FALL 2006
SPRING 2007
EDUCATION 121: Social Foundations of Education
Professor Sarah Bair
The coursework includes a survey of the legal, philosophical, political, and
sociological contexts of American education. Students examine the ideals and
the day-to-day practices of the American education system through research
on competing definitions of an educated person, the university and the community
college, the comprehensive high school, school politics at the local, state,
and national levels, the Supreme Court and desegregation, reform movements,
and the teaching profession and teachers’ unions.
Student service relies on field placements in which students work directly with children and young adults in assigned settings. At site placements including Lamberton Middle School, the Dickinson College Children’s Center and Carlisle High School, students perform 20 hours of tutoring, homework help, observation or service as educational aides.
EDUCATION 221: Education Psychology
Professor Sarah Bair
The coursework includes an examination of physical, cognitive, and psychological
developmental theories and research. Furthermore, theories of learning and
their related current teaching practices in middle-school and secondary classrooms
are surveyed. Issues related to inclusion, exceptionalities, race, class,
gender, and multiple intelligences are explored.
Student service relies on field placements in which students interact with mentor teachers at various sites, including Carlisle High School, Cumberland Valley High School, Wilson Middle School and Lamberton Middle School. Throughout the semester, students research of topic of interest to their mentor teacher. At the conclusion of the semester, students present their findings during a research symposium and provide the mentor teacher with an annotated bibliography on the research topic.
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES 310: Estuarine Management,
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES 330: Environmental Disruption and Policy Analysis, ENVIRONMENTAL
STUDIES 335: Analysis and Management of the Aquatic Environment
Professors Candie Wilderman, Michael Heiman, James Ellison and Lauren
Imgrund
These courses are part of the LUCE semester. During the LUCE semester, students
enroll in a single interdisciplinary, integrated course, for the equivalent
of a student's normal 4-course load. The course combines classroom activities,
community-based fieldwork research, independent study, and extensive travel
and immersion. During the LUCE semester, students develop an understanding
of the deep connections between natural resources and humans from multiple
perspectives and within an immersion experience while gaining training in
ecosystem analysis field techniques and being exposed to the cultural contexts
in which environmental problems are created and in which solutions are conceived
and implemented.
Student service is provided through community-based fieldwork research, independent study, and extensive travel and immersion in two comparative watershed regions: the Chesapeake Bay and the lower Mississippi River Basin. Students spend a week in September in the Chesapeake Bay and along the Atlantic coast and three weeks in November in southern coastal Louisiana, studying the ecosystems and learning from the local residents. The remaining nine weeks of the semester are spent closer to campus, in the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay drainage basin. All students will also complete an independent research project in consultation and collaboration with a community group.
(Note: Student work from the LUCE Semester can be found on Dickinson's Blog. Student photographic work has also been posted. Detailed information about the integrated coursework and fieldwork is available at the Environmental Studies web site, with extensive links.)
POLICY MANAGEMENT 401: Policy Management Senior
Seminar
Professor James Hoefler
The coursework will echo the key principles covered in the Policy Foundations
class with an additional focus on developing critical thinking skills in a
series of case studies. The constraints and demands of social justice, the
politics of public sector decision making, the economics of private choice,
and the problems associated with reconciling competing values will be examined.
Students will be encouraged to continue to inform their thinking as they hone
and polish their abilities to dissect policy problems and evaluate viable
sets of recommendations.
Student service will be based on the compilation of an informational DVD for a local nonprofit organization. The DVD, made using iDVD software, will aid a community partner in communicating their mission, launching a capital campaign or securing volunteers. Emphasis will be placed on acclimating students to the processes of complex problem solving that exist in the nonprofit sector. At the conclusion of the semester, the short 3-5 minute videos will be screened in various campus and community locations as public service announcements.
RELIGION 201: Buddhism in Tibet
Professor Daniel Cozort
The coursework will include studies of Buddhist philosophy and practices in
Tibet. The esoteric tantric tradition, particularly its use in mandalas, will
be examined, as will Tibetan Madhyamika philosophy. Additionally, students
may examine how these philosophies apply to meditation theory and practice
and explore the material expression of Tibetan Buddhism.
Student service will be in coordination with the Tibetan Meditation Center in Frederick, Maryland. The Tibetan Meditation Center is a community of ordained and lay practitioners dedicated to offering Dharma classes and various meditation practices for people of all levels of experience. Students will conduct a survey research project on the attitudes and understandings of people in the United States who are drawn to Tibetan Buddhism and the Center.
SOCIOLOGY 214: Venezuela: Democracy, Development,
and the Bolivarian Process
Professor Susan Rose
The coursework will provide both an historical background and a first-hand
exposure to the new model of participatory democracy, endogenous development,
and regional integration that is evolving in contemporary Venezuela. With
a focus on current issues, the course offers a brief history of Venezuela
in the context of Latin and North American history, and then focuses on the
Bolivarian process. Background readings, lectures, and film on the history
and contemporary social, economic, and political realities of Venezuela will
be included.
The service aspect of the course takes place during the January 2007 Winterim in Venezuela. Students will spend the Fall 2006 semester preparing to do their own research in Venezuela where they will have the opportunity to do service-learning projects, interviews, and video documentary projects. Students will be working in coordination with established non-governmental organizations in Venezuela.
(Note: The student work in this course can be seen at dedicated Venezuela course web page.)
SPANISH 231B: Spanish for the Health Professions
Professor Wendell Smith
The coursework relies on developing skills in medical Spanish to tackle a
pressing problem – the provision of culturally and linguistically competent
healthcare to Spanish speakers in this country. The purpose of this course
is to study the use of Spanish in healthcare. During class, students practice
the basic language skills through speaking, writing, listening, and reading
the target language while also studying why language and culture are important
to medicine and the problems that arise from a cultural divide in healthcare
delivery. In order to fully explore the problems associated with healthcare
provision for Spanish speaker, the class discusses not only language, but
also public policy, anthropology, and sociology.
Student service is provided by students to Keystone Migrant Health. One night a week, students accompany nurse practitioners and their staff to register clients for health service at Keystone’s clinic in Gettysburg. This registration process is done at labor camps where migrant fruit workers live during apple season. Students assist with filling out forms and paperwork for Spanish-speaking clients, including medical histories. Bilingual students in the class may serve as receptionists and medical interpreters for the Wellspan Health Connect van in Biglerville. Work involves everything from helping with paperwork to medical interpreting during patient appointments. This assignment requires a very deep cultural and linguistic understanding on the part of the student.
FIRST-YEAR SEMINAR: Will the Poor Always Be With
Us?
Professor Kjell Enge, Anthropology
The course will examine poverty and related issues regarding education, healthcare,
and ways to improve the quality of life in countries all over the world, including
Bolivia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guinea, Honduras, Jamaica, Mali,
Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua and Spain. Students will examine ongoing activities
to address the issues of poverty in order to develop an understand what is
happening, why the poor are getting poorer and why their numbers appear to
be increasing. Discussion topics will include HIV/AIDS in Africa; dangerous
forms of child labor in Latin America, Africa, and Asia; the lack of basic
education, especially for girls; and what people are doing for themselves
to make their lives better.
Student service will force students to ask difficult questions: What are our responsibilities or duties to do something about poverty? Do we have any responsibilities at all, and is it up to the less fortunate to work hard to improve their own situation? Students will meet people who are devoting their lives to this work and will see videos and pictures to develop a true understanding of what is happening around the world and in America.
FIRST-YEAR SEMINAR: Transforming Lives: Social
Justice Leaders in the 19th and 20th Centuries
Professor Amy Farrell, American Studies
The coursework explores the lives, writings, and activism of a range of 19th
and 20th century social justice leaders in the United States. Drawing from
autobiographies, personal narratives, and biographies, the class focuses on
19th century activists such as Maria Stewart, a free Black who argued for
women's suffrage; Frederick Douglass, an activist who fought for both the
end of slavery and for women's rights; Dorothy Day, a socialist who started
the Catholic Worker Movement; and Gloria Steinem, a feminist activist who
fought for women's rights. Students explore what propelled these leaders to
become social justice activists, the ways that ideas and tactics changed over
the course of lives, and the influence that the work of these activists has
had on the lives of others.
Student service will be based on field trips to local social justice organizations, including Project SHARE and Catholic Worker House. Students will observe the problems facing these organizations today and formulate their own response to social injustice. The service work will permit students to study the work of contemporary activists and compare it to that of the 19th and 20th century American activisits.
FIRST-YEAR SEMINAR: Discourse and the Social Poet
Professor Ashley Finley, Sociology
The coursework is designed to engage students in a critical discussion surrounding
poetry as a form of social commentary. This will be done through the examination
of a number of works by social-political poets, such as Amiri Baraka, Sonia
Sanchez, Marge Piercy, Langston Hughes, Sandra Cisneros, Chrystos, Maya Angelou,
and Yehuda Amichai. Students will critically analyze, evaluate, and respond
to themes of political and religious oppression, feminism, sexism, homophobia,
and racism. Furthermore, discussion will be informed by complimentary readings
and material that examines the reality of social inequality in the United
States today. By reading the words of others, the aim is to begin to listen.
Student service will enhance discussions that focus on hearing voices that are often silenced, and understanding the social consequences that underlie their words. Students will work with the Domestic Violence Services of Cumberland and Perry Counties to increase community awareness by staffing an information booth at community events and festivals. Furthermore, students will provide office support and general assistance with special projects.
FIRST-YEAR SEMINAR: Education and Democracy
Professor Lance Landauer, Education
The coursework will examine the philosophical and political debates which
have been a part of America’s evolving educational system from its founding.
From the one-room school house to today’s large and complex schools,
students will explore the links between theory and practice, philosophy and
implementation, and politics and pedagogy. Students will examine the historical
and philosophical underpinnings of education in relation to contemporary philosophy,
research, and political thought. Significant reading, writing, research, and
discussion comprise the work for this course.
Student service will rely on fieldwork done at Hamilton Elementary School, one of Carlisle Area School District’s most economically diverse grade schools. Students will engage in 15 hours of one-on-one tutoring in reading and math under the supervision of classroom teachers. While in the school, students will observe their surroundings, which will provide depth to classroom discussions regarding the role of scholars, practitioners, politicians, and citizens in shaping schools and the pride and controversy that surrounds our nation’s education system.
FIRST-YEAR SEMINAR: Exploring Leadership: The
Development and Cultivation of Citizen Leaders
Professor Shalom Staub, Rebecca Hammell and Norm Jones
The course is designed for students who wish to explore personal, cultural,
and institutional aspects of leadership, citizenship, and social justice.
Using both written and film sources, as well as practical community experience,
students will have a first-hand opportunity to take theory to practice. The
course will pose questions such as what is leadership; who are the leaders
in our community, culture and world; what moral and ethical obligations are
we bound by in our relationships with one another; what is seminal to moral
development; and what steps do I take to embark on the journey of self-discovery
and development. Issues of gender and cultural awareness will also serve as
a basis for discussion.
Student service, through hands-on work with a project or program in a local Carlisle community organization, will constitute a major component of the course. By working with a community partner, students will have the opportunity to examine day-to-day issues of leadership and social justice. The course will rely heavily on the participation both in and outside of class by all members of the group.
Spring 2007
EDUCATION 121: Social Foundations of Education
Professor Sarah Bair
The coursework includes a survey of the legal, philosophical, political, and sociological contexts of American education. Students examine the ideals and the day-to-day practices of the American education system through research on competing definitions of an educated person, the university and the community college, the comprehensive high school, school politics at the local, state, and national levels, the Supreme Court and desegregation, reform movements, and the teaching profession and teachers’ unions.
Student service relies on field placements in which students work directly with children and young adults in assigned settings. At site placements including Lamberton Middle School, the Dickinson College Children’s Center and Carlisle High School, students perform 20 hours of tutoring, homework help, observation or service as educational aides.
ENGLISH 214B: Writing in the Schools
Professor Sha’an Chilson
The coursework will prepare students to teach the elements of poetry to grade
school children. Students will study contemporary American poetry and learning
and determine what makes a poem before focusing on methods of teaching poetry
and poetic elements that are specifically designed for grade school students.
Students will spend time preparing creative lesson plans for fourth and fifth
grade students.
Student service will be based on field placements in which teams of students go into local elementary schools and lead poetry workshops with grade school students.
PSYCHOLOGY 100: Intro to Community Psychology
Professor Margaret Davis
The coursework provides an introduction to the field of community psychology and an overview of research methods in community psychology. Community psychology is concerned with person-environment interactions and the ways society impacts upon individual and community functioning. Students will focus on social issues, social institutions, and other settings that influence individuals, groups, and organizations and learn that community psychology is a science that seeks to understand relationships between environmental conditions and the development of health and well-being of all members of a community.
Student service will occur at several community partner sites, including Hope Station. The practice of community psychology is directed towards the design and evaluation of ways to facilitate psychological competence and empowerment, prevent disorder, and promote social change. Students will spend 20 hours at their community site observing and pondering ways in which a community psychologist could help achieve the goal of optimizing the well-being of individuals and communities with innovative and alternative interventions designed in collaboration with affected community members.
RELIGION 260: Religion and Non-Violence
Professor Mara Donaldson
The coursework will explore how Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr, and other Nobel Peace Prize winners used their religion to change the world. Students will study Gandhi’s philosophy of ahimsa (non-violence), Martin Luther King, Jr.’s rhetoric of nonviolence and his strategies for passive resistance, Thich Nhat Hanh’s concept of mindfulness as a strategy for dealing with anger, and Dorthy Day’s philosophy of knowing your community and its needs.
Student service will follow Ghandi’s premise: “Be the change
you wish to see in the world”. Students will primarily work with Elaine
Livas, the director of Project SHARE. This local leader uses Dorothy Day as
a model for her community work and to explore these ideas in action. Additionally,
the class will glean in the Dickinson College Student Garden and write reaction
papers on how these experiences relate to class.
SOCIOLOGY 230: Conflict and Conflict Resolution Studies
Professor Shalom Staub
The course will examine conflict as an inescapable aspect of social life. It
often seems that conflict is a chronic aspect of the human experience, and yet,
as social beings living in mutually dependent social groups, we have developed
various simple and complex strategies for managing and resolving conflicts. Students
will explore these mechanisms to manage or resolve conflicts of different kinds—inter-personally,
in families, workplace-based, among ethnic, racial, and religious groups, and
internationally. The course will examine the growing literature on conflict studies,
and will draw on inter-disciplinary perspectives to examine conflict and conflict
resolution processes and strategies.
This course will provide students the opportunity to engage in research with direct public benefit. Recently, the PA Legislature approved Senate Resolution 160 which directed the Joint State Government Commission (JSGC) to establish a bipartisan task force with an advisory committee to conduct a comprehensive review of the current status of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) services within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and to identify best practices and recommend ways to improve conflict resolution in the Commonwealth. Students in this course will research best practices in ADR locally and nationally in various settings within the public and private sectors to contribute to the work of the JSGC Task Force on ADR.
SOCIOLOGY 240: Qualitative Research Methods
Professor Pauline Cullen
This course introduces students to the theory and methods of social science research, beginning with an examination of the philosophies underlying various research methodologies. The course then focuses on ethnographic field methods, introducing students to the techniques of participant observation, structured and informal interviewing, oral histories, sociometrics, and content analysis.
Students in this course are working in collaboration with the Sadler Health Center in Carlisle to assess the Center's services from the patients' perspectives.
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES 132-04: Environmental Science with Lab
Professor Candie Wilderman
The course provides an integrated, interdisciplinary study of natural environmental
systems and the human impact on them. Basic concepts of ecology and
energy will be examined and utilized to study world resources, human population
dynamics, pollution, and human environmental health.