Campus to Community
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Williams 2016-2017 Chronicle of Experiential Learning and Community Engagement CLiA for in Center Learning Action Connecting Curriculum and Campus to Community WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO The Center for Learning in Action (CLiA) cultivates and sustains experiential learning opportunities, curricular and extracurricular, in the service of the teaching goals of our faculty, the civic aspirations of our students, and the needs of the wider community. The Center’s programming and pilot projects include fieldwork courses, volunteer and paid work opportunities, summer internships and research fellowships. We also support the work of many of campus entities. Our team of two full-time staff, nine part-time staff and four contractors takes a collaborative and continuous learning approach, working with a wide range of community organizations, student groups, and campus partners to provide students opportunities to help address pressing civic problems.CENTER FOR LEARNING IN ACTION STAFF AND CONTRACTORS Paula Consolini, Ph.D. Tracy Baker-White, MIS Director Williamstown Elementary School Coordinator, Science Colin Ovitsky, BA Administrative Coordinator Geraldine Shen, MA Williamstown Elementary School Jennifer Swoap, BS Coordinator, Classroom Support Assistant Director, Elementary Education and Director of Elementary Outreach Lindley Wells, BS Education Outreach Consultant for Williams Kaatje White, BA Elementary Outreach Assistant Director, Local High School Education and Director, Williams Center at Jessica S. Dils, MFA Mount Greylock Williams Fellows Program Coordinator for the Williams Center at Mount Greylock Anne Valk, Ph.D. Associate Director for Public Humanities & Cecilia Hirsch, MFA Lecturer in History Adventures in Learning Co-Coordinator Sharif Rosen, BA Melody Blass Fisher, Ph.D. Assistant Director, Community Engagement & Adventures in Learning Co-Coordinator Muslim Chaplain Renee Schiek, BS Tracy Finnegan, MA, MAT Lanesborough Elementary School Assistant Director, Poverty, Food Insecurity & Coordinator At-Risk Education Molly Polk, MA North Adams Coordinator for Williams Elementary Outreach Cover Design Credit: Shanti Hossain ’19 NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR “I never knew there were urban problems in the Berkshires until I took Planning my senior year “ … -- message from an Environmental Planning Workshop course alum to instructor Sarah Gardner The student who shared this revelation is not alone. Others have told us that they had expected to leave behind the community work they did before Williams. Even some who have been here for a few years have the impression that the area is a social and economic backwater. In fact, we have many of the same social and economic challenges you will find anywhere in the country. But we also have many energetic people and organizations trying out creative solutions to new and persistent problems. And they welcome our students as partners in their multifaceted work. Berkshire County has a high density of non-profit organizations[1] and many, though small and lean, run innovative programming. Some run nationally recognized programs for at-risk youth: Barrington Stage Company’s award-winning Playwright Mentoring Project and Berkshire Children and Families’ “Kids for Harmony” music training program, to name just two. Others, including food pantries, economic development enterprises and business incubators, welcome Williams students to work with them and to conduct research on their efforts. Our public schools are leading change, too. The nearby North Adams Public School District is our partner in a four year National Science Foundation-funded hands-on science education project, called Teach to Learn (led by the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts). The Pittsfield Public School District is piloting a Restorative Justice Initiative and is the only Massachusetts school district to retain a state-certified Director of Cultural Proficiency to address the challenges of racial and cultural diversity in the city. At the Center for Learning in Action, we help students learn from working with these and many other committed community partners. There’s so much to share in this annual report that it takes us more than 100 pages to do it![2] We begin with some in-depth stories in our new “Spotlight” section. The rest of this document describes programs, student groups, and relevant community organizations, and lists all participants. In view of everything noted above, it should come as no surprise that experiential education at Williams is growing. Faculty have stepped up, offering more courses involving experiential learning in 2016-17 and they plan to offer even more in 2017-18. More student groups are engaging in community work, and new groups are organizing to do more of it. In 2016-17, our dedicated CLiA staff supported (and in some cases, helped teach) 17 of the 89 courses involving experiential learning. These talented people also directed 24 of the 48 extracurricular engagement programs and projects available to students during the same year. We also supported 22 of the community engagement efforts (small and large scale) offered by student organizations and other offices. By a conservative count, over 850 students reached beyond the Purple Bubble this past year. Faculty and staff guided students in fieldwork courses, programs and extracurricular projects nearby, across the country, and around the globe. Students designed and led their peers in wide-ranging projects and service work such as the semi-annual Great Day(s) of Service organized by Lehman Community Engagement, “Break Out Trips” (BOTs) spring break service trips, the Williams Recovery of All Perishable Surplus (WRAPS) program, refugee advocacy work by the new student group, No Lost Generation and the expanded food insecurity alleviation efforts of the Campus Kitchen Project at Williams. A look at the list of campus allies and partners (page 4-1) shows that civic engagement work is expanding across campus as well. In 2016-17, over 20 offices and departments either ran or supported community engagement work of some kind. Notable among these, the Music Department’s support of Ephs Out Loud’s music education community outreach work, the monthly “Take and Eat”