Fall 2009

BIO 1550  Nutrition

• Instructor: Lynne LoPresto

This course covers the fundamental aspects of human nutrition and metabolism including the basic biochemistry and physiological function of dietary protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamins and minerals in the human body.  The US Dietary Guidelines, MyPyramid and a dietary analysis program will be used to demonstrate dietary assessment techniques and as tools for nutrition education. Student will have 3 opportunities to adapt these materials to educate children in an elementary school classroom about healthy eating habits.  The course also includes a module on food production, pesticide use, food processing and safe food handling.  We will conclude with overview of food insecurity and world hunger issues which includes introduction to principles of sustainability and the prevention of environmental degradation.

ART 1030/Art Studio/1 Beginning Watercolor

• Instructor:  Lynn Sondag
  

This course will introduce the medium of watercolor through traditional and contemporary practices and applications. Students will learn course content and objectives through creating a series of  in-class painting assignments, teaching transmission of knowledge to younger artists, and interpreting/dialoguing reflective activities involving the art created and teaching experiences with the school children.

A central objective of this course is to provide you with community experiences and reflection opportunities that allow you to reinforce your competency with the watercolor medium and visual literacy skills while teaching and interacting with younger students. I am also hoping the reflection assignments and discussion will help reveal art’s potential role in providing a voice for diverse perspectives in a community and raise your awareness of important issues in education regarding the physical and social conditions in which art is created and practiced. Together, you and the Bahia Vista elementary school students will exchange ideas on the genre of landscape painting, influence each others observations and expressions in painting, and help one another foster an aesthetic appreciation of local neighbor environment, natural and man made.

This class will partner with the Bahia Vista School’s 3rd grade class in the after-school program. There will be a total of six visits where each Dominican student will pair up with two 3rd graders and “teach” the same skills and concepts recently learned in class. Teaching sessions will take place during class time with faculty guidance, and students will travel together in car pools.

BUS 3051 Leadership in Individuals, Organizations, and Society

• Instructor: Giulia Welch

This course introduces the Leadership Studies minor emphasizing the study of leadership theories from the perspectives of individuals, organizations, and society, as well as the development of leadership skills. The course includes a 360-degree review of one's leadership behaviors and completion of a leadership development plan. Issues include an overview of basic leadership skill development, teams and coaching, facilitative leadership, followership, decision-making, leading and planning for change, conflict resolution and negotiation, diversity and ethics. The course will incorporate a service-learning field-work experience.  Through a 20-30 hour service-learning component students will observe and participate putting leadership theories to practice.

LS 4000 Capstone Project

• Instructor:  Jennifer Lucko & Elizabeth Boner
  

California Public Schools are in dire need of well-trained teachers competent in both subject matter and instructional methodology.  Yet, while content knowledge and methods provide the essential foundation for effective teaching, successful educators also understand the powerful influences of family and community life inside the classroom.  In this course, students design a capstone project that investigates one facet of the home-school connection.  As students conduct library research on their chosen topics, a service-learning project allows students to connect educational theories to instructional practice at a local school-based, community outreach program.  Students will have the opportunity to serve with one of the following community partners: Bahia Vista Elementary, Hamilton Elementary, Loma Verde Elementary, Parent Leadership Institute, or Teen Mothers Group.  For more information on these Community Partners please see our Community Partner page.

ENGL 1004 Expository Writing

• Instructor:  Sister Aaron Winkleman
  

English 1004 is a University-level writing course that emphasizes the writing of expository essays, including essay structure, thesis idea, the relation between thesis and  rhetorical modes—e.g., example, comparison and contrast, and argument—as well as organization and correctness in grammar, mechanics, punctuation, and spelling. It also examines many forms of American English. One of the principal methods for achieving the learning outcomes of the course is service-learning in partnership with the Canal Alliance and Davidson Middle School in San Rafael.

PHIL 1108/3108 Ethics & Good Citizenship

• Instructor:  Bonnie Howe
  

Philosophers think about thinking. We study what people think and make recommendations about how we should think. The sub-field of philosophical ethics focuses on questions about what is good and just, and what is not. Ethicists analyze and evaluate, defend and recommend particular behaviors, choices, and social policies. Concern for human wellbeing drives us to ask questions about what we should do – “we” as individuals, and “we” in relationships, in society.

The course theme for fall ’09 is ethics and good citizenship.  Our anchor texts include readings in classical and contemporary philosophy, as well as service-learning via community service. The classical philosophers – Socrates, Plato, Aristotle – argued that how we define “justice” and “the good” shapes our lives, both personally and collectively. They opened a discussion about the good and justice in the city (the polis, politics) centered on citizenship. In the process, they (especially Aristotle) noticed that ethics requires practical reasoning grounded in life experience. We cannot answer our most important ethics questions in the abstract. Ethics needs praxis to even locate and formulate its key questions. That is why the central “text” of this ethics course is praxis – practical experience of service with community partners. The work of ethics does not stop with praxis, however; ethics moves on to organized practical reasoning and reflection, and to dialogue. That reflection and dialogue then informs and shapes praxis, our life together as citizens. This course is an invitation for you to engage in that praxis-based dialogue on the good and citizenship.

RLGN 1055/3155  Passion for Justice: Liberation Theologies and Social Justice

• Instructor: Cynthia Taylor

For two thousand years, Christianity has been both a force for change and liberation, and for domination and oppression. This course focuses on the former – liberation – as Christian theological movements from the 1950s to the 1980s have combined biblical teachings with social scientific analysis not only to bring about social justice in modern societies but to challenge Christianity’s more oppressive characteristics. Throughout the semester, students will examine several key theological texts that emerged from social movements in Latin American and the United States of this period, and usually identified as Liberation Theology, Black Theology and Feminist Theologies.

Social justice is the crux of all liberation theologies. Our understanding of the intersection between theology and social justice will be deepened through a 25-hour community service component. Service-learning is a structured learning experience that combines community service with academic reflection.  Students engaged in service-learning provide community service in response to community-identified concerns and learn about the context in which service is provided, the connection between their service and their academic coursework, and their roles as citizens. Through service-learning, which in this class will be called our Social Justice Project, the student can ascertain how theological knowledge assists him/her in their “praxis situation,” – a term used in liberation theologies to describe the tension between reflection and action.

 
HON 3500 Self, Community, and Service: Ethical Theory and Practice

• Instructor: Julia van der Ryn

This course examines traditional and contemporary movements in ethical theory regarding questions of selfhood, authentic relation to others, and ethical action.  We will delve into a range of philosophical thought in this exploration the connection between ethics, personal autonomy and sense of meaning, and our responsibility  to and interdependence on others.

Our understanding of key themes will be deepened through a 25-hour service component that allows for active cultivation and expression of core values in the local community. Service is an integral part of this course as it allows us to bridge theory to practice within an academic context that supports and deepens our understanding of this experience through relevant texts, discussion, and reflection. Students will chose to work with an established community partner with a focus that will also add an enriching experience to their academic major: Youth Court, Canal Alliance, Marin Aids Project, School Environmental Education Docents, Homeward Bound.

PHIL 3510 / WGS 3510 / HUM 3510

Self, Community, and Service:
Modern Identity and Meaning

• Instructor: Julia van der Ryn

I can define my identity only against the background of things that matter.
–– Charles Taylor (The Ethics of Authenticity)

This course examines contemporary movements in ethical theory, focusing on the essential human need for moral meaning and its modern implications. Themes include questions of identity, responsibility, perception of and relation to the “other.” We will probe the ways in which the existential question of authenticity, “who am I?” is inextricably linked to questions of morality and ethical being, such as how we determine right from wrong action and how we choose conduct ourselves in the world.

Our understanding of key themes will be deepened through a 25 hour service component that allows for active cultivation and expression of core values in the local community. Students will develop and act on their social and environmental concerns/interests within an academic context that supports and deepens their understanding of this experience through relevant texts, discussion, and reflection.

Graduate Courses

OT 5103 Program Development in the Community

• Instructor: Susan Schwartz
  

Skills needed to design and develop innovative programs in community settings using a service-learning model. Topics covered include theoretical frameworks, research, development, implementation and evaluation of community programs, business planning, grant seeking, and marketing This fall, we are doing program development projects at several agencies: Homeward Bound, Marin Youth Center (MYC), Marin Brain Injury Network, and Marin Housing Authority sites, in conjunction with the nursing department and the Umbrella Project. We are also doing two special events: we are hosting a table at the Marin County Senior Information Fair, and we are co-hosting a CarFit senior driver safety evaluation event with the Marin County Division of Ageing.  More info