Meta Mendel- Reyes

Introduction to Service, Citizenship, and Community

Berea College

Introduction to Service, Citizenship, and Community

General Studies 137
Professor Meta Mendel-Reyes, Spring 2001
Tuesday 6-8 pm, Bruce Building Classroom 4 hours community service placement, plus
class project.
Introduction, Objectives, Texts. Format and Assignments, Syllabus
Introduction
At the turn of the 21st century, we see a resurgence of community service, a decline in
political participation, and the persistence of the urgent social problems that both seek to
address. For example, a recent survey conducted by Harvard Universitys Kennedy
School of Government reported that 60% of college students polled said that they were
currently involved in community service. Yet only 7% planned to volunteer to work on a
political campaign during the upcoming elections. These results parallel developments
beyond the campus: as interest in the formal political system wanes, more and more
people are practicing a new approach to democracy, problem-solving, and building power
at the grassroots. Through service learning, this course explores service and democratic
citizenship, and attempts to answer this question: What individual and collective actions
are most effective in making our communities into places in which each person can
thrive?
The course is also designed to introduce students to the interdisciplinary study of
community, focusing on such topics as inequality, environmental degradation, and
racism; to help them develop leadership skills for effective service and citizenship; to
increase their awareness of possible careers in the non-profit sector; and to prepare them
for field experience in their majors.
During the semester, we will be learning through service. Each student will participate in
a community placement and class project, and our seminars will include dialogues with
local leaders. Our discussions and written assignments will emphasize reflection upon
your experiences in light of the class readings and other materials. Our goal will be to
create a genuine learning community, in which we all have the capacity to be both
teachers and learners. As professor, my role is primarily to create conditions in which you
can take an active role in your own learning.

Objectives
1. To explore theoretical and practical approaches to service, democratic citizenship,
and community building, particularly in Appalachia.
2. To engage in critically-reflective placements with local organizations, and to
participate in a class project designed and conducted in partnership with the
community.
3. To develop effective skills in community service and citizenship, including oral
and written communication skills, teamwork, leadership, diversity awareness, and
participatory action research.
4. To formulate and examine the students own commitment to service and
citizenship.
Texts
Our basic text is an interdisciplinary anthology especially designed for courses like this
one. Its wide range of materials, from philosophy and theology to poetry and literature to
politics and sociology, represent differing perspectives on service, citizenship, and
community. Our second book focuses on contemporary examples of what the authors call
living democracy, and includes exercises that will help us link theory and practice.
Several additional articles will be distributed in class.
Please buy the following books:
Benjamin Barber and Richard Battistoni, Education for Democracy: A Sourcebook for
Students and Teachers
Frances Moore Lappe and Paul Martin DuBois, The Quickening of America: Rebuilding
Our Nation, Remaking Our Lives
Format
Each week, the students will each complete 4-5 hours of service (which must include
community contact), and the class will meet together for a two-hour seminar. The
placement experience is structured by the roles and responsibilities the host organization
agrees to provide you, your own interests and learning objectives, and this course design.
These three components will be formalized in a Learning Agreement, to be signed by the
student, a representative of the host organization, and myself as the instructor. It is
essential that the relationship between the student and the host be as reciprocal as
possible; the community organizations and leaders who share with us this semester
should be respected as equal partners, not treated as walking data.
In our weekly seminars, we will explore community building and democracy among
ourselves. Sessions will include analyses of the readings; placement highlights and
presentations by members of the class; and dialogues with community leaders. In our
discussions, we will integrate scholarly and community voices which are not always

included in academic or public debates. During our meetings, we will work hard to
express our views and to listen to the views of others. This requires a degree of courage
and trust; it is sometimes very hard to take an unpopular stand on a controversial or
sensitive issue, or to open ourselves to a very different viewpoint. But if we can not do so
in a class, how will we ever be able to do so in our communities?
Assignments and Evaluation
The assignments are designed to encourage structured academic reflection upon our
service experiences outside the classroom, and to create an active learning community in
class. Accordingly, the evaluation process is designed to match the multiple ways in
which our learning takes place. The course grade will be determined as follows:
1. Journal: 20%. One of the most valuable tools for reflection is a journal in
which you consistently record and analyze your experience in light of the
class materials. After each session at your placement, record the date and
times, and a brief report of your activity. Each week, write at least three
entries (approximately three pages) reflecting upon these topics: (1) an
issue or theme from the weeks readings, (2) a critical incident that
occurred during the week, and (3) an activity or dialogue that took place
during that weeks seminar.
The goal is to study the class themes in light of our experiences. Ask
yourself such questions as: How do the readings help me to understand my
experiences? In what ways does my placement tend to confirm or refute
the readings? Remember that, although this journal is not expected to be a
polished essay, it should not be purely stream-of-consciousness either.
You may also attach media articles, photos, flyers, or other material
relevant to your topic be creative! The key to effective use of a journal is
to write immediately and frequently dont leave it until the day of class!
The journal should be typed or word-processed, double-spaced, and
should be brought to class every week. I will initial it each week, and read
and comment on it three times during the semester. At the end of the
semester, you will submit the entire journal, with my comments.
2. Placement presentation and final summary essay (4-5 pages): 20%.
3. Analytic essays: 20%. These papers will give you a more structured
format in which to reflect upon selected themes of the class (4-5 pages
each).
4. Class community service project: 20%. Because service is best approached
as a partnership, the class will decide on, design, and carry out a project in
collaboration with the community. This may involve assuming
responsibility for a specific activity or initiative, or participatory action
research.

5. Community responsibility index: 20%. Because this class will be

experiential as well as academic, your full participation is essential. So, I
will ask you to gauge the extent to which you have met your
responsibilities to our own democratic learning community, as well as to
your host organizations. Your evaluation, along with those of the
instructor and your supervisor, will be the basis for this part of your final
grade, depending upon a procedure to which we all agree. Below is a
suggested standard for evaluation:
COMMUNITY RESPONSIBILITY INDEX
a. living up to our commitments to our community host
organizations;
b. diligent class attendance and active participation in our
discussions;
c. completing required reading by the date assigned;
d. completing written assignments on time;
e. deporting oneself as an equal member of a democratic
community.
More information about assignments will be given out in class. Check email regularly.
Syllabus (subject to change)
(selections from Education for Democracy noted with *, from Quickening as Q)
2/13 Introduction to service, citizenship, community
Placements, Learning Agreements
Entering the community safely and respectfully
Learning through service
Q Ch. 1; Mansfield, Coles*
2/20 Service 1
What is service?
Why do I serve?
What is public life?
Community dialogue: Jim
King, FAHE

M. Teresa, Fuller, Nuesner,

King*; Q 2; Coles (handout)
Learning Agreement due
2/27 Community 1
What is community?
What makes communities work?
Does self- interest have a place in community?
Community dialogue: John
Capillo, Kentucky
Environmental Foundation
Bellah, Moffatt, Kemmis*; Q 3
Journal due
3/6 Democracy 1
What is democracy?
What is power?
What is democratic leadership?
Community dialogue: Brenna
Walhausser, Hospice Care
Class project planning (future
scheduling as needed)
Jefferson, Madison, Barber, Lincoln, Boyte*; Q 4
3/13 Service 2
What is good service?
How is good service organized?
How is service organized at your site?

Community dialogue: Jeanne

Hibberd, Communities by
Choice
Addams, King, Hesburgh, Chi*
Essay due
3/20 Community 2: Diversity
Who belongs and who doesnt?
What approaches to community promote or discourage
inclusion?
How does your site address diversity?
Community dialogue: Ray
Reed, Culture Care
Lorde, Ellison, Steele, hooks, Reich, Jackson*
Journal due
SPRING BREAK
4/3 Democracy 2: Citizenship and service
How does service lead to civic engagement?
What are skills and tools are needed?
Community dialogue: Jeannie
Brewer, WINGS
Clinton, Tocqueville, Putnam, Coats et al*; Q 10-13
4/10 Service 3: Service challenged
Can servanthood be bad?
Rand, Addams, Illich, McKnight, Chapman*
Placement presentation
Essay due

4/17 Community 3: Community challenged

Is community always a good thing?
King, Jackson, LeGuin, Wilkinson, Schaar*
Placement presentation
4/24 Democracy 3: Democracy challenged
Is democracy always a good thing?
Does civic responsibility at a local level undermine global
responsibility?
Does our responsibility extend beyond human beings?
Gobitis, Korematsu, Thoreau,
Barber, Leopold, Berry*
Placement presentation
Journal due
5/1 The resurgence of service and citizenship
How are ordinary Americans participating in their
workplaces and the economy, making themselves heard
through existing media, providing social services in new
ways, becoming more active in local government, and
educating real-world problem solvers?
Q, 5-9
Placement presentation
5/8 Community development in Appalachia
How are communities in our
region rebuilding
themselves?
Helen Lewis (handout )
Placement presentations

Final placement summary due

Journal due

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Last update:02/20/01
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