DAAS Community Engaged Pedagogy

DAAS Community Engaged Pedagogy

Grant:
Faculty Development Fund (FDF)
Academic Year:
2012 - 2013 (June 1, 2012 through May 31, 2013)
Funding Requested:
$10,000.00
Project Dates:
-
Applicant(s):
meganls
Overview of the Project:
DAAS's Community Engaged Pedagogy Project will increase our undergraduates' opportunities for collaboration and co-creation of knowledge with community partners. Students will deepen their understandings of problems and issues that affect various communities, and they will gain theoretical, practical, and interpersonal skills that will enable them—-in cooperation with community members—-to engage in creative problem-solving across lines of difference. Our project entails: 1) developing best practices for designing and assessing community engaged pedagogy internships and courses; 2) coordinating and expanding three major Community Engaged Pedagogy projects within DAAS: Pedagogy of Action, Semester in Detroit, and ECO Girls; 3) designing and offering a new course, AAS 268 "Community Collaborations: Race, Social Justice, and Engaged Pedagogy," which will enable students to explore community engaged learning from conceptual, historical, and practical perspectives; and 4) establishing opportunities for undergraduates, alumni, and graduate students to serve as peer mentors and to develop skills that will enable them to conduct community responsive research and teaching in other settings.
Final Report Fields
Project Objectives:

1)Increase students’ opportunities to collaborate with community partners in identifying and addressing issues of concern to the community. By working together, students and community members will participate in the co-construction of knowledge. 2)Enable students, through engaged learning, to deepen their understandings of: a) the interrelationships between social identities and social inequalities, b) the histories of community-based efforts to achieve social justice, and c) theories, modes of analysis, and interpersonal skills that can serve as crucial tools for fostering social change. 3)Develop—in writing—a set of best practices for designing and implementing DAAS-based Community Engaged Learning projects. 4)Expand three major Community Engaged Learning projects within DAAS: Pedagogy of Action, Semester in Detroit, and ECO Girls. 5)Design and implement a new 200-level course that will enable students to explore community engaged learning from conceptual, historical, and practical perspectives. 6)Establish opportunities for undergraduates and alumni who have participated in DAAS CEL projects to continue their involvement at a deeper level. 7)Over time, establish opportunities for graduate students to mentor undergraduates who are participating in DAAS’s Community Engaged Learning projects.

Project Achievements:

1) We developed a written set of best practices for designing and implementing DAAS-based Community Engaged Learning projects. 2) We added a CEL component to the DAAS website, including four videos with faculty and staff who have been involved in CEL projects. 3) We designed and implemented AAS 268, a new course that enables students to explore community engaged learning from conceptual, historical, and practical perspectives. 4) We hired an administrative assistant to help support three major Community Engaged Learning projects within DAAS: Pedagogy of Action, Semester in Detroit, and ECO Girls. 5) By establishing AAS 268 and developing our existing CEL projects, we increased students’ opportunities to collaborate with community partners in identifying and addressing issues of concern to the community. We also enabled students to deepen their understandings of: a) the interrelationships between social identities and social inequalities, b) the histories of community-based efforts to achieve social justice, and c) theories, modes of analysis, and interpersonal skills that can serve as crucial tools for fostering social change. 6) We hosted a Community Forum as the culminating session of AAS 268, which was attended by a broad range of university and community members. Students reflected on what they learned during the semester, shared highlights of the interviews that they conducted with community members, and gave brief presentations of their final collaborative projects. 7) The following Fall, we hosted a CEL Symposium with current undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, alumni, and community members/activists, all of whom shared their experiences and ideas for ways to enhance CEL projects in DAAS. 8) We added a category called “Community Engaged Learning and Social Justice” to our list of Specializations within the DAAS major. This category includes the following courses: AAS 248 Crime, Race, & Law AAS 263 Race, Housing, and Employment AAS 268 Community Collaborations: Race, Social Justice, and Engaged Learning AAS 368 Conservation & Development in Cultural Landscapes: Fieldwork in Kenya AAS 409 Maternal/Child Health, the Environment, and Pollution in Africa AAS 417 Studying African-Americans AAS 463 The Black Middle Class AAS 468 Field Study Diaspora AAS 469 Issues Field Study Diaspora AAS 495 Re-Envisioning American Slavery [needs course number] Black Art, White Cube The grant has greatly influenced my own teaching and is having an important impact on the DAAS curriculum. I learned a great deal in designing AAS 268 and immensely enjoyed teaching the course. I now plan to offer it on a regular basis, as a way to prepare students for further engagement in DAAS courses and projects related to Community Engaged Learning. The grant also enabled us, as a department, to articulate the fundamental role that Community Engaged Learning has played in our history and to develop new strategies for prioritizing CEL projects in our curriculum and our study abroad programs.

Continuation:
AAS 268 will now be offered on a yearly basis. Furthermore, the grant created a sense of momentum around CEL that has led us to formulate a CEL Specialization within our curriculum. Two courses, in particular, will augment the curricular dimension of CEL within DAAS: AAS 417, which is a research methods course that will prepare students to engage with community members through interviewing, participant observation, and shared problem-solving; and “Black Art, White Cube,” which will enable students to work closely with a visiting artist in designing, curating, promoting, and hosting a community-oriented exhibit in GalleryDAAS. The grant has also inspired us to seek additional funding for an assistant who can continue to help with managing our CEL initiatives and programs. We hope, in the near future, to establish opportunities for graduate students to mentor undergraduates who are participating in DAAS’s CEL projects.
Dissemination:
In addition to discussing the outcomes of the project at faculty meetings, we hosted a Community Forum at the conclusion of AAS 268 that was attended by a broad range of university and community members, and the following Fall, we hosted a CEL Symposium that was attended by current undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, alumni, and community members/activists. We also featured DAAS's CEL initiatives in the DAAS newsletter.
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