十大赌博正规平台在线社会学

受聘部门倡议

The 社会学 Department is part of a nation-wide movement involved in transforming traditional “academic” 课程 into one centered on community engagement. 我们开发了 a systematic plan to incorporate community-based learning into the entire 社会学 课程.

这看起来像什么? 

在入门阶段, this means exposing students to community issues and the people doing work in those 区域. To illustrate: we approached the issue of poverty in all our Introduction to 社会学 classes by discussing the extent of the problem, who is affected by it, and what sociological theories offer explanations for its persistence.  随后, we partnered with Feeding America, West Michigan, a non-profit organization whose goal is to provide “safe food” to people who are experiencing hunger in the community; 他们收集并提供27.6 million pounds of food to local organizations who have 直接向穷人伸出援助之手.g. food pantries, homeless shelters, schools, etc.). http://www.feedwm.org/whatwedo/  Feeding America representatives came to our classes and talked about the problem of hunger in our community and what their organization 如何解决这个问题. In turn, our students offered their services to this organization by volunteering in programs for which Feeding America had identified a need. 链接 academic discussions of poverty and hunger with hands on experience in the field and working with people who are trying to be part of the solution to this problem developed into an excellent way to provide a more comprehensive view of the issue. 

在中级水平， students participated in community-based learning in organizations in ways that reinforce and bring alive sociological theories and research. 在复杂组织中(sy375)， for example, student teams performed research with food-related businesses and agencies, such as Feeding America and the Cooperative Extension Service. (后一个项目， in the upcoming year, will survey consumers who are members of CSAs. 或社区 Supported Agriculture in order to understand why they participate in these programs.)  Social Stratification (SY312) offers another pertinent example. 在这门课上 are expected to engage in a series of mini-ethnographies in which they collect information about stratification in a range of venues, from public transportation to neighborhoods across Grand Rapids, to homeless shelters, to country clubs. 分析与讨论 of observations formed in these settings serves as a useful tool for bringing home issues raised inside the classroom about topics relevant to stratification. 学生们 also volunteer their time at the homeless shelter, again providing help to an organization that has provided the class with information about and contact with a population with which few students have had prior experience. 

在高级水平上， students become more thoroughly immersed in community-based learning. 例如, in SY/CL398, Sociological Practicum in Community Leadership, students become informed 关于一个特定的社会问题(如.g. homelessness; domestic violence; healthcare; 公平住房等.) and then work with an associated organization for 10-15 hours per week (a total of 150 hours); during the course they reflect on sociological dimensions of the issue in discussions with their professor. 通过这种以社区为基础的方式 learning, students’ primary knowledge of the subject is shaped by their interactions with their community partner, reinforced by what they have learned in the classroom. 这 type of experience affords students the opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge of an issue at the same time that they contribute to the well-being of their community.

我们的目标 for this engaged initiative is to graduate students who have learned how to effectively 参与社区工作. 这 will make better citizens of our graduates and give them the skills to begin to address social problems they have studied and with which 他们有第一手的经验.

一个校友, Jessica McCormick, illustrates how the academic and practical aspects of this kind of learning can lead to professional careers and social change.  当我在 Aquinas, Jessie interned with the Grand Rapids Coalition to End 首页lessness.  这 experience laid the foundation for additional work with the National Association for the Education of 首页less Children and Youth (NAEHCY) in Washington, D.C. 高潮 of all of this experience led her to accept, upon graduation, a position with Sasha Bruce Youthwork, an organization in Washington that is similar to Arbor Circle, offering prevention and residential programs for homeless youth in the DC area.  杰西的教育 at Aquinas and the experience it provided her in participating with organizations that serve homeless youth facilitated her move toward her present career. 

接触的机会

Social Stratification students touring the operations at the Amway Grand Hotel

Social Stratification students on field trip

Complex Organization students at Gordon Food Service