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St. Cloud State University
Academic Affairs Use Only:
Response Date:
Effective Date:
1. Prepared by: Margaret A. Villanueva
Phone: 308-2140
General Education Goal Area 5
History and the Social & Behavioral Sciences
Proposal Number:
Email: mavillanueva@stcloudstate.edu
Requesting Unit: Department of Community Studies
Department, Course Number, Title: CMTY 222 Diversity in the American Experience
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New Course Existing Course
Will this course be flagged as a diversity course? No
Already Designated as Diversity Diversity Proposal Accompanying This Form
6. Will this course also satisfy another General Education Goal Area? No Yes
If “Yes” specify which goal area.
7. Course bulletin description, including credits and semesters to be offered:
Interdisciplinary exploration of selected aspects of the cultures and experiences of women and people of color within the U.S. Focus on developing a theoretical and practical understanding of the concepts of communities' diversity and sustainability as they relate to the American experience. 3 Cr. S.
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Indicate the clientele for whom this course is designed. Is the course for general education only, or does it fulfill general education and other program needs for this or another department? Obtain signatures from any affected departments.
General Education Only (Diversity/MGM)
Indicate any changes that must be made in offerings or resources in your department or other departments by offering this course.
None
10. For new courses or courses not yet approved for General Education, indicate any other SCSU departments or units offering instruction that relates to the content of the proposed course.
N/A
11. Courses designated as General Education are included in the assessment plan for the Goal Area(s)
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for which they are approved. Courses for which assessment is not included in the annual GE assessment report for two years will be removed from the General Education Program.
The Requesting Unit understands and recognizes the above conditions.
12. Provide a concise explanation of how the following goal is a “significant focus” of the proposed course.
Goal Area 5: History and the Social & Behavioral Sciences
Develop understanding of human societies and behaviors, and of the concepts, theories, and methods of history and the social sciences.
Concepts, theories, theories and methods in the social sciences (esp Sociology, Anthropology, History) are employed for students to examine topical social issues involving sustainability for diverse communities and women in the United States. Students apply interdisciplinary social science approaches (ethnography, archival research, comparative historical analysis) in their assignments, and explore alternative, traditional cultural approaches to creating sustainable communities. Sample topics and case studies for the course are: historical relationships between human diversity and biodiversity in the Americas & Minnesota before and after European settlement; people of color and women's leadership in community organizing, creating sustainble communities, environmental justice issues, community arts projects.
13. In order for a course to be designated as fulfilling Goal Area 5, it must address at least 4 of the 5 student learning outcomes (SLOs) below. Check the SLOs below that are focused on in the proposed general education course.
1. Describe or use the methods and data by which historians, social scientists, or behavioral scientists investigate human conditions.
2. Analyze human behavior, cultures, and social institutions and processes from the perspectives of history or the social and behavioral sciences.
3. Develop explanations for and explore solutions to historical or contemporary social problems.
4. Reflect upon themselves in relation to family, communities, society, culture, and/or their histories.
5. Apply and critique alternative explanatory systems or theories about human societies and behaviors.
14. Discuss how each Student Learning Outcome checked above is achieved in this course. (Note: Although descriptions of typical assignments or types of assignments may be part of this discussion, it is not appropriate to submit copies of actual assignments.)
1. Through texts and films produced by sociologists, anthropologists, historians or community advocates, students will be able to compare research methods for collecting data on sustainability in American Indian,
Latino, Asian, or Black communities.
2. Students will carry out independent or team research using sociological, anthropological, or historical data to analyze contemporary or historical case studies at a regional or community level on key course topics, such as how a community of color addressed environmental pollution that affected families and health.
3. Students will make class presentations individually or in teams that explain contemporary problems for communities of color, and the role of women in finding sustainable solutions.
4. Students will write exploratory essays about ethnic, racial or gender relations in their own hometowns, regions, or state, by taking into consideration the natural and built environments as well as the issue of equal access to valued resources for future generations.
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5. Students will be able to present to the class their findings on alternative approaches (such as American Indian,
Mexican American, and Black American perspectives and traditions) for social issues like building community, ensuring safe workplaces, using food or water resources, creating public arts that reflect local identities, protecting and sustaining the local environment, or improving public health.
15. List or attach the Course Outline (adequately described and including percentage of time to be allocated to each topic). Curriculum Committees may request additional information. Topics larger than 20% need to be broken down further. Indicate in your course outline where the Student Learning Outcomes checked above are being met.
CMTY 222 "Diversity in the American Experience"
Course goal is to provide students with academic tools from the social sciences to explore the interrelationships between human diversity and biodiversity – between multicultural communities, women, men, and a changing natural environment. The class is interactive, and will not be based primarily on lectures or exams, but on case studies and student learning activities. History: To think historically is not to learn “what happened long ago” – but to figure out “how society came to be what it is today & how we came to be who & what we are.” Can our society develop its human and natural energies to create sustainable and diverse communities for the next generation? Some people are hopeful – what are they doing right now?
CLASS ACTIVITIES & ASSIGNMENTS - Each reflects 20% of learning in the course.
[1] ATTENDANCE/PARTICIPATION: WEEKLY READING GROUP REVIEWS: 20% [SLO #1 & #4]
In-class group discussions of readings, documentary films, based on social science concepts, theories, methods, used for the analysis of case studies: Discussion groups, Weeks 1 - 6; Each group will choose one concept, theory or method as its main focus, and be able to apply a social science or historical analysis to one or more case studies from weekly readings and/or films and/or community websites. Weeks 7-15; Each group will reflect on the racial, ethnic or gender diversity of their own communities, and compare problems and solutions raised in the readings to their own local experiences.
[2] TWO 3-page RESPONSE PAPERS BASED ON READINGS: 20% each [ SLO # 1, 2, 3 & 5 ]
Begin with a thesis statement and refer to at least two of the assigned texts in your paper, comparing theories, concepts and case studies regarding your topic: 1) an introduction, 2) discussion section (body), and 3) a conclusion that relates to the introduction. Papers will not be accepted if citations & reference page are not done correctly.
PAPER #1:
Explain the experience of American Indian or Chicano people and their Traditional Environmental Knowledge
(TEK) in relation to their natural and built surroundings, the land, history, and cultural traditions of land, resource use and community cooperation. Use key concepts from the Peña text (Chap 1 & 2), LaDuke’s writings and/or
Bullard’s introduction to compare the community case studies in the texts, films, and related community or organizational websites.
PAPER #2: Explain contemporary problems facing communities of color related to the environment, health, cultural preservation, or access to resources, based on at least 2 or 3 readings from the second half of the course, and outline the role women have played in finding solutions. OR explain one or two principles of environmental
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justice movements and give examples of what actions people of color and women have taken to reach the goal of a better environment and sustainable communities, using at least 2 or 3 readings and online sources.
[3] TWO TEAM POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS (6 groups) 20% each [ SLO # 1, 2, 3, 5, &/or 4]
TEAM PRESENTATION #1:
Students will choose or be assigned to teams to create PowerPoint presentations based on the life stories and ecological perspectives of American Indian or Chicano communities. Explain the social science concepts and methods for studying diverse communities in your presentations. Use course texts, recommended websites, videos or other sources in your presentations.
All presentations should use visuals & graphics (slides should not be all text-based).
TEAM (FINAL) PRESENTATION #2:
Student teams will present case studies on how communities of color and women have created solutions for building sustainable communities, with specific focus on African American communities, women, diverse
Minnesota communities, etc.
Topics can be an extension of any course readings, with the addition of online research. Teams may also use a
“WebQuest” such as the Katrina/New Orleans Webquest or the Environmental Justice WebQuest as a guide.
(OPTIONAL APPROACH: Conduct your own local field research, focusing on experiences in your own community, as the basis for the final presentation).
Other examples for expanding on topics in readings:
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Community gardens, park development, green spaces for diverse urban neighborhoods
WATER and water resources used by communities of color
Multicultural arts that create a “sense of place,” respect for the land, and environmental activism in
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• communities of color
• Relationship of politics to environmental justice issues
Food & Environment http://web.stcloudstate.edu/teore/Food/FoodPolitics.htm
Health & safety in workplaces; Women & Sustainability; teaching “multicultural environmentalism”
EXAMPLES OF TEXTS, FILMS & WEBSITES FOR THIS COURSE:
Bullard, Robert D., Editor. (2005) The Quest for Environmental Justice: Human Rights & the Politics of
Pollution. San Francisco: Sierra Club Press.
Peña, Devon G. (2005) Mexican Americans and the Environment: Tierra y vida. Tucson: University of Arizona
LaDuke, Winona (2002) The Winona LaDuke Reader: A Collection of Essential Writings. Minnesota: Voyageur
Katz, Jane, Editor. (1995) Messengers of the Wind: Native American Women Tell Their Life Stories. NY:
Ballantine Books.
Dyson, Michael Eric. (2006) Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster.
Cambridge, MA: Basic Civitas Books.
Bullard, Robert D., Editor. (1993) Confronting Environmental Racism: Voices from the Grassroots. Boston, MA:
South End Press.
Kretzmann, John P. and John L. McKnight. (1993) Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward
Finding and Mobilizing a Community’s Assets. Evanston, IL: Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern
University.
VIDEOS:
Minnesota: A History of the Land
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Nokomis: Voices of Anishinabe grandmothers
Mino-bimadiziwin – The Good Life (White Earth, MN)
The Columbian Exchange
Race: The Power of an Illusion-3 “The House we Live in”
Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke (Katrina)
Forgotten Americans (Colonias in Texas near border)
Chicano Park
Erin Brockovich (Julia Roberts)
Cities (Reinventing the World)
Economic base (Rural communities: legacy & change)
The Garden (South L.A. Community Garden)
WEBSITES:
MINNESOTA SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES? http://www.nextstep.state.mn.us/
MN Indigenous Environmental Network: http://www.ienearth.org/
MN Indian Leaders on Environment http://www.epa.gov/region5/tribes/award-recipients.html
UTUBE: Cleaning Acequia Canals, NM: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyqxdbsEObU
UTUBE – Sales & development in So. CO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7g628YAiZw
San Luis Valley History: http://www.colorado.com/article229
Women & Environment: http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/perspect/women.htm
Why women? http://cwpe.org/node/134
Honoring the women: http://www.ejrc.cau.edu/SummCrowning03.html
Toxics & women’s bodies: http://www.ewg.org/report/Pollution-in-5-Extraordinary-Women
South-Central Community Farm: Los Angeles: http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2006-10-09-lebuhn-en.html
SCSC & Community Garden: http://web.stcloudstate.edu/teore/Garden/Homepage.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2anCYut9vc L.A. Garden
UTUBE: Ethnic Revitilization, L.A.: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANFnvsyc5ss
UTUBE: Environmental Art: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoH5vxn91oM
Minnesota Indian Art: http://www.kstrom.net/isk/art/art_minn.html
Natl Museum of Amer Indian: http://www.nmai.si.edu/
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