SMC Core Curriculum Course Proposal Form
Engaging the World: Community Engagement
1. Name of Proposer: Anna Novakov
2. Email address:
3. Department/Program of Proposer: Art and Art History
4. Name of Department/Program housing the course: Art and Art History
5. Name(s) of Program Director/Department Chair: Anna Novakov, Chair
6. Course Acronym, Number and Title: AH 188: Applied Research: Community Service
7. Semester(s) in which course will be offered: Fall 2014
8. How often is this course taught? Every other year
9. Course Prerequisites (if any): None
10. Unit Value of Course: 1 unit
11. Proper Audience for the course: Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors
12. The Learning Goals for which the course is being submitted:
Teaching:
1. Apply academic methods and/or theories in a way that promotes collaboration and mutual benefit in a community setting.
Service learning/community-based research enhances learning by moving beyond the classroom to provide students with an opportunity to relate course content to real-life experiences. It offers students a chance to explore possible career options and strengthen resumes, as well as intrinsic values of personal growth, community involvement and integrated learning that makes use of a student’s unique talents and learning style. This course involves students directly in community issues and needs while developing both academic and civic skills. (See syllabus)
2. Demonstrate critical reflection throughout their experience
I have been conducting Service Learning Courses for over four years. I was part of a CILSA Service Learning Cohort and last year I participated in the Community Engagement Reboot program which resulted in an MOU between SMC and Youth Spirit Artworks in Berkeley.
3. Express their understanding of the interconnections between their experience and their responsibilities as members of social or professional communities.
This year, through my fall Community Engagement course I have been able to establish an ongoing relationship and an MOU between SMC and our partner YouthSpirit Artworks in Berkeley. Youth Spirit Artworks (YSA) is an art jobs training program located in Berkeley, California which is committed to empowering and bettering the lives of homeless and low-income San Francisco Bay Area young people, ages 16-25. The mission of Youth Spirit Artworks is to use art jobs and jobs training to empower and transform the lives of youth, giving young people the skills, experience, and self-confidence needed to meet their full potential. True to its name – Youth Spirit Artworks is growing, spirited and creative. Like the young people we serve, YSA is strong, resilient and evolving. I partnered with YSA to place six SMC students in their after school training program which works directly with homeless youth in the city.
Learning:
1. Apply academic methods and/or theories in a way that promotes collaboration and mutual benefit in a community setting.
Research Paper: Students will research, author, and present the work of a contemporary artist, architect, designer, or collective whose practice embodies the community arts content covered in this course. Research topics must be unique in subject. This assignment requires include a1,500-word paper with research sources posted on the course blog. Presentations will be around 15 minutes in length supported with a digital multimedia presentation.
2. Demonstrate critical reflection throughout their experience.
Critical Reflection: End of semester 3-4 page self-assessment evaluating the personal
and academic impact this service project had on you and your world-view, utilizing
readings from throughout the semester.
3. Express their understanding of the interconnections between their experience and their responsibilities as members of social or professional communities.
Blog: Students are required to maintain an ongoing blog in which they describe, analyze, reflect on, and respond to your service learning experiences and the weekly readings in this course——and in which you integrate ideas from this courses and relate them to your own ideas and personal values. In particular, you will make connections between: 1) ideas developed in this course and other courses; 2) ideas from academic coursework and service experiences; 3) experiences in the arts and their application to society; and 4) principles and theories from readings and their application in the world beyond the campus. You should consider your blog an important repository of your ideas, a kind of intellectual autobiography revealing your mind and spirit at work, always evolving and growing. The blog is worth 40% of your class grade Special Note: Over the semester, you are expected to produce 10 blogs (one almost each week). Blogs need to be posted each Friday by 11pm.
Departmental Disciplinary Expertise
Members of the departmental faculty who have earned advanced degrees in the history of art or related fields teach this course. The History of Art is one of the disciplines dedicated to artistic understanding of various forms of artistic production across time and cultures.
Anna Novakov: Response to Community Engagement/ Common Good Working Group (questions pasted at the end)
Zach,
Thank you for the feedback on my proposal. Such commentary is so helpful in course development.
Regarding nature of the service on page 1:
This description is for the course as it is taught in partnership with various non-profit arts organizations. The language in that portion of the syllabus address the ways in which History of Art students have engaged in service learning. The specifics for the semester in question are based on the needs expressed by YSA. I approach all service learning as a give-and-take relationship between the current students, the community partner and me. In this project, YSA expressed a direct need for inputting data into a California Arts Initiative Cloud that would lead to enhanced sources of the funding for the organization. The students, working with YSA, are in the same studio space as the organization’s leaders, the students that they serve and various visitors to the YSA. It is in fact this interaction, which has led to much of the most profound life-changing experiences for our students. Financial support is key to the existence of many of these small arts organizations. The ability of our students to lend their time and abilities to such a project is invaluable to the community partner.
The issue of the IRB does not come up, since all of the work that the students do with the organization is part of their organization and would go into the archive of the community partner. They do not lead to any of my research projects or research projects that the students might be interested in doing. In other words, we always follow the lead of the community partner, rather than using their materials for our own research interests.
When this course is offered again, I am sure that the YSA and I will be developing a different project for the students, since this particular data assignment will be complete. Either way, it is an invaluable learning opportunity for students who are interested in entering into the non-profit art world. They are able to demonstrate a unique method of applying their research skills, not just to a study of the historical past, but in a manner that will enrich emerging, contemporary artists in their own communities.
I hope that this clarifies the questions that were put forward by the committee. I am happy to engage in any other conversations about the proposal.
All the best,
Anna