ENGAGED LEARNING
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On February 7th, I attended a panel on the future of K-12 education and the role of the liberal arts, particularly of Occidental, in creating that future. Since I’m teaching a course about the crisis in higher education from the perspective of threats to the liberal arts approach to knowledge, I wanted to share the…
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Last week I had the opportunity to hear Prof. Lewis-McCoy, of Sociology and Black Studies at CUNY, speak to Oxy faculty on the topic of Educational Inequality in Well Resourced Settings. The short title of the talk was “Together but Still Unequal,” a reference to the Separate but Equal laws of the racially segregated US…
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At our upcoming Digital Scholarship Institute, my colleagues and I will explore the theme of alternative argumentation. At our institution, Occidental College, all frosh are required to take an interdisciplinary cultural studies seminar that focuses on honing argumentation skills. Traditionally, the curriculum has focused on text-based argumentation (reading texts and writing about them), but CSP…
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What is the fate of academic practice, where knowledge production is a slow, resource intensive process, in an age of fast-moving, fragmented, and free information? How can emergent technologies be put to effective use in learning to engage students in their learning when students – so-called “digital natives” – are primarily socialized as technology consumers…
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There have been several articles relating the latest cognitive and neurological investigations into how multitasking affects the brain, from the NYT article to PBS’ Frontline special Digital Nation. As studies (as yet largely speculative) are translated into lay terms, we are told that multitasking is the message of interactive media – that the logic of…
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I teach a seminar called Media, Culture and Society where we focus on issues of interactive digital media, or “new media.” In a discussion about Dhiraj Murthy’s article on new media and ethnographic research methods, my students raised concerns about how they, as young people, are expected to know how to use digital media tools…
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Today in my Social Movements class Kevin Simowtiz of Virginia Organizing shared his experiences as a student organizer of the Living Wage Campaign. He also facilitated a useful discussion with the class on the obstacles and resources for student led movements. Here are the highlights of their conversation: What are the obstacles to student* involvement…
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This week at Prof Hacker, Billie Hara suggests that service learning is not just for students. Service can also enrich the life of faculty. Specifically, service can help faculty break out of the ivory tower, teach us new things about “industry, community, populations, or activism,” and help us create work-life balance. In addition, I would…
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The University of Virginia has developed a growing community of scholars involved in academic community engagement, which is elsewhere sometimes known as community based research or service learning. At an end of the semester reflective luncheon this afternoon, over twenty faculty gathered to discuss their previous experiences and their plans for the upcoming year. The…
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A colleague of mine commented today on facebook that it is better to give than receive, and this is particularly true during exams. But I often find myself nervous to see how my students perform. Did my intentions for their learning get realized? This semester I taught a new course on Community Arts that had…
jacob alden sargent 