Community-Connected Learning Course
Are you ready to pair your community engagement with academic credit? Want to contribute to the public good and explore a career with a local nonprofit or human service agency?
In Fall 2020, we launched our new experiential learning course: INTD 0121 - Community-Connected Learning. In this course, you will pair your community engagement with academic coursework and reflection. You’ll get to develop social-issue knowledge, collaborative skills, and civic identity that complements your new or existing community partnership experiences! Learn more on our Community-Connected Learning Course page.
Community Connected Learning
In this course, students will apply their relevant coursework to place-based contexts by collaborating with community partners independently or in groups to complete a community-connected learning project that will contribute to the public good. Center for Community Engagement (CCE) instructor(s) will meet with students weekly in cohorts to discuss and develop civic knowledge, skills, and identities related to their project work. Final projects may take a variety of forms, such as a portfolio, media production, or paper. Students should contact the course instructor to discuss, confirm and/or receive assistance in identifying a community partner and to begin to define their projects.
Expertise and Skills
Community-connected learning supports civic knowledge cultivation, skill-building, and identity development. Through readings, interviews, media exploration, group discussion, and written analysis, you’ll get to develop social-issue knowledge, collaborative skills, and stronger self-awareness that complements your new or existing community partnership experiences!
Example Projects
- Work with area public health officials to craft messaging and infographics that support public understanding of mask-wearing and COVID-19 vaccines
- Create remote mentoring modules and activities for mentors and mentees in Community Friends
- Help an outdoor education foundation work toward accreditation as an outdoor school
- Develop pre-recorded and remote intercultural and language acquisition materials and activities for K-12 classrooms
- Help area service providers and first responders craft effective referral materials and processes to connect community members with services they need
- Provide programmatic support and/or material development for partnering schools and organizations
Instructors
Fall 2023 Instructor:
Kristen Mullins, Assistant Director of Intercultural and Global Programs
Spring 2024 Instructor:
Shannon McClain, Assistant Director of Youth and Educational Partnerships
Please check with your advisor or reach out to the Center for Community Engagement at communityengagement@middlebury.edu to learn more!