecting civic engagement and the arts. Projects will vary depending on specific interests of the students and will result in public presentation of their work (web presentations, poster sessions, community summaries, etc.). The connection between the role of the arts and active citizenship will be explored throughout the class in readings, discussion and major projects.