{"id":11,"date":"2013-05-05T21:12:43","date_gmt":"2013-05-05T21:12:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring2013\/?page_id=11"},"modified":"2013-12-05T21:30:00","modified_gmt":"2013-12-05T21:30:00","slug":"trinitys-community-learning-initiative","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring2013\/features\/trinitys-community-learning-initiative\/","title":{"rendered":"Trinity’s Community Learning Initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"

These classes benefit both Trinity students and the Hartford community<\/strong>
\nby Mary Howard<\/em><\/p>\n

Carol Clark, associate professor of economics, sees Trinity\u2019s host city as a \u201cpowerful resource for learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clark is the faculty coordinator for the Community Learning Initiative (CLI), a program where students and community members work together to solve real-world problems in the Hartford area. \u201cOur urban location allows for wonderful collaborations among students, professors, and community partners,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\"Sarah<\/a>

Sarah Kacevich ’13, center, at Jubilee House in Hartford<\/p><\/div>\n

The idea of collaboration is fundamental to the initiative. \u201cThis is not a one-way street,\u201d says Jim Trostle, Charles A. Dana Research Professor of Anthropology and faculty coordinator of CLI from 2002-2005. \u201cWe are not assuming that we have resources and the community does not.\u201d<\/p>\n

CLI is built on the idea that knowledge resides in many different places, not just within the college walls, says Clark. As part of CLI courses, students participate in community-based experiences that are designed together with community partners.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I will call [the community partner] and say, \u2018I\u2019m doing this course. Do you have any work my students can help with?\u2019 At other times, it\u2019s the organization that\u2019s calling me, looking for students to participate in a particular project,\u201d says Trostle.<\/p>\n

In past years, students in Trostle\u2019s medical anthropology class have interned with The
\nInstitute for Community Research, where Trostle was a board member, and with the Hispanic Health Council. They\u2019ve conducted literature reviews for grant proposals, transcribed interviews and worked as research assistants for these Hartford-based organizations. In the process, they saw medical anthropology in practice, while the organizations benefited from the students\u2019 input.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe \u2018messiness\u2019 of their ideas is revealed to them during community work in ways that it is not in the classroom,\u201d says Trostle. \u201cA central goal of community learning is better teaching and better learning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Founded in 1995, the initiative grew out of a tradition of grassroots faculty-community collaboration. \u201cWe saw that it could really take off here, which it did,\u201d says Dan Lloyd, Brownell Professor of Philosophy and the initiative\u2019s first director. \u201cBy 2002 we had generated more than 200 new or revised CLI courses, offering around 15 each semester.\u201d On average, 50 percent of graduating seniors have taken at least one CLI course.<\/p>\n

Anna Seidner \u201913 took her first CLI course, \u201cArt and Community,\u201d as a first-year student. As part of the course, she volunteered at Hartford\u2019s MontessoriMagnet School, helping a child whose behavioral issues made it difficult for him to participate in art class. A human rights and Hispanic studies major, Seidner so enjoyed the experience that she has taken the course every year since, working with the same student. The two developed a close bond, and the student\u2019s behavior markedly improved. \u201cHe\u2019s even able to serve as a helper in the class,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Seidner\u2019s positive experience motivated her to look for other CLI courses. In her junior year, she took \u201cImmigrants and Refugees\u201d and, as part of the course, taught English
\nas a second language at the Hartford Public Library. \u201cIt sparked my interest in
\nworking with immigrant and refugee populations in the future,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

In the fall of her senior year, Seidner conducted weekly art groups with previously incarcerated women for her \u201cArts and Special Populations\u201d class. As part of \u201cCommunity Psychology,\u201d she worked with an arts engagement group for high school students who have a parent in prison.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese experiences are a huge part of my decision to pursue an M.S.W., and I will be well prepared for the fieldwork that is a big part of the degree,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\"Sarah<\/a>

Sarah Gardiner ’13 at Achieve Hartford<\/p><\/div>\n

It is easy for an academic community to feel bound within its gates, says Dina Anselmi, associate professor of psychology and CLI faculty adviser from 2005 to 2010. \u201cCommunity learning reduces the idea that people outside our campus are different from us,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

It also empowers students to see themselves as agents of change, not just passive learners. Emily Howe \u201913, a student in Anselmi\u2019s \u201cChild Development\u201d class, started a literacy program at a local school, distributing books to students and creating a pamphlet to help parents of emerging readers. The program was a success, with positive feedback from students, parents, and school administrators.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat this says to students is that you can take a big problem, like children and poverty, and do something about it within the community. It empowers students to see themselves as activists within the academic context.\u201d In addition to courses, CLI offers faculty
\nbrainstorming events, course development grants, and an annual community partner
\nappreciation event. There is an interdisciplinary community action minor, and last year CLI launched the Community Learning Research Fellows Program.<\/p>\n

CLI Research Fellows work with Trinity professors to design and carry out a credit-bearing
\nresearch or creative project in the Hartford area. Projects can be part of a course, internship, thesis, or independent study. As part of the program, fellows join an interdisciplinary student-faculty colloquium to develop and share their work.<\/p>\n

In conjunction with the colloquium, Sarah Gardiner \u201913 and Michael Oleskewicz \u201913 evaluated education reform models to see how they might benefit Hartford\u2019s public
\nschool system. Their research was part of their internships with Achieve Hartford!. \u201c[This
\nproject] challenged us and ultimately rounded out our research, oral, and written communication skills,\u201d says Gardiner. CLI Research Fellow and computer science major Pauline Lake \u201913 created an after-school computer science class at the Greater Hartford Academy of Mathematics and Science. Using App Inventor, she had her students, grades
\n9 through 12, create their own application for an Android phone. \u201cThe program helped them see that learning can be fun,\u201d she says. She hopes the experience will encourage
\nsome of her students to consider a career in computer science, a field with many jobs but few applicants.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese collaborations allow students to learn with and from others,\u201d says Clark. This mutual learning is at the heart of CLI\u2019s work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These classes benefit both Trinity students and the Hartford community by Mary Howard Carol Clark, associate professor of economics, sees Trinity\u2019s host city as a \u201cpowerful resource for learning.\u201d Clark is the faculty coordinator for the Community Learning Initiative (CLI), … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":0,"parent":36,"menu_order":7,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":224,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11\/revisions\/224"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/36"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/reporter-spring2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}