Photo: Whitman students join Walla Walla community members for a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day march.
This is an excerpt from the most recent Community Engaged Learning and Research Initiative newsletter, which can be read in its entirety online.
The 2021–2022 academic year included work by faculty, staff and students to innovate the academic program at Whitman College. The two programs that reached the stage of drafting curricular studies both include community-engaged learning. Stay tuned in 2022–2023 for program development updates!
Nicole Simek (professor of interdisciplinary studies and French), Matthew Bost (assistant professor of rhetoric, writing and public discourse), and Shampa Biswas (professor of politics) have, with colleagues, facilitated discussion and drafting of a proposed concentration in Social Justice. Students who have this concentration will be required to participate in a community engagement element. As leaders of this program development have said, "For students committed to social justice, community-engaged learning represents a crucial opportunity to collaborate with those doing social justice work in a variety of communities, think critically about the role of social justice in professional contexts, and integrate academic study with efforts to rectify inequality outside the classroom."
Faculty members Justin Lincoln (associate professor of art), Janet Davis (associate professor of computer science), and Michelle Janning (professor of sociology) have, with colleagues, facilitated discussion and drafting of a proposed concentration in human-centered design. Students who have this concentration will be required to include an applied element that fosters collaboration and practice (community engagement would be one of a list of options). As leaders of this program development have said, “When we design or redesign computer applications, artifacts, the built environment, or social and organizational systems, we need to think about which humans are included, excluded, and empowered during the design process and during engagement with any completed design. Students need this kind of practice. We aren't just interested in ‘on campus’ humans. We all need lots of practice listening to and learning from wide arrays of perspectives.”
Thanks to the existence of the Community Learning Specialist position at Whitman College, these kinds of opportunities for students have already enhanced teaching, learning and research in our academic programs. The faculty and staff who are developing these new innovative academic programs want to build on this momentum as new programs that may enhance community engagement grow.
