CLA 2005: Introduction to Liberal Education and Responsible Citizenship
Our global community is facing an unprecedented set of challenges including widening poverty, a global economic crisis, hunger, homelessness, educational underachievement, environmental degradation, inter-ethnic violence, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, increased urban violence and crime, and expanding refugee populations. It is in this global context, that President Barak Obama in his inaugural address challenged the nation to a new era of responsibility and personal engagement to solve the nation's problems and revitalize our democracy. How does one respond to these challenges both as a member of a particular nation-state as well as a member of the global community in a manner that is thoughtful, engaged, personal, and yet with a commitment to the common good? What role should universities play in responding to these challenges? What is the value of having a world-class public research university in your city? How should they prepare students to meet the national and global challenges of the 21st century? And, what are the social responsibilities of those who benefit from a college education? These are among the important moral, ethical and policy questions that will be addressed in this interdisciplinary course designed to provide students a space and process to critically examine the complex relationships between higher education, public engagement, and responsible citizenship.
Service learning is a central component of this class and all students will participate in a minimum of 20-25 hours of community work in a setting approved by the instructors. Service learning is potentially exciting, innovative, and empowering. It is a way to move toward critical thinking, self-directed experiential learning, and testing theory in action. Service learning is a way to explore classroom concepts in the real world while developing valuable leadership and intercultural competencies.In this class, students will explore the nature and meaning of service, from its motivations and forms to the communities it serves and the problems it addresses. The work and experience of the course will help students to develop a critical understanding of the limits and possibilities of service learning, government programs, and community-based initiatives. Course readings, discussions, and speakers will complement the community work done by students. A range of social, economic, and political issues impacting the world, nation, and the Twin Cities will be analyzed through multidisciplinary lens. Through first-hand community engagement experiences, students will also critically interrogate how we interpret the social realities we enter through service, how these meanings are talked about, and how they are negotiated among people who have unequal power relationships.
|
