2011-2012 Service Learning Courses

Poverty in America: Integrating Theory, Research, Policy & Practice
Kim Ferguson
Fall semester

One-fifth of all American children live in poverty. Why? And what can be done about it? In this course, we will take an ecological and psychobiological approach to poverty in America and its relationship to public policy, with a focus on child poverty. We will discuss how physical and psychosocial environments differ for poor and nonpoor children and their families in both rural and urban contexts, specifically rural Upstate New York and urban Yonkers. We will explore how these differences affect mental and physical health and motor, cognitive, language, and socioemotional development. We will also discuss individual and environmental protective factors that buffer some children from the adverse effects of poverty, as well as the impacts of public policy on poor children and their families—including recent welfare, health, and educational policy reforms in the United States. Topics will include environmental chaos, cumulative risk and its relationship to chronic stress, and unequal access to health-care services. This course will also serve as an introduction to the methodologies of community-based and participatory action research within the context of a service-learning course. Students will be expected to participate in a community partnership addressing issues related to poverty as part of their conference work. In addition, we will discuss the nature of these research and practice methodologies, and students will develop a proposal for community-based work in partnership with their community organization. A previous course in the social sciences is recommended.

From the Plantation to the Prison: Criminal Justice Policies
Rima Vesely-Flad
Fall semester

Present-day criminal justice policies function on multiple levels in American society: as manifestations of theological and philosophical perspectives on race and punishment; as methods to consolidate political power; as engines of economic development in rural communities; and as intimidating forces in urban communities that perpetuate poverty and social isolation. The interlocking spheres of race, impoverishment, incarceration, and political representation have resulted in the largest prison system in the world. The United States, with less than five percent of the world’s population, now contains 25 percent of the world’s prison population. Sociologists, criminologists, philosophers, and community activists point to this phenomenon as indicative of a pervasive system stretching back to slavery and post-Civil War crime policies. This course will examine the historical antecedent of the present-day prison system and the multiple dimensions in which criminal justice policies impact particular communities today. The first half of the semester will focus on philosophies of punishment, theologies of race, and 19th-century economies of plantations, jails, and prisons. Over the second half of the semester, we will examine present-day patterns of punishment, specifically addressing the school-to-prison pipeline, juvenile life without parole, labor exploitation, and successful activist challenges to the pervasiveness of exploiting criminalized persons. Readings will primarily include sociological and political science texts, as well as policy papers and personal stories. As an alternative to regular conference papers, students will participate in service-learning placements in court, jail, or prison contexts with organizations advocating with and on behalf of individuals with criminal convictions.

Making History of Non-Western Art History: Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
Susan Kart
Year-long

This class examines the creation of the field of non-Western art, historically known as "AOA" or the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. When the conceit emerged, its purpose was to provide a means for classifying art of non-European manufacture into an organized system that would allow for understandings of value, merit, and quality in comparison (but not on par) with European arts. The legacy of this strategy of "the West and the Rest" is seen today in museums, textbooks, galleries, and journals. Arts from the "AOA" regions will be examined from within their own cultural contexts, as well as within the European canons of art history. Art historical theories of art, value, display, the West, religion, colonialism, and conquest will be examined in conjunction with objects from around the world. We will focus on the "unmaking" of this unwieldy art historical category, and students will propose new strategies for examining material culture from global perspectives. Students will evaluate exhibitions of non-Western material in New York collections and will design their own "corrective" exhibition as a final class project. As the class is a service learning class in partnership with The Art Gallery at the Yonkers Riverfront Library, students will expand upon their classroom knowledge over the course of the year by directing curatorial, programming, and educational service learning opportunities at The Art Gallery and with Yonkers residents and high-school students. A possible travel component for a service learning/art exhibition project to Dakar Senegal in May of 2012 is in the works for this class. Enrolled students will be kept up to date on this opportunity. Students must attend both a group interview and a personal interview with the instructor during registration week to be eligible for this class.

The Offensive Against Civil Rights: Crime Policy and Politics
Rima Vesely-Flad
Spring semester

More than 2.3 million adults in the United States fill local jails, state correctional facilities, and federal prisons; nearly five million more are either on probation or parole. The vast majority of people with felony convictions are denied the right to participate in the political process; they are furthermore barred from certain types of employment, designated housing units, and educational institutions. In short, despite the touted successes of the Civil Rights Movement, large swaths of US-born individuals lack the opportunity to fully participate in society. Legislation curtailing civil rights gains began to be enacted shortly after the passage of civil rights bills. Beginning in the early 1970s, legislators at the state and federal levels proposed harsh crime laws that, although seemingly race-neutral, disproportionately impacted impoverished African Americans and Latinos. As a consequence, policy makers have insidiously reversed the inclusion fought for by civil rights activists. This course will examine the period from the 1950s to the present day through the lens of crime policy and prison building. The first part of the course will focus on philosophical and historical literature on punishment, Jim Crow segregation, and the political offensive against civil rights activists, black nationalists, and anti-Vietnam War demonstrators. We will thereafter investigate the passage of punitive crime policies at state and federal levels, with close attention to political elections and the role of the media, the war on drugs, "supermax" facilities, zero tolerance policing, and capital punishment. We will conclude with an analysis of barriers to civil rights in the areas of employment and disenfranchisement. Readings will primarily include sociological and political science texts, as well as policy papers and personal stories. As an alternative to regular conference papers, students will participate in service-learning placements in court, jail, or prison contexts with organizations advocating with and on behalf of individuals with criminal convictions.