by Jeremy Hunt
Daily Lobo
A class like "Booze and Drugs" wouldn't exist without the Research Service Learning Program.
Vice Provost Peter White will teach the interdisciplinary English class for the first time this summer.
White spoke to about 100 people in the SUB on Thursday about the program as part of Gov. Bill Richardson's Faith-based and Community Initiatives
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Conference.
Half the time, the "Booze and Drugs" class will read books by authors such as William Faulkner and John Steinbeck, whose literature deals with substance abuse, White said.
The rest of the time, students will work in communities that have problems with drugs and alcohol, he said.
"It was part of the world these writers lived in, but I'm not sure that people actually take a real deep look at that and then go out to the world and see what that really comes down to," he said. "It's kind of glorious in Hemingway and Fitzgerald."
The program takes traditional classes, such as intercultural communication, and adapts them to give students real-world experience as well as provide community service, said Dan Young, director of the program.
"It's designed as an academic program that allows students another way to get to their major and get their core curriculum courses," he said.
About 800 students took service learning courses in the fall. Fifty-four classes will be offered this fall.
"Part of this is reflecting on your own reaction to your own experiences," White said. "So, students have a chance to develop personally."
The conference aimed to educate people about resources available to nonprofit organizations from the federal government, said Jay Hein, director of the U.S. Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives.
"We work on policies that strengthen the government's relationship with nonprofits," he said. "Having a better partnership with them allows people to improve their communities."
UNM's service learning program contributes to the state's success in community outreach, Hein said.
"New Mexico is helping to lead the initiatives," he said. "New Mexico is a model for other states on how to do this."
White said one group of students helped the Martineztown community near Downtown, which has been threatened by flooding for about 100 years.
The students worked with the community to get about $43 million from the Legislature to build a pumping station on south Broadway Boulevard.
"Students went door to door and mobilized the community to go to Santa Fe to bring to the state capitol's attention the problem that had existed in Martineztown," White said. "It was a pretty powerful political statement."
The program's classes are more valuable to most students than traditional instruction, Young said.
He said students learn more in courses that are adapted to fit the program, such as English 102.
"Because they're writing about something they're experiencing, their writing is better," he said. "The instructors all agree - the students develop writing skills faster."
Students who take the service learning courses often volunteer in the communities after the class ends, Young said.
"There's obviously an academic benefit for the students, but they also get connected to the community," he said. "They see what's out there in the world, and a lot of them are affected by it greatly."
Abbreviated list of classes in
the Research Service Learning Program:
American Studies
200 - "Media, Culture and Community Activism"
Anthropology
230 - "Introductory Cultural Anthropology Research Methods" and "Culture and Agriculture in the South Valley"
Communication and Journalism
115 - "Communication Across Cultures"
314 - "Intercultural Communication"
Theater
295 - "Theater in the Community"
Women Studies
279 - "Feminist Theories and Methods in Action"
English
101 - "Composition I -- Exposition"
102 - "Composition II - Analysis and Argument"
219 - "Technical and Professional Writing"
220 - "Expository Writing"
432 - "The Literature of Segregation"
