Past Course Offerings
2009-2010 marks the second year of the Academic Civic Engagement Office (ACE) at Carleton. We are pleased to report that more ACE courses are being offered and that more students are taking them. This past year 27 courses with approximately 500 students included an ACE component, compared to 20 courses and 355 students during ACE’s first year. It is also exciting to survey the diverse array of disciplines represented on this list. From History to Biology and Studio Art, fields across Carleton’s curriculum are finding community engagement strategies that are useful to them and their students.
-Adrienne Falcon, Director of Civic Engagement, October 2010
Winter '11
Ethics of Civic Engagement - SOAN 285 - Adrienne Falcón - 17 students
In this course, students will discuss the ethical questions that arise when they engage with others in research, service, organizing, or policy work. Students will read and talk about the meanings and forms of civic engagement and use these readings to reflect upon their own research or service projects. Gaining insights from sociological and practice based readings, we will examine different perspectives on the ways that power and privilege relate to civic engagement. The winter section will focus on policy, including readings and discussions centered around the Project Pericles Debating for Democracy hosted at Carleton in January.
Immunology - BIOL 310 - Debby Walser-Kuntz - 35 students
Students will become familiar with the immunology-related primary literature and apply course concepts to real-world problems. Groups will explore one of the following topics in depth: asthma and air pollution, type 2 diabetes and the role of the immune system, or exercise and immunity. Each topic represents an active area of immunology research and a public health issue that can be explored in our local community. Students in the course will write a research paper that requires analysis and synthesis of experimental evidence. Simultaneously, they will also gather and analyze data from the community--including interviews and discussions with their community partners--to gain practical information related to their topic. In collaboration with the community partners, the students will develop a finished product to be used by their community partner.
Community Video - CAMS 285 - Paul Hager - 5 students
Students are partnering with local organizations such as Growing Up Healthy, Northfield Youth Baseball, Cannon River Sportsmens Club, and campus organizations such as the GSC, to create media in support the organization's mission. Media production can range from short, non-fiction videos to photo essays, web design and podcasts. Students are also working with organizations to help them develop a media plan.
Introduction to Latina/o Studies - AMST 127 - Adriana Estill - 13 students
In collaboration with Growing Up Healthy, students are presenting their research on Latinos in the United States to leaders in Northfield's Latino community. At events in both Faribault and Northfield, students are participating in conversations about the importance of family, religion, health, and education in creating a strong Latino community. Student work focuses on understanding how research on national trends relates to the personal experiences of local Latinos.
Multicultural Education - EDUC 238 - Anita Chikkatur - 8 of 25 students
This course focuses on the respect for human diversity in education, especially in relation to various racial, cultural, and economic groups, and to women. Students will have the opportunity to reflect on and apply classroom topics in a variety of service learning settings, including the Northfield TORCH project's college access program in collaboration with Riverland Community College.
Schooling and Opportunity - EDUC 353 - Anita Chikkatur - 12 students
As a part of the course, the students work in small groups to develop a case study of a local program designed to increase educational access and opportunities. The research involves interviews with program directors and participants, as well as data and document analysis and a literature review. At the end of the term, the final papers will be shared with those involved with the programs so that they can use the research to improve their programs.
African in the Arab World - HIST 280 - Thabiti Willis - 9 students
This course surveyed the development of an African diaspora in the Arab world. Students spent time at S.A.F.E. (Somali American Faribault Education), a local non-profit run for and by members of Faribault's Somali community. They conducted oral interviews and discussions about the Somali diaspora with community members at the S.A.F.E. classes.
Global Religions in Minnesota - RELG 289 - Shanna Sippy - 9 students
This course examined how global religions adapt to and transform the disparate local communities where their practitioners make home. Students supplemented historical and theoretical instruction with hands-on research with living communities in Minnesota including Muslims in Faribault, Hindus in Eagan, and Cambodian Buddhists in Hampton. The studies and experiences may be published online.
Economic Cost-Benefit Analysis - ECON 268 - Aaron Swoboda - 13 students
Community Needs Assessment* - SOAN 275 - Peter Brandon - 16 students
* Part of the Comparative Welfare Systems and Social Safety Nets in Australia Program
Fall '10
Geology in the Field - GEOL 100 - Mary Savina - 14 students
As part of the coursework, students will examine stones used in buildings around Northfield or in their hometowns to determine the geologic histories of these rocks. The Northfield Historical Society will collect and archive the products of this research.
Air Pollution and Human Health - CHEM 100 - Deborah Gross - 14 students
A recent assessment of public health in Minnesota counties gave poor marks to Rice County, especially with regard to its air quality. Students in this class will perform their own air quality measurements in and around Northfield in order to scrutinize the methods and findings of the study and examine how air quality affects the lives of local residents.
Intermediate Spanish - SPAN 204.01; 204.04; 204.05 - Maria Elena Doleman and Linda Burdell - 59 students
Students in this course are required to spend at least 7 service hours (1 hour per week) working in partnership with the Northfield Public Schools from Elementary to High School. In some situations college students work with other students in the Northfield Compañeros program. In other positions, students work in classrooms directly as ESL tutors. The Spanish course focuses on, in addition to Spanish language, issues of immigration and the Latino experience. This project turns the focus on the local experience of immigrants in Northfield.
Native American Religions - RELG 130 - Michael McNally - 28 students
While surveying a broad variety of ways that Native American traditions imagine land, community, and the sacred, the course focuses on the local traditions of the Ojibwe and Lakota communities. Materials include traditional beliefs and practices, the history of missions, intertribal new religious movements, and contemporary issues of treaty rights, religious freedom, and the revitalization of language and culture. Students will have the opportunity to engage with some of Minnesota's Native American cultural institutions, including the Anishinabe Academy magnet school in Minneapolis.
Intro to Educational Studies - EDUC 110 - Anita Chikkatur - 23 students
Students will have the option of gaining hands-on experience as tutors in new after-school programs at Faribault Middle School and High School. These programs attempt to improve college access for local children and will provide Carleton students with the chance to apply and refine skills learned during the course.
Educational Psychology - EDUC 234 - Deborah Appleman - 24 students
Educational Psychology brings together theory and classroom experience to help Carleton students form a better understanding of teaching and learning. Carleton students act as classroom assistants and tutors in local schools, giving them a context with which to understand their studies. This experience also gives students a chance to reflect upon education and its practices in a hands-on and practical manner.
Environmental Ethics - ENTS 215 - Kimberly Smith - 24 students
This course allows students apply the ethical debates in environmental policy and practice to five case studies in Northfield. In groups of five to six, students spend the term investigating environmental ethics behind a range of current and pertinent issues in the college and in Northfield. In the process, they get the opportunity to work with actors and stakeholders in the community and consider how environmental ethics play a role in these cases.
Comparative Social Movements - POSC 358 - Devashree Gupta - 16 students
Students in this political science course looked at different social movement theories, including literatures on organizational structures, recruitment, tactical choice, and message framing. Students then applied this knowledge by working with community partners to plan and carry out an event tied to a particular issue or policy area in which they had an interest and that was related to the core work of the community partner. Groups worked on a range of issues, including advocacy for homeless GLBT youth and green technologies and planning in Northfield. Students were encouraged to reflect on their experiences and link their practical work back to the course readings and discussions through a series of blog posts and an end-of-term presentation.
Introduction to Geospatial Analysis - ENTS 120 - Tsegaye Nega - 21 students
After studying the theory and practice of GIS technology, students applied their skills to spatial problems around campus and the country. Projects included determining the ideal placement of the second Carleton wind turbine, the effectiveness of campus lighting, Carleton buildings where solar panels would be effective, and examining home prices around Minneapolis's Hiawatha Line light rail corridor. Students presented their projects at a public poster session.
Spring '10
Ethics of Civic Engagement - SOAN 285 - Adrienne Falcon and Carolyn Fure-Slocum - 21 students
In this course, students will discuss the ethical questions that arise when they engage with others in research, service, organizing, or policy work. Students will read and talk about the meanings and forms of civic engagement and use these readings to reflect upon their own research or service projects, or to reflect upon the college's role in Haiti or Faribault, two areas where college members are actively engaged. Gaining insights from sociological and practice based readings, we will examine different perspectives on the ways that power and privilege relate to civic engagement.
Language and Deception - PSYC 375 - Mija Van Der Wege - 14 students
In this course, students participate in the development of a local episode of Mental Engineering, a television program based in the Twin Cities that brings together academics and commentators to analyze advertisements. This year, the Carleton students will work in three groups to prepare for and perform a mock episode of Mental Engineering, to be hosted by the host of Mental Engineering, John Forde. Two of the performances will be done in the Northfield community, at the high school or middle school, and the third will be in the library Athenaeum for public attendance. The project enables students to apply insights that they have developed from course material to an analysis of advertisements.
Race, Immigration and Urban Schools - EDUC 340 - Anita Chikkatur - 11 out of 20 students
This course explores the important role that public schools, particularly in urban areas, have played in the American national imagination as the way to socialize students about what it means to be American and to prepare them to participate as citizens in a democracy. Students will have the opportunity to engage in community-based research in Faribault with afterschool programs for Somali children.
Advanced Ceramics - ARTS 330 - Kelly Connole -13 students
Students in this art course will create over 500 bowls for a yearly event to highlight the problems that hunger creates in society. The event is called Empty Bowls and includes a fundraiser selling the handmade bowls with soup provided by the Carleton community for the Northfield Food Shelf. Students did research and publicity based on hunger in a local context in collaboration with the Northfield Community Action Center. Bowls are a fundamental skill in the field of ceramics and the bowls that students made for the event were designed as tokens to remind participants to give back.
The Politics of Food - POSC 220 - Pat Cavanaugh - 16 students
Students in this class will present their research on food politics in panel discussions open to the public. They will address questions such as: What do tomatoes have to do with slavery? How did soybeans move from a minor crop to a mega-industry? How has Coca-Cola remained relevant for so long? How has the shrimp industry, past and present, affected marine environments around the U.S.? Are breakfast cereals part of a complete breakfast?
Environmental Ethics - ENTS 215 - Kimberly Smith - 21 students
Educational Studies Senior Seminar - EDUC 395 - Deborah Appleman - 12 students
Winter '10
Anthropology of Health and Illness - SOAN 262 - Pamela Feldman-Savelsberg - 9 of 25 students enrolled
In this course students partnered with HealthFinders and Growing Up Healthy. Students working with Growing Up Healthy conducted library-based research to better understand specific subpopulations (such as the Somali population in Faribault) and specific issues (such as refugee mental health, or culturally specific presentation of symptoms) of relevance to GUH's goals. Those working with HealthFinders helped developed and administered surveys to English and Spanish speakers. Students also organized and led focus groups and did participant observation of waiting rooms. This project culminated in a presentation to the Board of HealthFinders.
Public Sociology - SOAN 395 - Adrienne Falcón - 8 students
Students in this course conducted needs-based assessments of Northfield and the Rice Country area to identify potential projects and collaborations between Carleton and local organizations. Groups of students focused specifically on the arts, business, and housing sectors. Within these sectors, students interviewed staff members of local organizations and government offices. At the end of the term, students created reports of their sectors and presented their findings in a presentation in which community partners were invited to attend.
Health Psychology - PSYC 260 - Ken Abrams - 25 students
Students in small groups will critically examine the effects of local public (e.g., town) or private (e.g., hospital) policies on health outcomes. More specifically, students will work with local policy makers to investigate an issue, propose policy changes supported by theory and research, present formal proposals to the policy makers, and solicit and respond to community feedback. Additionally, groups will present their findings to the class and community representatives at a poster session at the end of the term. Examples of past projects include the development of a heroin use prevention program at Northfield High School, a comprehensive worksite wellness program at Northfield Hospital, and a more accessible and better marketed farmers' market in Northfield.
Environmental Economics and Policy - ENTS 271 – Aaron Swoboda - 29 students
This course explores the economic and political institutions affecting the environment. We will use the tools of economics to analyze several contemporary environmental policy issues including climate change, land use, water, transportation and energy. Learning will take place through a mixture of lecture, class discussion, computer labs, small group work, and student presentations. A final group project will involve a political and economic analysis of a local land use issue. There are no prerequisites for the course.
Marginality and Renaissance - FREN 241 - Stephanie Cox - 21 students
This course will examine the Francophone presence in North America (Quebec, Louisiana and Acadia) through works of fiction (novels, plays, songs, films and folktales) and non-fiction(travel writing, memoires, and historical articles). Students will engage in a collective project that will be given to the Center for Cultural and Eco-Tourism at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. Presented as a website, this class project will offer a series of 3D interactive time lines to show the complex progression and dispersal of the "Grand Dérangement", the Acadian exile undertaken by the English army between 1765 and 1785. We focus on this event because it offers us the surprising survival of a culture that was supposed to have disappeared from the continent but remains alive through the Cajun culture. Through the objective of this website, the students of this class will create as set of quantitative resources on Acadian and Cajun culture and history.
Power of Citizenship - POSC 209 - Pat Cavanaugh - 16 students
Neighborhood-based community organizing can be an effective form of action for citizens at the same time that it reinvigorates democratic practices. In this course we will explore concepts of democracy, power and identity as we examine cases of community organizing in the U.S. When and why do people in a neighborhood come together to take political action? What are the obstacles to community-based political action? What are its limits? Possibilities? What is the role of experts? What should it be? What about the role of government? How do governmental structures, particular circumstances, and social expectations interact?
Modern Hinduism - RELG 265 - Shana Sippy - 7 students
A controversial statement: "Modern Hinduism was defined in engagement with Western discourses of 'religion.'" This course will begin with the ideas of such prominent Hindu thinkers as Rammohan Ray, Vivekananda, Savarkar, and Gandhi, looking to a range of historical and critical materials to ground their voices in the experience of colonialism. We’ll move on to consider contemporary contexts: strains of Indian nationalism; migration and the growth of diasporic Hindu communities overseas; conversion and the transnational spread of modern guru movements; consumerism and globalization. Throughout we'll remain mindful of the question: Why is the theme of this class controversial?
Encountering Islam - RELG 268 - Shana Sippy - 18 students
This course explores discourses that emerged as Islamic traditions encountered other cultures, from the medieval and colonial to the modern. Reading texts--historical, fictional, and ethnographic--we will consider how different religious, political, civic and cultural formations (i.e. Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Feminism and the Secular State) engage with Islam. Focused on questions about representation--the perception of Islam by "others," and Muslim self-representation--we will explore the nature of dialogue and alliance, both on the interfaith community and geo-political levels. Students will also explore Minnesota's varied Muslim populations and the nuances at work in contemporary American encounters with Islam.
Introduction to Sociology - SOAN 111 - Annette Nierobisz - 27 students
An introduction to sociology, including analysis of the sociological perspective, culture, socialization, demography, and social class and caste institutions in modern industrial societies and cultures; stability and change in societies of the twentieth century. Pros and cons of various theoretical strategies will be emphasized.
Immunology - BIOL 310 - Debby Walser-Kuntz - 29 students
Students prepared materials about asthma and mold, and then translated them into Spanish. These resources were presented to parents and community leaders in collaboration with Growing Up Healthy and their ongoing efforts to combat mold in local mobile homes.
Fall '09
Truth vs. Power: A Journey in Journalism - ENGL 272 - Doug McGill - 22 students
Journalism is a powerful, socially-useful way to encounter and describe the world. Part literature and part social science, it’s evolved into a fundamental democratic practice. This class surveys journalism's basic theories and methods while giving students many chances to write in a journalistic style. With a "classroom as newsroom" format, students report and write news and feature stories from Northfield and Rice County throughout the term. All the writing assignments receive consistent feedback from the professor, a former New York Times reporter and Bloomberg News bureau chief. Emerging journalistic formats and tools such as multimedia, blogging, SoundSlides, RSS feeds will be explored.
Foundations of Modern Europe - HIST 139 - Susannah Ottaway - 18 out of 28 students
Students in this course have the choice to present a lesson for an elementary school classroom in the place of a traditional research paper. Students who choose the academic civic engagement option will prepare lesson plans for 4th graders in the Northfield School System on the topic of the Spanish Exploration. The lessons are designed to be interactive and collaborative with the projects that the 4th graders have been learning previously. This project will require students to reconceptualize the history that they learn in class into ideas that would be useful on the elementary level.
Intermediate Spanish - SPAN 204- Maria Elena Doleman - 204.03 (21 students); 204.08 (21 students)
Students in this course are required to spend at least 7 service hours (1 hour per week) working in partnership with the Northfield Public Schools from Elementary to High School. In some situations college students work with other students in the Northfield Compañeros program. In other positions, students work in classrooms directly as ESL tutors. The Spanish course focuses on, in addition to Spanish language, issues of immigration and the Latino experience. This project turns the focus on the local experience of immigrants in Northfield.
Moviegoing and Film Exhibition in America - CAMS 310 – Carol Donelan - 8 students
In this seminar in film history, we dive in, researching and writing the “unwritten” histories of movie culture at the local level, making use of primary sources such as newspapers, photographs, interviews and quantitative data. This term, our focus is on the history of motion picture censorship from its origins in 1907 to the advent of the Hollywood Production Code in 1934, with special attention to the exhibition and local reception of pre-Code films, 1929-1934. Fair warning: pre-Code films, which feature drinking, drugs, nudity, sex and violence, are required viewing for the course.
English Writing Seminar – ENGL 109 – Carol Rutz and Nancy Cho - 109.01 (15 students); 109.04 (14 students)
Writing makes thinking visible. In this course, students will use individual research projects as well as readings to develop skills in reflection, reporting, oral presentation, and persuasion. A central component of the course will be individual research about a historic building in downtown Northfield. This investigation will engage students with source material and the written techniques critical to analyzing it while familiarizing them with the surrounding community.
Native American Religious Freedom – RELG 243 - Michael McNally - 21 students
This course explores historical and legal contexts in which Native Americans have practiced their religions in the United States. Making reference to the cultural background of Native traditions, and the history of First Amendment law, the course explores landmark court cases in Sacred Lands, Peyotism, free exercise in prisons, and sacralized traditional practices (whaling, fishing, hunting) and critically examines the conceptual framework of "religion" as it has been applied to the practice of Native American traditions. Service projects will integrate academic learning and student involvement in matters of particular concern to contemporary native communities.
Abrupt Climate Change - ENTS 288 - Trish Ferrett - 31 students
The field of abrupt climate change seeks to understand very fast changes, or "tipping points," in historical climate records. Course topics will include interpretation of data on recent melting trends in the Artic, historical climate data, methods of measuring abrupt changes in ancient climates, theories for abrupt change, the role of complex earth systems, and the connection to current trends in global climate change. The course will also directly address our future vulnerability to abrupt climate change through cases studies of past human civilizations (Natufians, Mayans). Over the term, student teams will produce multi-media web sites through academic civic engagement projects that will serve a community partner organization.
Geomorphology - GEOL 210 - Mary Savina - 14 students
Geology 210 students will be engaging with the community in a number of ways. Students will write literature reviews on topics related to river restoration, a topic related to the Cannon River Watershed Partnership's current efforts to preserve lower Heath Creek and Spring Brook Creek. Landowners in these two watersheds want Northfield to annex their land and develop it. Spring Brook Creek is the only trout stream in Rice County. Several students volunteered for the Cannon River Watershed Partnership's River Clean-up on Saturday, September 19. Along with other volunteers recruited by Nancy Braker, we reckon they collected maybe 600 lbs of tires, etc. from the stretch of river in the arb plus the shores of Lower Lyman Lake.
Introduction to Geospatial Analysis - ENTS 120 - Tsegaye Nega - 19 students
For their final projects, students will be examining the recently completed comprehensive plan for the City of Northfield and addressing the issue of how areas designated for "Priority Growth" and "Urban Expansion" have vague zoning designations that don't take into account regional regulations and topographical features. In order to contribute to an ongoing dialouge about growth in Northfield, students will collaborate with the city to create a GIS model that can be adapted to predict and accomodate future possibilities for urban development in Northfield.
Topics in Virology - BIOL 370 - Debby Walser-Kuntz - 15 students
The course will focus on the most recent developments in HIV-related research, including implications for HIV-treatment and vaccines and the impact of viral infection on the immune system of the host. As part of the coursework, students will be expected to create a lesson for Life Sciences students at Northfield Middle School explaining the properties and importance of a particular virus.
Spring '09
Advanced Ceramics - ARTS 330 - Kelly Connole Students in this art course created over 500 bowls for a yearly event to highlight the problems that hunger creates in society. The event was called Empty Bowls and included a fundraiser selling the handmade bowls with soup provided by the Carleton community for the Northfield Food Shelf. Students did research and publicity based on hunger in a local context in collaboration with the Northfield Community Action Center. Bowls are a fundamental skill in the field of ceramics and the bowls that students made for the event were designed as tokens to remind participants to give back.
Nonfiction Video Production - CAMS 270 - Paul Hager Students are partnering with local organizations such as Growing Up Healthy, Northfield Youth Baseball, Cannon River Sportsmens Club, and campus organizations such as the GSC, to create media in support the organization's mission. Media production can range from short, non-fiction videos to photo essays, web design and podcasts. Students are also working with organizations to help them develop a media plan.
Educational Studies Senior Seminar - EDUC 395 - John Ramsay Students in this course were tasked to design and create the “next great education non-profit.” As part of their work, they will be shadowing staff at organizations such as Three Rivers Community Action Center, ABC, and Admission Possible to better understand how an education non-profit works. Students will also be developing policy and grant proposals for an education non-profit.
Geology of Soils - GEOL 258 - Mary Savina Students produced a formal report about the properties of the topsoil in the expansion area for the Carleton garden and evaluated whether "black dirt" removed from the new dorm excavation will be valuable (or not) to add to the topsoil. The final projects for the class will focus on several soils-related questions in the Arboretum. Example: Based on soil characteristics, should Alumni Field be restored to prairie, savannah or forest?
Health Psychology - PSYC 260 - Ken Abrams Students in small groups are critically examining the effects of local public (e.g., town) or private (e.g., hospital) policies on health outcomes. More specifically, students are working with local policy makers to investigate an issue, propose policy changes supported by theory and research, present formal proposals to the policy makers, and solicit and respond to community feedback. Additionally, groups will present their findings to the class and community representatives at a poster session at the end of the term. Examples of current projects include the development of a heroin use prevention program at Northfield High School, a comprehensive worksite wellness program at Northfield Hospital, and a more accessible and better marketed farmers' market in Northfield.
Language and Deception - PSYC 375 - Mija Van Der Wege In this course, students participate in the development of a local episode of Mental Engineering, a television program based in the Twin Cities that brings together academics and commentators to analyze advertisements. This year, the Carleton students will work in three groups to prepare for and perform a mock episode of Mental Engineering, to be hosted by the host of Mental Engineering, John Forde. Two of the performances will be done at the Northfield high school for social psychology classes and the third will be in the library Athenaeum for public attendance. The project enables students to apply insights that they have developed from course material to an analysis of advertisements.
Historic Preservation - ARTH 309 - Baird Jarman
This class focused on the history and professionalization of the preservation movement, chiefly in the United States, along with legal, ethical, and financial issues arising from preservation initiatives. Given a variety of possible real-world issues to address, a steering committee of four students enrolled in the course—meeting before the class sessions began—selected as the central question for the seminar the topic of whether Carleton should consider the creation of a formal campus historic district. The class fragmented into multiple conflicting stances on the debate, with many (but not all) students dedicating their final group projects to different possible directions for a campus historic district. In essence there were four schools of thought, none a majority. The first felt that a campus historic district was either undesirable or untenable. The second recommended the designation of a small historic district, a core campus of pre-World War II, non-residential buildings around the “bald spot.” The third suggested that Carleton emphasize the contributions of Minoru Yamasaki, a major modern architect (best known for his design of the Twin Towers) and the only official “college architect” in the school’s history. The fourth suggested a large historic district incorporating most of campus with many buildings noted as non-contributing structures. In the end the students chose to see their role as that of initiators of a debate, and recommended that I teach a full-term course in the future that would continue the discussion.
Winter '09
Audio Workshop - CAMS 275- John Schott
This course offered students an opportunity to explore the interaction between college students and the Northfield community while also learning about the essential technical skills for audio storytelling and drama. Students worked in teams to explore issues such as student off-campus housing and student drinking by talking to students and community members. Students hope to engage individuals in dialogues on college students and town relations on their weblog and other venues in Northfield. To listen to their audio works, visit http://www.ratchetup.com/northfieldvoices/.
Hydrology - GEOL 340 - Mary Savina
The course drew considerably on student-directed investigation of critical areas of study in hydrology. Four projects were established from the students in the course regarding different areas of water issues in the Northfield area. Students worked in small groups to prepare fliers for the City of Northfield Water Division (on home geothermal systems and on abandoned wells/septic tanks); to support a town hall forum series on Agriculture and the Environment; to augment web information on ethanol production and water use; and to teach middle school youth about groundwater.
Comparative Social Movements - POSC 358 - Devashree Gupta
Students in this political science course looked at different social movement theories, including literatures on organizational structures, recruitment, tactical choice, and message framing. Students then applied this knowledge by working with community partners to plan and carry out an event tied to a particular issue or policy area in which they had an interest and that was related to the core work of the community partner. Groups worked on a range of issues, including advocacy for homeless GLBT youth and green technologies and planning in Northfield. Students were encouraged to reflect on their experiences and link their practical work back to the course readings and discussions through a series of blog posts and an end-of-term presentation.
Anthropology of Health and Illness - SOAN 262 - Pamela Feldman-Savelsberg
In this course students partnered with HealthFinders and Growing Up Healthy. Students working with Growing Up Healthy conducted library-based research to better understand specific subpopulations (such as the Somali population in Faribault) and specific issues (such as refugee mental health, or culturally specific presentation of symptoms) of relevance to GUH's goals. Those working with HealthFinders helped developed and administered surveys to English and Spanish speakers. Students also organized and led focus groups and did participant observation of waiting rooms. This project culminated in a presentation to the Board of HealthFinders.
Public Sociology - SOAN 395 - Adrienne Falcón
Students in this course conducted needs-based assessments of Northfield and the Rice Country area to identify potential projects and collaborations between Carleton and local organizations. Groups of students focused specifically on the arts, business, and housing sectors. Within these sectors, students interviewed staff members of local organizations and government offices. At the end of the term, students created reports of their sectors and presented their findings in a presentation in which community partners were invited to attend.
Fall '08
Truth vs. Power: A Journey in Journalism - ENGL 272 - Doug McGill
Journalism is in turmoil today. Bold experimentation is needed to meet such dramatic new challenges to journalism as the Internet, the decline of newspapers, multilingual readerships, and global crises requiring activism more than "objectivity." The class will move between a theoretical focus -- exploring journalism's basic theories and often-contradictory methods, purposes and aims-- and a practical focus inviting students to strive towards their highest journalistic ideals. Students will be challenged to blend journalism's indispensable norms of factual accuracy, fairness and quality writing with new technologies such as blogging, podcasting, videocasting, social networking and RSS feeds.
Environmental Justice in New Orleans - ENTS 100/101 - Kim Smith
In this two part freshmen seminar, students spent the first term exploring the intersection of social justice and environmental stewardship, focusing specifically on environmental justice in the rebuilding of New Orleans. During the winter break, students spent ten days in New Orleans studying environmental justice by interviewing activists and residents. In the second part of the seminar during Winter term, students produced a documentary based on their fall seminar and trip to New Orleans.
Foundations of Modern Europe - HIST 139 - Susannah Ottaway
Students in this course had the choice to present a lesson for an elementary school classroom in the place of a traditional research paper. Students who chose the academic civic engagement option prepared lesson plans for 4th graders in the Northfield School System on the topic of the Spanish Exploration. The lessons were designed to be interactive and collaborative with the projects that the 4th graders had been learning previously. This took great effort on the part of the students to reconceptualize the history that they had learned in class into ideas that would be useful on the elementary level.
Methods of Political Research - POSC 230 - Greg Marfleet
This course did community based research by examining media coverage in the 2008 election. Groups of students looked at different issues taking place in the election and recorded the kind of coverage that the issue received in the media. This project gave Political Science/International Studies students a good grasp of applied research methods as well as an experiential idea of the local perspectives on national issues. Students created posters of their findings which were then displayed in a public poster presentation.
Social Welfare - SOAN 215 - Peter Brandon
This course asked students to investigate a welfare controversy and take a stand on the issue. Students used a variety of mixed methods to explore a topical issue at the local level. An example of these projects included a needs-based study of transportation in Northfield, especially for low-income Northfielders. Students interviewed community leaders and partners and those in need to identify action plans. This important work by some of these students continues this Spring.
Intermediate Spanish - SPAN 204- Maria Elena Doleman and Linda Burdell
Students in this course were required to spend at least 7 service hours (1 hour per week) working in partnership with the Northfield Public Schools from Elementary to High School. In some situations college students were working with other students in the Northfield Compañeros program. In other positions, students were working in classrooms directly as ESL tutors. The Spanish courses focused on, in addition to Spanish language, issues of immigration and the Latino experience. This project turned the focus on the local experience of immigrants in Northfield.
Historical Course Offerings
A historical record of civic engagement courses offered before the formation of the ACE office.