The descriptions below highlight the academic civic engagement component of each class. Please check the Academic Catalog for complete course descriptions and prerequisites.
American Conversations
AmCon 202 A&B Pur/Happiness: 1920 – Present
Instructors: Mark Allister and DeAne Lagerquist
Our civic engagement project this term will be to produce (and consume) a class blog dedicated to civic life and public policy – on campus, in Northfield, in our hometowns and cities, and in the United States or the world generally. Our blog will be a site for sharing and discussing examples of “citizen journalism,” in the form of posts written by students on relevant topics they find interesting, as well as responses to those posts.
Art & Art History
Art 238: Intermediate Photography
Instructor: Meg Ojala
Students will photograph Rice Creek watershed during the winter and spring thaw in order to study nature photography as well as to document the hydrologic patterns for the benefit of the local management unit for the watershed.
Biology/Environmental Studies
BI/ES 226 Conservation Biology
Instructor: Diane Angell
For the past nine years we have hosted eight elementary classrooms a year from Greenvale School to St. Olaf’s Natural Lands to learn about wetlands. The program takes advantage of St. Olaf’s 15 wetlands and 150 acres of restored prairie. Students in Conservation Biology will participate in the wetland site visits from elementary students and create an educational product that will support this effort to educate students about out local wetlands. See more detail about similar past civic engagement assignments in this class – Project Description for Conservation Biology (Word doc.)
ENVST 137 Introduction to Environmental Studies
Instructor: Kyle Whittinghill
As part of this course, students volunteered with an environmental organization of their choice.
Computer Science
CSCI 263 Ethical Issues in Software Design
Instructor: Chuck Huff
Taught every spring, this course pairs student groups with on campus clients, local government agencies, school systems, various non-governmental agencies, for-profit manufacturers, and Fortune 500 companies. Students analyze ethical and social issues associated with computing systems in client’s organizations. Students work closely with clients to identify issues of interest, collect data, and present their findings to the client orally and in writing.
*For more information refer to the course web page.
Economics
ECON 220 Economic Justice
Instructor: Mark Pernecky
Students in this course will plan and conduct a book drive for the Northfield Hospital Auxilary Book Fair. The book fair was started in 1951 as is the hospital’s primary fundraiser, which helps to meet the medical needs of the community. This project will involve coordinating donations, marketing, communications with donors, and managing the provision of tax receipts to donors. In addition, a member of the Auxilary will visit the class to explain how the funds raised are used to benefit the hospital. Students will integrate the book drive project with class readings and discussion into a reflection paper analyzing their experiences and learning.
Management Studies
MGMT 250 Marketing
Instructor: Sian Muir
Students are challenged to apply the marketing principles learned in class to current and real world marketing issues. Student teams develop strategic marketing plans for various local for profit and nonprofit organizations. Students present their recommendations to the community partners.
Media and Film Studies
MEDIA 295: Internship and Reflection Seminar
Instructor: Bill Sonnega
This seminar integrates the liberal arts with the experience of work and the search for a vocation or career. Course content will include both an off-campus internship and on-campus class sessions that connect academic theories/analyses of work with their particular internship experience. Students will also consider and articulate the value of the liberal arts for their pursuit of a creative, productive, and satisfying professional life.
Spanish
SPAN 311 Language in Society
Instructor: Maggie Broner
Students will be asked to take part in a number of after school activities at Greenvale Community School with elementary students who are primarily from Spanish-speaking families.
Social Work
SW 261 Inclusive Practice with Groups, Organizations, and Community
Instructor: Jennifer Manner
As part of this course, students will work with Rice County Mental Health Collective to interview youth-serving organizations. These interviews will collect data on teaching of social-emotional skill building to youth who participate in these programs.
SW 274 Research Methods in Social Work
Instructor: Susan Smalling
One aspect of this course is a research project conducted in partnership with Growing Up Healthy, a local youth-serving organization. Students in the past have been involved in all aspects of study design, and this spring will be continuing to do study design but will also collect data from participants through in-person surveys. The goal of the program evaluation is to assess how Growing up Healthy builds social capital within its target communities.
Theater
TH 360 Senior Theater Capstone
Instructor: Jeane Willcoxon
We ask students to develop projects that reflect their interest in theater and what they want to do with theater once they graduate. This project will incorporate research work that they have pursued on their own and they will put that research into a material project. Interested students will have the option of working with elementary students from Greenvale Community Schools’ PLUS program to lead an after-school theater club.
Writing
Writing 111 (Section O) Writing Funny
Instructor: William Bridges IV
Students read A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. In the spirit of 826 Valencia, St. Olaf students will staff a writing workshop for second graders at Sibley Elementary. Before the workshop, a teacher from Sibley Elementary will give a brief lecture on teaching the fundamentals of writing to St. Olaf students.