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Academic Year 2000/2001

Community Research Seminar
SOC 316 SP

Small teams of students will carry out research projects submitted by local community groups and agencies. These may involve social science, natural science, or arts and humanities themes. The first two weeks of the course will be spent studying the theory and practice of community research. Working with the community groups themselves, the teams will then move to design and implementation of the research projects. Throughout the semester, the course will convene twice weekly to allow for discussion of research methodology and to track problems and progress in the individual projects. The instructor will assign further specific readings germane to the individual projects.

MAJOR READINGS

Campus Outreach Opportunity League, EDUCATION AND ACTION: A GUIDE TO INTEGRATE CLASSROOMS AND COMMUNITIES
Anley & Gaventa, "Researching for democracy and democratizing research"
Daly, "Field research"
Nyden et al., BUILDING COMMUNITY
Park et al, VOICES OF CHANGE
Howard, PRAXIS I
Hondagnue-Sotelo & Raskoff, "CommunityService-Learning"
Kendall, COMBINING SERVICE AND LEARNING
Van Maanen, TALES OF THE FIELD

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

One major research paper, including evaluations of each component (research design, implementation, etc.) along the way.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

By permission of the instructor, 16 students, all juniors and seniors, will be admitted. STUDENTS IN ALL DISCIPLINES MAY APPLY. Students applying to be admitted to the course will write a statement indicating: 1) which project they wish to work on and why, and 2) what methodological training and research experience in the field, if any, they would bring to the project.

Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed Drop/Add form to the Registrar's Office.

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS SOC    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: NONE Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-26-2001

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