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The following are the 2008-2009 Course Development Grant recipients, with descriptions of their courses taken from their proposals.
“Disability” College Seminar
Essaka Joshua
Professional Specialist, College Seminar – A & L
This course enables students to better understand the nature of stigma, life narratives, quality of life issues, cultural representation, discrimination, institutions, and the civil rights movement. Students already volunteer at Logan Center, and Professor Joshua will use the grant to enhance the service-learning element further, and to initiate cultural and academic projects within the Notre Dame community.
According to Professor Joshua, the course investigates "the cultural meanings attached to extraordinary bodies and minds." In her grant proposal, she notes that scholarship has explored identities associated with race and gender, but much less so the cultural perceptions that concern those with disabilities. Using an interdisciplinary perspective, Professor Joshua aims to broaden and deepen students' understanding of central issues concerning the wide range of responses to disability in the world today and in history.
“Dramatic Text, Production, and Social Concerns”
Anthony Juan, Jr.
Professor, Film, Television, and Theatre
This course development grant will provide support to Professor Anton Juan of the Film, Television, and Theatre Department as he integrates a new theatre production into his course titled “Dramatic Text, Production, and Social Concerns.” The production will be a collaborative effort between students from his class and youth residents of the South Bend Correctional Facility. An imaginary mirror will provide the portal into the process. Participants will address questions such as “What is it I want to say to the world,” and “How would the world respond?” as they look into the mirror. Professor Juan notes that “The mirror is not simply a metaphor but a process of piecing together the unseen, perhaps hidden broken parts, of the self.” It also provides a way for participants to see themselves as others might see them.
“Living Lean: Rhetoric of Sustainability in Modern Media”
Connie Mick
Assistant Professional Specialist, University Writing Program
In this course, students will study the history of the environmental movement in the United States and participate in local sustainability efforts. They will, in Professor Mick’s words, “learn classical rhetoric and multimedia skills that will help them analyze and enter current conversations on energy and ecological sustainability.” She intends the course to be a good companion to next year’s University forum, which will focus on energy sustainability. The course will ask students to participate actively in sustainability efforts in the local community to, “supplement their textual research with a visceral understanding of what is at stake for their environment and their lives.” With support from this grant, Professor Mick will develop community engagement opportunities such as with the Merry Lea Environmental Center of Goshen College, at Berrien County landfill, with GreeND, and working with local co-ops and farmers’ markets dedicated to agricultural sustainability.
“Research and Documentation of Historic Buildings”
Krupali Uplekar
Assistant Professor, Architecture
Students enrolled in this course have the opportunity to learn important historic preservation techniques that further their careers while serving the community of South Bend. The exposure to real life issues faced by the community gives them the possibility to interact on higher levels of understanding and with realistic suggestions for improvement. , to enhance the community engagement aspects of her course, “Research and Documentation of Historic Buildings” offered through the college of architecture. Students in this course identify structures owned or controlled by the city that are of historical value, in a state of disrepair and potentially slated for demolition. Students will then conduct extensive documentation of the sites, which includes digital imaging analysis of building materials, and understanding of environmental impacts and structural soundness. A plan of action for restoration will then be developed. The results of the student studies can be utilized by the department of Community and Economic Development and the Historic Preservation Commission. The research is primarily aimed toward improvement of community and governmental understanding of development required to help downtown South Bend become more of a pedestrian friendly, crime free, healthy city.
