Service Learning Course Designation Form
Use this form to request a Service Learning Course Designation for a new or existing course.
Proposed course title should end with the following designation: /Service Learning
I. Service Learning Course
Dept/ProgramSubject / Sociology / Course Number
(e.g. SW UG 423) / 442
Course Title(e.g. Addiction Studies/SvcLrn) / Inequality and Social Justice Service Learning
Short Title (max. 26 characters incl. spaces) / ISJ Service Learning
Number of credits / 3-4
Instructor name / Daisy Rooks
Instructor phone andemail / 243-2852
II. Endorsement/Approvals
Complete this form and obtain signatures before submitting to Faculty Senate Office.
Please Type/Print Name / Signature / Date
Requestor
/ Daisy Rooks
Requestor phone andemail / 243-2852
Program Chair/Director / Sociology
Celia Winkler
Other affected programs
Dean
III.UM Service Learning Definition:Service Learning is a method of teaching and learning in which students, faculty and community partners work together to enhance student learning by applying academic knowledge in a community-based setting. Student work addresses the needs of the community, as identified through collaboration with community or tribal partners, while meeting instructional objectives through faculty-structured service work and critical reflection meant to prepare students to be civically responsible members of the community. At its best, service learning enhances and deepens students’ understanding of an academic discipline by facilitating the integration of theory and practice, while providing them with experience that develops life skills and engages them in critical reflection about individual, institutional, and social ethics.
IV.Service Learning Course CriteriaTheUniversity of Montana-Missoula has established the following criteria for Service Learning courses. In order to receive the Service Learning course designation, a course must clearly exemplify all of the following criteria:
- Students in the course will provide a needed service to individuals, organizations, schools, or other not-for-profit or tax-exempt entities in the community.
- The service experience is directly related to the subject matter of the course.
- Knowledge from the discipline informs the service experiences with which the students are to be involved.
- Activities in the classroom will provide opportunities for students to reflect upon what they have learned through the service experience and how these experiences relate to the subject matter of the course.
- The course offers a method to assess the learning derived from the service. Credit will be given for the learning and its relation to the course, not for the service alone.
- Service interactions in the community will recognize the needs of service recipients, and offer an opportunity for community partner(s) to provide advice and feedback on the nature and value of theservice performed by the students.
- Training (by the service agency) and preparation (by the course instructor) ensure that students perform service activities in a professional manner and that vulnerable populations are not harmed.
- Service options ensure that no student is required to participate in a service placement that creates a religious, political, or moral conflict for the student.
- In a 3-credit service learning course, students should be required to perform a minimum of 15 hours of community service per semester (i.e. 5 hours of service per academic credit.) Service hours may include hours spent in training, preparation, and direct contact with clients.
V. Confirmation of Service Learning Course Criteria: Explain how this course meets each of the following criteria.
Need for service: Describe the community-identified need and the nature of the service experience students will be involved in. / The service need varies from year to year. In 2010, the students will work as volunteers at the Poverello Center, doing work as identified as necessary by the volunteer coordinator such as preparing meals, sorting donations and organizing activities for clients. In addition to these service responsibilities, students will also utilize action research techniques to interview clients and other individuals served by thePoverello Center and related programs (the Salcido Center, the Valor House and the Joseph Residence). The data that students collect will provide the raw material for public relations materials, which the Poverello Center will use to educate the public about homelessness and housing insecurity. In subsequent years that the course is taught, the service need will change based on the selected community partner organization.
Relation to course content:Describe how the service experience is related to the subject matter of the course. How do students apply their classroom learning in the service experience? / In this class students will learn to use a form of research called “action research” to investigate social issues. Through their service learning volunteer experience, students will learn how action research enhances client voice and builds a sense of empowerment and engagement. Instructors will obtain IRB approval for the research component of the course, and will instruct students about the importance of protecting human research subjects. Their service will also help them gain real-world perspective and intimate understandings of inequality and poverty, and related social justice issues. Finally, through this service learning course students will learn to apply a sociological perspective to the lived experiences and endeavors of poor and homeless individuals.
Reflection:What opportunities are provided in the classroom for students to reflect upon what they have learned through their service experience? / The weekly three hour class meeting will not only provide instruction on course content and research methods, but will also give students an opportunity to reflect on their experiences volunteering at the Poverello Center. During each class period, specific time will be allocated for students to engage in written and verbal reflections on their service experiences.
Assessment:What method(s) are used to assess the learning derived from the service experience? / The community partner will oversee and evaluate students’ participation in the service learning component of the course. Both community partners and UM instructors will read and evaluate students’ field notes and end of term presentations.
Reciprocity:How docommunity partner(s)provide advice and feedback on the nature and value of the service performed? / The community partners are integrally involved in the design and instruction of the course. In addition, at the end of the class, students will present reports to a panel comprised of site staff and clients. They will have the opportunity to give oral feedback at that time. We will also have an exit meeting with site staff at the end of the course to go over the successes and challenges presented by the experience.
Training: What training and preparation will be provided to assure that that students perform their service activities in a professional manner and that vulnerable populations are not harmed? / The course syllabus outlines the rigorous training in subject matter, sensitivity, and methodology that students will undergo at the weekly class meetings. Early in the semester, students will participate in NCBI training. Sensitivity to partner needs is an integral part of the course.
Service options:Whatservice options exist to ensure that no student is required to participate in a service placement that creates a religious, political, or moral conflict? / There will be at least three different placement options, and students will be instructed that if they may request a specific placement if the others create a conflict.
Number of service hours required:How many hours of service per semester are students required to perform? Provide detailed description of the service activities to be performed. / Students are required to provide a minimum of 26 service hours, although most students will give more.
VI. Community Partner Information: Provide information on the organization(s) that will provide service placements for students in this course.
Name of Agency/Organization(s) / The Poverello Center
Contact person name(s) / Tessa Johnson, M.S.W.
Contact person(s) phone and e-mail / 541-7811
VII. Syllabus:Paste syllabus below or attach and send digital copy with form. The syllabus should clearly indicate that this is a service learning course and it should include the UM Service Learning Definition as text within the syllabus.The syllabus should also demonstrate how the above criteria are satisfied. For assistance in preparing a service learning course syllabus, see or contact Andrea Vernon, Director of the Office for Civic Engagement: .
VIII. Copies and Electronic Submission:Submit approved original, and electronic file to the Faculty Senate Office, UH 221,.
Inequality and Social Justice Service Learning Seminar: Hunger and Homelessness
SOCI 495 (Will be SOCI 442 if approved)
Spring 2010
Course Syllabus
Wednesdays 2:00pm – 5:00 pm
Course Instructors
Daisy Rooks, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Email:
Office:SS 319
Phone:243-2852
Celia Winkler, J.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Email:
Office: SS 323
Phone: 243-5843 or 549-6285
Course Objectives
In this service learning course, students will:
- Provide a needed service to the Poverello Center and the individuals who are served by it by working as volunteers at one of the four Poverello Center sites and conducting in-depth, loosely structured interviews of Poverello clients;
- Learn to use a form of research called “action research” to investigate and begin to address social issues, which will enhance client voice, empowerment, and engagement;
- Gain an intimate understanding of inequality and poverty, and related social justice issues, and, conversely, to learn to apply a sociological perspective to actual lived experiences and endeavors;
- Reflect upon what they have learned through the service experience and how these experiences relate to issues of inequality and social justice, with a special emphasis on poverty;
- Increase their understanding of what it means to be “good citizens”
Course Requirements
1. For three credits, students are required to perform a minimum of 15 hours (for four credits, 20 hours) of community service, in a combination of volunteer work and interviews with the clients. Volunteer shifts are arranged in consultation with the Poverello staff connected to this project. In weeks 3 through 14, students will volunteer two hours per week at one of the four Poverello Center sites. Students will be assigned to a site in week 2. Students are responsible for arranging a volunteer schedule with the Poverello Center staff. Students are also responsible for getting themselves to and from the volunteer site each week.
2. Students must attend all classes. Students who miss a class with the permission of one of the instructors, must make up missed material. Attendance is essential because vital issues will be covered in class that can affect the wellbeing of others. Students who miss too many classes will receive a failing grade (and thus will be advised to withdraw from class).
3. Adequate preparation for and active participation in class exercises and discussions is essential to pass this course.
a. Complete all reading assignments:
- Lister, Ruth. 2004. Poverty. Malden, MA: Polity Press. (available in the UM Bookstore)
- Supplemental articles will be posted on Other articles as posted on Blackboard.
b. Students will write weekly field notes during Weeks 3 through 14. Field notes can be informal in tone, although they must be edited carefully for grammar, spelling and other typos. Students must post their field notes to the course blackboard site by noon 48 hours before class. Field notes will be read by instructors, organizational partners, and occasionally by other students.
4. Students will submit a midterm reflection paper, integrating and analyzing what they have learned in their reading, in the classroom setting, and in their field placements.
5. Student taking the course for 3 credits will be responsible for conducting 3 recorded interviews with Poverello center clients and transcribing the interviews in their entirety. Students taking the course for 4 credits will be responsible for conducting and transcribing 4 interviews.
6. In small groups, students will give a final presentation about their experiences, which will be reviewed by the course instructors, as well as staff and clients of the Poverello Center.
7. No student may be required to participate in a service placement that creates a religious, political, or moral conflict for the student. If such a conflict arises, please discuss with one of the course instructors as soon as possible.
Grading and Assessments
Service – 10% of your grade
10% of students’ grade will be based on satisfactory completion of the service component of the course. Students enrolled in this course are expected to be responsible, consistent, mature volunteers. The volunteer supervisor affiliated with this course will assess students’ service work, including attendance and participation.
Field notes—10% of your grade
Field notes will be posted on Blackboard on a weekly basis for instructor feedback, and graded at the end of the semester according to the rubric given to you in the first week of class.
Midterm Reflection Paper—20% of your grade
Students will submit a midterm reflection paper, integrating and analyzing information and experiences from the course reading, classroom setting, and their field placements. The paper will be in ASA format, a minimum of five pages in length, with appropriate references to the assigned texts (both Lister and readings posted on Blackboard). We will distribute topics and grading rubrics in the week before the paper due date.
Transcripts—20% of your grade
Transcripts should be word-for-word whenever possible, and should be free of spelling mistakes, and other typos. Students will be required to post their final transcripts to the course blackboard site by week 15.
Final Group Project—30% of your grade
In small groups, students will produce final projects that use course readings and field site experiences to both reflect on their volunteer work and summarize Poverello Center clients’ ‘lived experiences’. Each small group will present their findings to an audience comprised of instructors, students, clients and staff of the Poverello center, and interested community members. Student presentations will be assessed by course instructors, and a small group of UM faculty who will attend the presentations. Students will receive a list of project guidelines and grading criteria for their projects by spring break.
Class Participation—10% of your grade
Class sessions will include a mixture of lectures and discussion. Students are required to participate actively during class discussions. When participating in discussions, try your best to explain your views using reasoned arguments, and provide evidence for assertions of fact. You do not have to agree with your classmates, but try your best to give them your full attention and consideration.
COURSE SCHEDULE
Each week at the beginning of class (weeks 4-14), we will have a brief “check-in” on your service learning observations, issues, problems, quandaries, joys, epiphanies . . . .
Week 1: Introductions
Introduction to the course, course instructors, each other, service learning
Lecture:
Writing field notes (DR)
Exercise:
Meet Poverello Center staff, overview of field placements
Reading:
Article on field notes
Week 2: What is Poverty? (extended class session)
Lecture:
What is poverty? What is homelessness? (CW)
Exercise:
NCBI Training
Reading:
Lister, Chapter 1, “Defining Poverty” and 2, “Measuring Poverty”
Article re: identity development
Week 3: Experiencing Poverty
Lecture:
Experiencing poverty (CW)
Discussion:
Enabling homelessness, rights of the homeless
Reading:
Lister, Chapter 3, “Inequality, Social Divisions, and the Differential Experience of Poverty,”
Lister, Chapter 4, “Poverty and Social Exclusion”
Assignment:
Field notes
Week 4: Doing Research
Lecture:
Doing Research (DR)
Lecture:
Doing Action Research (TJ)
Reading:
Snow and Anderson, “Down on Their Luck,” methodological appendix
Greenwood and Levin, Chapter 1, “Introduction: Action Research, Diversity and Democracy”
Assignment:
Field notes
Week 5: Poverty Discourses
Lecture:
Poverty Discourses (CW)
Discussion:
Attitudes about poverty and poor people (TJ)
Discussion:
The “helper role” (TJ & NG)
Reading:
Lister, Chapter 5, “Discourses of Poverty: From Othering to Respect”
Lister, Chapter 7, “Poverty, Human Rights, and Citizenship”
Assignment:
Field notes
Week 6: Interviewing
Lecture:
Research Methods & Interviewing (DR)
Lecture:
The co-generative model, respectful research (TJ)
Exercise:
Listening role-play (NG)
Exercise:
Meet with advisory council, brainstorm research questions
Reading:
Greenwood and Levin, Chapter , “Social Research Techniques, Work Forums
and Research Strategies”
Esterberg
Assignments:
Field notes, interview outlines
Week 7: Trauma
Lecture:
Trauma as an organizational challenge (TJ)
De-Institutionalization (CW)
Lecture:
Introduction to participant observation (DR/CW)
Reading:
Glazer, “The Research Adventure”
Assignment:
Field notes
Week 8: Co-Occurring Disorders
Lecture:
Individuals’ experiences with substance abuse, predatory behavior and “giving up” (TJ/NG)
Lecture:
Ethical issues in fieldwork (DR)
Reading:
Humphreys Tearoom Trade
Articles responding to Humphreys
Assignments:
Field Notes
Midterm Essay
Week 9: Transcribing Interviews
Lecture:
Transcribing interviews (DR)
Exercise:
Using the SSRL computer lab to transcribe interviews (SSRL)
Assignment:
Field notes
Week 10: Spring Break – No Class
Week 11: Homelessness, Poverty & Precariousness
Lecture:
Structural Causes of Poverty, Homelessness (CW)
Lecture:
The House of Cards Effect, Cycles of Poverty (TJ)
Exercise:
“Choose Your Own Adventure” (TJ)
Discussion:
Preliminary findings from transcribed interviews
Week 12: Anti-Poverty Action
Lecture:
Anti-poverty action, collective self-determination (CW)
Exercise:
Collective action simulation (DR)
Exercise:
Advisory group workshop: plans for action
Reading:
Lister, Chapter 6, “Poverty and Agency”