For the Common Good: Community-Based Learning and Action

Description

Why are some communities vibrant and others not? Who and what defines community? What is the common good and who decides? Who inspires us to participate in community and in what forms? Does reliance on volunteers continue an unjust economy? How can community engagement support social change? How can we work effectively as allies in communities that are not our own? What is higher education's role in supporting community?

This one-quarter program will combine theory and practice through classroom study and applied field work. We will explore theories of community and the common good and combine this with the practice of community-based service learning. Students will choose a local organization to work with throughout the quarter and contribute 10 hours a week of community-based learning while spending time in and out of class examining issues such as immigration, literacy, housing, hunger, education, sustainability, health, environment, and poverty through lenses of class, race, and gender. 

Community-based learning asks students to examine critical community needs and how best to contribute to addressing them. Program activities will include field trips to Shelton and downtown Olympia, guest speakers on public policy and community advocacy, lectures, critical reading of program texts and response papers, seminars, service learning journal based on weekly program themes, and final presentations of student work.