Program Structure and Content
Program Structure and Content
Seminar: Seminar is a cornerstone of program work and a crucible for the life of our learning community. Traditionally, seminar is student centered and student led, but every seminar is different, and interpersonal dynamics have as much to do with a successful seminar as do preparedness and intellectual engagement in conversation. The faculty will determine seminar groups, and each group will spend time developing a seminar covenant and a variety of strategies for success.
Ticket to seminar– seminar is a privilege and each of you is expected to be well-prepared in advance for each of these discussions. The preparation that we ask of you will look different each week. We may ask for a written paper, a performative response to the reading (weeks 6 and 10), a piece of visual art, a poem, or any other idea we conceive of.
Peer groups – you will divide into groups of three during week one’s seminar meetings. These peer groups will each be assigned one seminar discussion to facilitate and will form the basis of individual study groups. Your peer groups will be expected to meet at least once a week outside of class time to review program materials and peer review sections of the formal research paper. You should document this in a Peer Group log and include it in your final portfolio.
Performative responses - Week 6 and Week 10 you will be asked to present a performative response to program materials. A paper outlining the specifics of the assignment will be handed out in advance. You will do this in small groups of 3-5 students and you will be free to choose your own groups from all students in the program.
Dream/Integrative Journal – Get yourself an 8 ½ x11″ sketch journal and put your name on it. The purpose of this journal is to keep a record of your dreams as well as integrate dreams with program work.
• Keep your journal by your bedside and when you remember any dreams or dream fragments, write them down as soon as possible. Date your entries. Then, create a quick drawing of the tone of the dream – major themes, feelings, meanings associated with the dream. This drawing doesn’t need to be representational. If you don’t remember a dream the minute you wake up, take a moment to just notice anything that you may be feeling, remembering, imagining and write that down. This works best if you take a moment to lie in the same position that you woke up in (if possible) before getting up. Moving the body and attending to other things, even for a moment, can dissolve the memory of the dreams. When people do this, then the dreams usually start to come up. This is a way to tap into the deeper wisdom coming from the Unconscious, the Collective Unconscious, Archetypes or the deeper level of the Self.
• At the end of each week, create a one-page written synthesis and a visual image of the content of your dreams and connections with program work. Date and title these entries and clearly mark them as your weekly syntheses.
• At the end of the quarter, you can either include your entire journal in your portfolio, or copy important pages as well as the synthesis pages for inclusion in the portfolio.
Research Project -This two-quarter project is designed to provide you with the opportunity to: explore a topic that is central to our program’s guiding questions, improve your library research knowledge and skills, create an annotated bibliography, and work to present your findings in a professional manner. Your fall quarter work will conclude with a research prospectus. You will continue this research in the winter, where your project will culminate in a 15-page paper and a poster presentation. Specific assignment details follow.
Integrative Expressive Arts Lab – Exploring and refining your core values includes learning about the connections between your mind, body, and spirit. To facilitate this understanding, we will participate in a movement and integrative expressive arts experience together each week.
Bring a journal (which could be your dream journal, or a separate journal that you bring to school) and art supplies to our integrative expressive arts lab every Thursday morning. We will supply each student with pastels and colored pencils (feel free to bring your own supplies as well). You will use the journal to collect reflective writings and drawings that we assign in class as well as writing that you will do at home. It is a place where you can explore the patterns that have helped shape the relationship between your mind, body and spirit and where you can develop a deeper understanding of the way program themes relate to you as an individual and as a member of our learning community. The journal will serve as a reservoir of information about yourself from which you will be able to draw rich material for many program activities.
Additional Items - Other assignments may include questions for guest speakers, unannounced in-class essays on the assigned readings, in-class writings in a journal intended specifically for your personal insights.
Program portfolio: A final portfolio (a big 3-ring binder) displaying your quarter’s work is a requirement for credit. This portfolio will be a significant resource for your faculty in crafting your evaluation. Therefore, it should be well organized and reflect pride in your accomplishments. Don’t throw anything away until the program is over. The portfolio will include your self-evaluation and it will be submitted to your faculty at the end of each term.
Self-evaluations – In keeping with the wisdom with which the college was founded, self-assessment is an integral part of learning in our program. During weeks 6 and 10 you will be asked to reflect upon and integrate your own learning into a narrative self-evaluation.
Evaluation conferences - Do not schedule travel for the end of the quarter until you have scheduled your evaluation conference. Failure to be present for your evaluation conference can result in a loss of credit.