Published: Dec. 13, 2016

Beth

Beth Osnes, right, is Associate Professor/Director of Graduate Studies in Theatre and was a 2015-16 Faculty Fellow. Her students collaborated with Cumbre Summit and Genesister to co-design and facilitate an all-day vocal empowerment workshop.

CU Engage is pleased to announce our Request for Proposals that will provide grants of $4,000 for Faculty Fellows in Community-Based Learning.

The Faculty Fellows program provides resources and support for faculty to design a new course or modify an existing course to include a community-based learning component.  Fellows can use grant funds for summer salary and teaching/research materials. Fellows will also have the professional development opportunity to participate as a cohort in a Maymester Community-Based Learning Initiative.

Proposals to join the 2017-18 Faculty Fellows cohort are due by February 1, 2017. View the RFP here.

The aim of the Faculty Fellows Program is to expand, deepen, and institutionalize community-based learning at CU-Boulder. According to current faculty fellow Eyal Rivlin, Hebrew Instructor in the Program in Jewish Studies, being part of the 2016-17 Faculty Fellows program helped him create a more holistic and balanced approach to his teaching. "I was deeply served by the fellowship," he states. "I just finished teaching the course I 'workshopped' during the Facutly Fellows training. It went extremely well and the positive feedback from the students exceeded my expectations. I received great ideas from my cohort regarding actual exercises, assignments, and ways of evaluating that I ended up using in the class."

CU Engage defines community-based learning as an intentional pedagogical strategy to integrate student learning in academic courses with community engagement. This work is characterized by reciprocal and mutually beneficial partnerships between instructors, students, and community partners. The goal is to address community-identified needs and ultimately create positive social change. Critical reflection is also an essential component to enhance students’ learning of course content, understanding of the community, and sense of civic agency.

Current Faculty Fellows Joanne Belknap and Hillary Potter of Ethnic Studies, modified the two courses- ETHN 3044: Race, Class, Gender & Crime and ETHN 3314: Violence Against Women & Girls. These courses will be taught in Denver Women's Correctional Facility as part of the Inside/Out Prison Exchange Program. In this program, undergraduates and inmates interact as peers as they attend the same class together inside a correctional institution. In addition to helping inmates pursue educational coursework, undergraduates (“outside students”) will also responsible for conducting research and collecting materials for the project since the “inside” students are not able to access a university library or the internet.

CU Engage is an interdisciplinary center based in the School of Education and serving the Boulder campus. We support programs and initiatives that work collaboratively with community groups to address complex public challenges through academic courses, research projects, and creative work. We do this by developing and sustaining equity-oriented partnerships, organizing opportunities for students to learn alongside community members, and supporting faculty and students to implement ethical and rigorous participatory research.

For more information about CU Engage and the Faculty Fellows in Community-Based Research, please visit our website.

eyal  Joanne  David