Enhancing Humanities Education Through Community Service Learning

1. Community Service-Learning and the HumanitiesDr. Tania SmithUniversity of CalgaryA Lecture sponsored by St. Thomas More College’s Engaged Learning and English Departments, University of SaskatchewanThursday, January 15, 2009 4:00 p.m.

2. Background narrative • English Studies, University of Alberta (BA hons, MA) and Ohio State University (PhD) • Literature and history • Narratives, culture • Education, persuasion • Community-building questions • Tutoring and mentoring foreign students of the Humanities

3. Elements of CSL: Experiential Learning • Jane Austen Society, Juvenilia Press: J& R. McMaster and Bruce Stovel • Co-editing, theatrical production, conference planning and participation • Still on “Academic” terms • Involving academic & nonacademic participants

4. Community Service Learning • A step beyond common forms of academic experiential learning • 3 way partnership model: teacher, students, community • Equal value of academic learning and social engagement • Students learn to bridge 2 audiences and teachers, 2 interpretive communities

5. Humanistic Learning Traditions • Isocrates • Plato • Cicero • Renaissance “republic of letters” & “advice to princes” genre • 18c British dissenting academies • 18c British Women Writers

6. CSL in Humanities education • additional resources for critical thought. • avenues for "creativity" in learning • active, interpersonal engagement in learning involving participants outside the classroom • increased elements of collaborative learning and community • demonstrates to the public, parents and graduates the relevance and value of humanities studies

7. NSSE National Survey of Student Engagement – Question Areas: • Active and Collaborative Learning • Student - Faculty Interaction • Enriching Educational Experiences (including CSL question) • Level of Academic Challenge • Supportive Campus Environment

8. CSL-related NSSE questions • Tutored or taught students (paid or voluntary) • Participated in a community-based project • "Synthesized" new ideas and information, as well as "made judgments" and "applied theories" regarding them • Participated in a practicum, internship, or field experience

9. U of C – NSSE data by faculty

10. U of C – NSSE data by faculty

11. Forms of Humanities CSL • Mentors: high school, community. i.e. Humanities 101 • Small group discussion facilitators in events/forums • Nonacademic co-editors, • Researchers, historians, analysts • Communicators

12. Challenges & Answers

13. Challenges & Answers Challenges & Answers

14. Further CSL inquiry / steps • local resources, expertise, mentorship • bibliographies, websites, associations • piloting small scale, optional projects • involving students in research and development • tenure/promotion/evaluation policies • flexibility, credit / noncredit • consulting & involving stakeholders

15. Hybrid Model: On-Campus CSL • Serving other university communities/units (library, writing center, task forces, SU, clubs) • Academia lacks resources, needs to develop community • Undergraduate course-based peer mentoring • Mentoring course / “Host” courses : CSL structure • Peer Mentors as aids for many forms of interactive learning including CSL • unlike TA/Instructor relationship • Instructors learn some principles of CSL