Joseph McKeen
Center for the Common Good

Community-based courses connect classroom concepts to community needs in order to enhance learning, promote active citizenship and foster mutually beneficial ties between the campus and community. In partnership with local agencies, students in community-based courses apply the knowledge and analytical skills gained in the classroom to address environmental, social and cultural issues within the community. Whether they conduct interviews and report findings, take and test soil or water samples, review and summarize research or policy options, create public art or instructional materials or research the many layers of a societal issue, students complete their work both to expand their understanding of a subject and to benefit the agency to whom they present their projects. Independent study offers another venue for building on a college-community partnership or for laying the groundwork for future individual or group projects.

Since the year 2000 more than 25 Bowdoin faculty in more than 40 courses across the curriculum have engaged some 500 students in community-based projects through partnerships with nearly 50 community agencies. The following community-based courses are being offered this semester.

Fall 2009 Courses

• ANTH 201: Anthropological Research (J. Brunson)
• BIO/ES 394 - Ecology of Merrymeeting Bay (J. Lichter
• EDUC 301 - Teaching (K. Templeton)
• EDUC 303 - Curriculum (C. Dorn)
• ES 204 - Geographic Information Systems (E. Johnson)
• ES 301 - Environmental Studies Capstone (P. Camill)
• GEO/ES 276 - Watershed Hydrology (P. Lea)
• GOV 209 - Introduction to Political Behavior (M. Franz)
• GOV 220 - The Politics of Development (E. Albaugh)
• IDEP 240 - Maine Social Research (C. McEwen)
• PSYCH 210 - Infant and Child Development
  

Spring 2009 Courses

• BIO 158/CHEM 105/ES 201 - Perspectives in Environmental Science (J. Lichter, D. Vasudevan)
• ED 203 - Educating all Students (D. Santoro)
• ED 302 - Analysis of Teaching and Learning (D. Santoro)
• ED 305 - Adolescents in School (K. Templeton)
• FR 309 - Joan of Arc and La Marianne in French Literature and Culture (A. Curulla)
• GEO/ES 100 - Environmental Geology and Hydrology (P. Lea)
• HIST 242/ES 203 - Environment and Culture in North American History (M. Klingle)
• IS 240 - Maine Social Research (C. McEwen)
  
• SOC 218 - Sociology of Law (C. McEwen)
• SP 204 - Intermediate Spanish II (E. Wheelwright)
• VA/ES 233 - Architecture and Sustainability (W. Theodore)
• VA 275 -  Architectural Design II (W. Theodore)

Past Courses

• ANTH 218/ES 213 – Anthropology of Islands (A. Henshaw)
• ASIAN 323 – Topics in Chinese Painting (D. Lee)
• BIO 158/ ES 201 – Introduction to Environmental Science (D. Vasudevan, L. Whitlow)
• BIO 394/ES 394 - Ecology and Environmental History of Merrymeeting Bay (J. Lichter)
  
• CS 101 – Introduction to Computer Science (L.Toma )
• ECON 231b – Economics of the Lifecycle (R.Connelly)
• ED 301 - Teaching (K. Templeton)
• ED 303 - Curriculum (C. Dorn)
  
• ES 201 – Perspectives on Environmental Science (J. Lichter, D. Vasudevan)
• ES 202/GOV 214 – Environmental Policy and Politics (D. John)
• ES 203 – Nature, Culture and History (M. Klingle)
• ES 203/HIS 242 – Environment and Culture in North American History (M. Klingle)
• ES 204 – Intro to Geographic Information Systems (K. Ford)
• ES 233/VA233 – Architecture and Sustainability (S. Theodore and W. Theodore)
• ES 241 – Principles of Land Use Planning (K. Ford)
• ES 291 – Independent Study in Environmental Education (C. Chiang and E. Johnson)
• ES 364 – Environmental Policy and Politics in Maine (D. John)
• ES 391 – Troubled Waters: Fishing in the Gulf of Maine (A. Hayden, D. John)
• GEO 100 – Environmental Geology and Hydrology (P. Lea)
• GEO 103/ES 103 – Marine Environmental Geology (E. Laine)
• GEO 210 – Water Quality and the Community (P. Lea)
• GEO 230 – Geometrics (E. Laine)
• GEO 250 – Marine Geology and Tectonics (E. Laine)
• GEO 260 – Oceanography and the Ocean (E. Laine)
• GEO 267 – Coastal Oceanography (E. Laine)
• GEO 276/ES 276 - Watershed Hydrology (P. Lea)
• GOV 221 – Social Protest and Political Change (L. Henry)
• HIST 247 – Maine A Community and Environmental History (S. McMahon)
• IS 200 – Examining Poverty (N. Jennings and S. Dorn)
• IS 240 – Maine Social Research (C. McEwen)
• MUSIC 331 – Advanced Topics in Caribbean Music (J. Bosse)
• Romance Languages FRENCH 204 – Intermediate French II (K. Dauge-Roth)
• Romance Languages FRENCH 204a – Living, Learning and Language (K. Dauge–Roth)
• Romance Languates FRENCH 351– War and Memory (W. Vanderwolk)
• Romance Languages SPANISH 205c – Advanced Spanish (E. Yepes)
• Romance Languages FRENCH 207 – Francophone Cultures (A. Dauge–Roth)
• Romance Languages SPANISH 326 – Translation (J. Jaffe)
• SOC 101 – Introduction to Sociology (J. Lohmann)
• SOC 201 – Introduction to Social Research (J. Lohmann)
• SOC 215 – Criminology and Criminal Justice (J. Lohmann)
• SOC 220 – Class, Labor, and Power (J. Bandy)
• SOC 221/ES 221 – Environmental Sociology (J. Bandy)
• SOC 225 – Globalization and Social Change (J. Bandy)
• SOC 235 – Aging and Society (J. Wigg)
• SOC 245 – Social Movements (J. Bandy)
• SOC 310 – Current Controversies in Sociology (J. Bandy)
• VA 190 – Architectural Design I (W. Theodore)
• VA 265 – Public Art (M. Wethli)
• VA 275 – Architectural Design II (W. Theodore)
• WST 201 – Feminist Theory and Methodology (J. Scanlon)

Sample courses/projects

The forms for community-based projects are as varied as the academic disciplines they represent, and may comprise a small part of a course or be the central focus for the whole semester. The following is a small sample of the varied ways that students have put classroom learning into practice in the community.

Biology 158/Chemistry 180: Perspectives in Environmental Science
Professors: John Lichter, Dharni Vasudevan
Community partners: The Nature Conservancy, Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area
Students analyzed the effects of salt marsh restoration on a local marsh and compared impacted and unimpacted marshes to determine effects of impacts and/or restoration activities.

Environmental Studies 233: Architecture and Sustainability
Professor: Wiebke Theodore.
Community partner: Town of Brunswick, Planning and Development
Students designed and presented their proposals for an ecological train station
to the Town of Brunswick and went on to work with the town on the master plan
for the area.

French 204: Living, Learning and Language
Professor: Katherine Dauge-Roth
Community partner: Mt. Ararat High School
Focusing on the theme of how school and family shape identity, students planned and led weekly conversational French Cafés, prepared instructional materials for high school teachers to use in class, and hosted a French and Francophone Festival immersion experience at Bowdoin for 30 high school students.

Geology 393: Advanced Seminar in Geology
Professor: Ed Laine
Community partners: University of Maine at Machias, GIS Service Center and Laboratory
Students helped map glacial features in Washington County as part of a larger research effort underway to create a regional strategic conservation plan to be used by land trusts, towns and agencies in making decisions about the region’s natural resources.

Sociology 220: Class, Labor and Power
Professor: Joe Bandy
Community partners: Midcoast Hunger Prevention Program, Tedford Housing, United Way
Investigating issues of poverty, homelessness and food insecurity in midcoast Maine, students prepared visual and print materials for the three agencies to use for public education, fund raising and program assessment.

Visual Art 265: Public Art
Professor: Mark Wethli
Community Partners: Swinging Bridge Committee, Woodside Elementary School
Students examined the creation and production of public artworks from start to finish, including community engagement and research; site investigation; formulation of proposals through drawings, photos, models and Photoshop renderings; seeking approvals; collaborating with agencies and individuals; and learning the means and materials used in the creation of finished, typically large-scale artworks. The project culminated in designing an artwork celebrating Woodside Elementary School’s 15th anniversary.