Each year, approximately 40 professors integrate community engaged learning projects into their First Year Seminar (FSP) courses with Center staff and Bonner Scholars.  The projects draw a connection between the learning objectives of the course and a specific community need or interests.  The following is a sample of projects that will be completed during the Fall of 2011. For class projects from previous academic years, please click here.

Becoming American – Professor Ann Warner-Ault

This seminar examines the experiences of Hispanics in the U.S. during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries with a special emphasis on Hispanics living in New York and New Jersey. The course draws from a variety of readings and media including two novels, short stories, poetry, films, art, music, as well as non-fictional accounts, ethnographic studies and public policy regarding immigration. Themes we address include the border and notions of border-control, stereotypes, issues of identity, and the differing experiences of immigrants depending on their location, personal situations and country of origin. In addition, students experience the topic first-hand through a mandatory service-learning project in collaboration with the Bonner Center and Catholic Charities of Trenton. Students volunteer at the Family Resource Center (El Centro) to assist in teaching classes for Hispanic permanent residents who are studying for their citizenship test. (This course fulfills the first-year CEL requirement.)

Leadership for Social Justice (reserved for Bonner Scholars) – Professor Nino Scarpati

This course examines the critical role of leadership in advancing social justice, with particular attention to successful and failed efforts to address social problems such as poverty, oppression, and civil rights in America.  Students probe and critically evaluate various theories and models that attempt to define effective leadership for the public good.  The course utilizes an evidence-based, case study analysis of selected leaders, including internationally recognized and lesser known citizen activists, elected public officials, and corporate entrepreneurs.  Students investigate the values, traits and competencies demonstrated by effective and ineffectual leaders for positive social change.  Texts and supplemental readings include non-fiction and fictional works examining complex problems rooted in social injustice, and the attempts of leaders to ameliorate or eliminate their symptoms.  The course also integrates the community engaged learning experiences of students as part of their development as emerging leaders in the Bonner Community Scholars program.

Language in Society – Professor Ben Rifkin

In this course, we study what makes human language different from the communication systems used by other species and look at the systems that all languages use to build meaning. Then we take up the question of how we use language in social contexts – among friends, family, classmates, colleagues, supervisors, strangers, as well as with health care professionals. We consider what makes an accent an accent, that associations and impressions accents generate, and look at language-based bias and stereotyping. We also study how babies acquire the language of their parents, the nature of bilingualism, and how adults learn a second or foreign language. The course examines the relationship of language and ethnicity by analyzing particular languistic situations in depth. As part of this course, students engage in ESL tutoring in Trenton to fulfill the CEL requirement.

Being the Change: Analyzing Mentoring Relationships – Professor Jean Slobodzian

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”  -Gandhi

This quotation from Gandhi, echoed as a campaign slogan used by President Obama in the most recent presidential election, tells us to accept responsibility not only for our own welfare, but also for that of our fellow citizens. There are many avenues for creating positive change in the world, ranging from global programs to national incentives and all the way down to the individual level, with one person reaching out to directly assist another. In this course, we focus on the most personal of all supportive relationships, that of mentoring. The course is anchored around personal experiences of mentoring and being mentored. From there, opportunities to learn about the experiences of others in both informal mentoring relationships and formal mentoring programs take place through readings that reveal perspectives of a wide variety of mentors and protégés. You explore mentoring relationships across cultures and throughout history. Readings, of course, include scholarly texts, but the addition of popular literature, on-line information, and viewing of related films will also be incorporated as a framework for developing comprehension of this topic. A variety of instructional methodologies, including the active acquisition of first-person accounts from those who have had experiences in mentoring relationships, enhance understanding of this seemingly simple yet complex topic.

To See a World in a Grain of Sand: Reading and Writing the Short Story – Professor Kelsey Maki

In this class students examine, analyze, and author short stories in the literary fiction genre. The first half of the semester focuses on the reading and analysis of contemporary authors. Students discuss form and content while speculating upon larger cultural and philosophical unanswerables such as: What does it mean to be alive? Is love a cultural construction? In what ways does language fail us? Is it possible for the individual to “escape” his/her environment? How does one deal with violence and mortality? During the second half of the semester, students write and workshop their own stories, creating thought-provoking worlds as they further their understanding of plot, character, setting, dialogue, POV, and voice. In addition to practicing writing and critical thinking in a variety of formal and informal contexts, students have the opportunity to become teachers as they work with grade school students from Trenton, exchanging insight on writing and life.

You have the right to remain silent (and other rights too)! – Professor Mark Speaker

Understanding the Bill of Rights is an important aspect of being an informed citizen of the United States. The purpose of this course is to examine the Constitution, focus on the first ten amendments (i.e. the Bill of Rights), and explore complicated Constitutional Law issues. The course examines common legal phrases and concepts with which most students are familiar (e.g. “do you have a warrant?”, taking the fifth, making bail, a free press, the right to bear arms, “I want a lawyer,” a jury of your peers, States’ rights, separation of church and state, cruel and unusual punishment) and shows how they are connected to each of the Amendments. This is done in several ways. Current events that pertain to issues governed by the Amendments are examined. In class discussion, debate and through actual cases we illuminate issues within the framework of the Bill of Rights themselves. Attitudinal changes in the current social and cultural climate are explored. (e.g. allowing a police search without a warrant, restricting access to assault weapons, accepting restrictions on religious symbols). Many of the amendments are also explored through film, historical documents and literature to foster discussion about the actual application of the Bill of Rights in current social and practical circumstances.

Income Inequality: Economic Insights and Policy Debates – Professor Michele Naples

Income Inequality has increased over the last 30 years, and promises to continue to deteriorate. The course addresses the economic theories that explain the distribution of income and wealth. Students’ community-engagement experience attunes them to particular aspects of poverty, informing their research papers on what is to be done to remedy the problem.

Women and the Family in Modern China -Professor Qin Shao

This seminar examines women and family life in China from the mid-19th century to the present. It deals with women’s role and family structure as concepts and practices in Chinese culture, the relationships among genders and generations, the impact of social change on women and family life, and women’s participation in and contributions to social change. Students also gain insights about Chinese society beyond gender and the family, and about gender and family issues beyond China.

Debating Controversial Topics in Drug and Alcohol Policy – Professor Sandy Gibson

This seminar explores the reality of drug and alcohol abuse in American society today, as well as compares it to that of other countries.  Students explore specific drug and alcohol policy issues, such as (but not limited to) the decriminalization of drug use, the existence of methadone and needle exchange programs, drug testing high school students and the Amethyst Initiative.This FSP has a great deal of experiential learning, including trips to methadone clinics, volunteering for a needle exchange program, and attending AA and NA meetings.  There are also several guest speakers, including recovering addicts and alcoholics, and narcotics officers. These discussions and experiences culminate in taking a position on each policy area and preparing a position paper.  The course includes debate and a formal group position paper.

Protecting New Jersey’s Pinelands – Professor Stuart Koch

The seminar explores the unique features of the Pine Barrens area of South Jersey in terms of geology, history and biodiversity; the literature and art that depicts and celebrates the region; and the efforts to protect this area by the Pinelands Commission, other governmental agencies, groups like the Pinelands Preservation Alliance, and citizen activists. Special attention is also paid to the economic impacts of these efforts and the tension between economic development and environmental preservation.

The Evolution of African American Gospel Music – Professor Todd McCrary

This course traces Black Gospel Music from its origins to its present day varied arrangements. Students come prepared to sing a little (as a group only) and attend at least two worship experiences (i.e., Sunday morning worship or a Gospel concert). Furthermore, our class participates with the Bonner Center and completes a community-engaged project that is course-related.

Exploring Amish Culture – Professor Timothy Hornberger

This course is designed to be an introduction to Amish culture, more specifically, the Old Order Amish, the most conservative group of Amish living in the United States. Through course work designed to acquaint students with a social/historical/political and educational perspective of the Amish, students gain a better understanding of this fascinating, complex culture and what makes it unique. Resisting change in a technological world is a constant struggle for the Amish who shun electricity, automobiles, and other modern conveniences. Since the Amish eschew individual accomplishment, this course will focus on the Amish as a “Little Community,” how the Amish depend on the resources of the outside world, (the non-Amish community), and how they adapt to change. The course also clarifies some of the major differences between the Amish and Mennonite culture, differences that many outsiders are curious about but do not fully understand. Life ceremonies such as birth, marriage, and death will be investigated as well as social change and illness issues, for example, Amish medical behavior and problems, mental illness, and suicide patterns. Much of the content of this course is learned by reading fiction and nonfiction books and articles about Amish culture, researching the culture on the Internet, viewing films and videos portraying Amish culture, participating in discussions and small group work in class at the College, and visiting an authentic, working Amish farm where students will be able to participate in discussions with an Amish family, experience a tour of an Amish farm and sit down for a meal with the Fisher family (An Old Order Amish Family) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.