Event Title
A Themed Cluster of Honors First Year Seminars: Promoting an Interdisciplinary Understanding of Social Inequality
Location
Hart 113
Start Time
12-5-2016 1:15 PM
End Time
12-5-2016 1:45 PM
Description
The Honors Program offered a thematic cluster of First Year Seminars (FYS) on Social Inequality in the Fall of 2015. Seven faculty members from different disciplines (Criminal Justice, English, Geography, History, and Sociology) participated in a faculty learning community (FLC) led by the honors director and two faculty members with expertise in interdisciplinary teaching to develop an innovative pedagogical model incorporating problem-based learning, community building, and community service. All first year honors students enrolled in one of seven honors first year seminars on social inequality taught from different disciplinary perspectives. Seminar topics included social inequality and crime, ethnic America, gender inequality, outlaws, climate justice, and poverty. Students co-enrolled in a one-credit colloquium that served as a lab for interdisciplinary problem-based learning and community building activities. This session will focus on the collaborative process that led to the current offering including recruiting faculty to participate, determining the structure of the course, developing learning outcomes, community building activities, and course enhancements. We will also discuss the pedagogical opportunities and challenges created by this unique teaching model. Finally, we will explore whether this approach could be generalized to all first year students and serve as a signature experience at BSU.
A Themed Cluster of Honors First Year Seminars: Promoting an Interdisciplinary Understanding of Social Inequality
Hart 113
The Honors Program offered a thematic cluster of First Year Seminars (FYS) on Social Inequality in the Fall of 2015. Seven faculty members from different disciplines (Criminal Justice, English, Geography, History, and Sociology) participated in a faculty learning community (FLC) led by the honors director and two faculty members with expertise in interdisciplinary teaching to develop an innovative pedagogical model incorporating problem-based learning, community building, and community service. All first year honors students enrolled in one of seven honors first year seminars on social inequality taught from different disciplinary perspectives. Seminar topics included social inequality and crime, ethnic America, gender inequality, outlaws, climate justice, and poverty. Students co-enrolled in a one-credit colloquium that served as a lab for interdisciplinary problem-based learning and community building activities. This session will focus on the collaborative process that led to the current offering including recruiting faculty to participate, determining the structure of the course, developing learning outcomes, community building activities, and course enhancements. We will also discuss the pedagogical opportunities and challenges created by this unique teaching model. Finally, we will explore whether this approach could be generalized to all first year students and serve as a signature experience at BSU.
Comments
Moderator: James Pearson