Caritas Service Learning Community
First Year Service-Learning Community S18 VXEP 1000 Syllabus CA 1, 2 and 3
Course Instructor: ______
Student Facilitators: ______
Place: Basement Lounge in Good Counsel
“Before all else,” Augustine wrote, “you must live together harmoniously, in one heart and one in soul, on the way to God…Let all of you live together in unity of heart and mind, and honor God in one another.” St. Augustine
Syllabus Spring ‘17 VEXP 1000 is the integrating seminar of Caritas Community. This one credit seminar aka “Fourth Hour” is connected to your ACS course and has an out-of-class service component. We are responding to a call from the ACLAMO to be consistent, trustworthy, reliable and loving assistants at an afterschool program for 1st -8th grade students at ACLAMO in Norristown. ACLAMO serves a in a low-income Latino Community in Norristown PA.
This course will lead students into critical thinking about important concepts related to poverty and discrimination. It will provide students an opportunity to reflect on contemporary societal issues that affect the families and community served by ACLAMO. Service Learning is explicitly designed to promote learning about the historical, sociological, cultural, economic and political contexts that underlie the needs or issues the students address in the community.” Barbara Jacoby, Service Learning Essential, Josey Bass 2015
General Course Goals for all first year learning communities
Students will live the mission of Villanova University, “The University community welcomes and respects members of all faiths who seek to nurture a concern for the common good and who share an enthusiasm for the challenge of responsible and productive citizenship in order to build a just and peaceful world.” University Mission Statement
q Developing cooperative learning skills in working and learning with and from other members of Caritas Community and the students and Staff at ACLAMO or your service site.
q Enhancing your skills for class participation through seminar discussion
q Reciprocal learning-you will tutor students at ACLAMO and learn from the students and staff.
q Critical thinking: you will make connections between what you learn in your ACS course, at service and in fourth hour. These connections will allow you to challenge the societal narratives about poverty, immigration and diversity that influence our thoughts an actions.
q Applying personal development and leadership skills to all aspects of college life.
q Understanding Villanova's Augustinian and Catholic heritage and how that relates to service learning.
q Making a successful transition to college.
Learning Outcomes
1. Student will have a deeper understanding of the causes and consequences of poverty and how that relates to the students at ACLAMO and the school.
2. Students will examine their own perceptions about class, race, culture and ability.
3. Students will examine their role as citizen in creation of policies and practices that serve the “common good”
The Common Good is considered the conditions in which ALL people can flourish.
4. Students will learn for the sake of others, seeking wisdom about the conditions in this world which keep others from reaching their potential.
5. Students will understand the role of Service Learning in a University.
Attendance at these events is required. If you have class during any of these times please let your instructor know. If you miss due to illness or family emergency you will need a note from health center.
Monday January 15Villanova closed-optional / MLK Day of service through the Office of Multicultural Affairs. / Sign up
MLK day of service sign up
Wednesday, January 17 MANDATORY IN PLACE OF 4TH HOUR / 7:00-8:30 / Community Meeting
CAP projects and conversation about race and diversity-- / Driscoll Auditorium You will choose one session
Monday, January 22 / Service Begins
Week of January 23 / NO FOURTH HOUR / Attend Freedom School or MLK memorial Lecture
Wednesday January 24 / 7:00PM / MLK memorial Lecture
January 24 at 7pm Villanova Room Or freedom school / Carol Nash My Life as a Civil Rights Activist: From Jail in Jackson to the Distinguished American Award” Diane Nash, leader and strategist of the student wing of the Civil Rights Movement Nash’s work included the first successful campaign to integrate lunch counters (Nashville), the Freedom Riders who desegregated interstate travel, and the co-founding of the Student Nonviolence Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Connelly Center, Villanova Room
Thursday, January 25 / All day / Freedom school / See https://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/artsci/
peaceandjustice/events_awards/freedomschool.html
Events are held in Connelly Center—descriptions at end of this document
Monday, January 29th / 4th hour begins
Week of April 2 / CAP project due / Final CAP proposal due. Implementation between now and May 2. Power point slides are due 5/1 by 5pm.
Tuesday, April 16
Mandatory / 6pm / *Celebration dinner and presentation of CAP projects / Villanova Room
Friday, April 27 / Last Day of Service
Service Schedule—You will be receive service schedule by email.
Attendance. Your attendance in class and at service can affect your grade. Since this course is primarily experiential in nature, you need to attend all classes and service days. Students who have more than TWO unexcused absences will have to make up the work or time, if not you may NOT PASS the class. Excused absences and make up work will be determined by the instructor for your fourth hour course.
Guidelines for participation
1. Be fully present
2. Participate in every class (see criteria for evaluation of class participation)
3. Lean into Discomfort
Assignments are in the syllabus
Essay: Each week you will be given a journal prompt, all 1-2 page essays should be turned in when they are due. Deductions may be taken for essays turned in late.
Text: Articles and current events will be available on line. Link to all assignments and readings
http://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/artsci/undergrad/resources/servicelearning/y1_community/assignments.html
Additional Resources
· Comfort zone. Some of the material may be new and different, and will touch on sensitive subjects such as religion, politics, poverty and race. If you are in any way uncomfortable with anything that comes up, please let a member of the leadership team know. Your concerns will be treated respectfully.
· Copies of work. Please date and keep copies of all the work that you submit for the entire course.
· Disabilities. Villanova seeks to make reasonable academic accommodations for students with disabilities. If you are a person with a disability, please contact me outside of class, and make arrangements to register with the Learning Support Office (610-519-5636; ).
· Academic Integrity. There will be a number of short reaction papers or other assignments for this class. These will be based on your experience and the materials covered in the course. In producing these works, you are expected to follow the normal rules of academic integrity regarding plagiarism and collaboration. If you for some reason do consult any other sources in preparing any of these papers, you must include footnotes and a formal bibliography, following the principles laid out in Easy Writer by Andrea Lunsford, which is required for your ACS Seminar. You are free to share your thoughts and journal and reflections with others at any time regarding the reading for this course. Discussion outside the classroom is highly encouraged provided your written assignments are your own work.
Final Grade
· Active engagement in weekly class sessions (40%)
· Written work and group projects (30 %)
· Attendance at service 30% is critical for reflection, 2 unexcused absence may result in loss of one letter grade (records will be accessed at ACLAMO so please remember to sign in)
Written Work: 30%
Grades for written assignments will be given a letter grade based on scale of 1-100. Assignments are 1-2 pages in length. They are meant to be a reflective tool or journal so that your service and classroom/seminar learning can be connected throughout the semester. In order for your instructor to assess your ability to integrate knowledge and experience use concrete examples from ACS, your life, current events, service, fourth hour readings or discussion in ACS and Fourth Hour.
Evaluation of written work will be by content, ideas, conceptualization, and synthesis. Mechanics and grammar, clarity and content, and conciseness will also be considered. Grades will be reduced for poor quality including sloppy workmanship, incomplete sentences, unintelligible answers, inattention to details, and not following instructions.
Criteria for grading written work
· “A” 80-100 The essay responds to the prompt and is thoughtful, well written, and insightful. Student has achieved a balance of description and reflection. Students have described their experience at service and reflected on those events through the lens of their own history and opinions, ACS reading and discussion and fourth hour readings.
· “B” 60-80 Work completed with competence. Student has described their service experience and reflected on those events in meaningful ways but may not demonstrate the ability to include outside resources such as ACS, fourth hour readings and discussion in 4h hour and ACS.
· “C” 40-60 Work completed in a cursory but passable fashion. Work is descriptive and perfunctory with little evidence of reflection.
· “D-F” 0-40 pts: Work not completed with any degree of competence or concern for the people they serve and must be re-done to gain passing grade. The journal is dishonest and completely ignores the basis of the course, or incomprehensible due to errors in language or structure of the essay.
Participation in Fourth Hour 30% Assessment of your participation will be based on the following rubric
Strong work A-B / Needs development B+-C- / D-FListening / Actively and respectfully
listens to peers and instructor / Sometimes displays lack of interest in comments of others / Projects lack of interest or disrespect for others
Preparation / Arrives fully prepared with all assignments completed, notes on reading, observations and or questions / Sometimes arrives unprepared or with only superficial preparation / Exhibits little evidence of having read or thought about assigned material
Reflective / Student is able to make the connections between service and larger questions raised in ACS or fourth hour. / Student talks about their experience at service but fails to make the connections to larger social questions, ACS, Fourth hour readings, films or conversation. / Students work superficial and functional. The work does not reflect care or concern for larger social issues or knowledge gained in ACS or fourth hour.
Quality of contributions / Comments are relevant and reflect understanding of: assigned text(s); previous remarks of other students; and insights about assigned material / Comments sometimes irrelevant, betray lack of preparation, or indicate lack of attention to previous remarks of other students / Comments reflect little understanding of either the assignment or previous remarks in seminar
Impact on seminar / Comments frequently help move seminar conversation forward / Comments sometimes advance the conversation, but sometimes do little to move it forward / Comments do not advance the conversation or are actively harmful to it
Frequency of participation / Actively participates at appropriate times / Sometimes participates but at other times is “tuned out” / Seldom participates and is generally not engaged
WEEK BY WEEK READING AND WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS
WEEK 1: General Meeting Wednesday, January 17 at 7pm Driscoll Auditorium
Reading: What is a CAP Project: Creating a framework for talking and or thinking about Race, Racism?
“One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that "an unjust law is no law at all." Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Letter from Birmingham Jail
WEEK 2 Tuesday. January 24,
NO Fourth Hour. Choose Dr. Martin Luther Jr. King Memorial Lecture or attend Freedom School Session
· Lecture: Carol Nash—1/24 @ 7pm in Villanova Room
· Freedom School: Thursday 1/25 see schedule and description of sessions at end of syllabus. http://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/artsci/peaceandjustice/events_awards/freedomschool.html
Reading Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. Peggy McIntosh http://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/mcintosh.pdf
Written Assignment: Define white privilege. List three of the privileges in the essay that had an impact on you and briefly describe why? Create three questions you would either like to talk about in fourth hour or use in Agree/Disagree which will occur the week of 2/6. Email this assignment to your instructor and facilitators by 1/26
“I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Letter from Birmingham Jail
WEEK 3 Week of 1/29 Diversity and Inclusion
Reading: http://www.phillymag.com/articles/racial-profiling-main-line/
“Racial Profiling on the Main Line.” Steve Volk, Philadelphia Magazine. November 30, 2015.
“Construction of Self Essay: Caroline Foley VU’17 SLC ‘15 Written for SLC 4th hour. (PDF) Caroline is former editor of the Villanovan
Written Assignment: Respond to these two essays? Create three questions that you would like to discuss in 4th hour related to the experience of characters in the essays and the world we live in.
In public school, I would doodle pandas and Chinese characters, and that’s where I learned that being Chinese “wasn’t cool.” Microaggressions quickly taught me I was being ostracized from my peers. As many Asian Americans have done, I began to ignore and deny my roots. I was proud of my “white” name. I snickered when a group of Asian students passed me. I would proudly show off my poor math grades to my friends, just to prove I wasn’t like “other Asians.” I quit the violin. I refused to watch Anime. I insisted I knew zero Chinese language. I laughed with my peers if a television show featured a racist and stereotypical Asian character. I was nearly offended when I received a personal invitation to the Asian culture club at my middle school.” Caroline Foley ‘17