Taught by

“To speak a true word is to transform the world … [the] word is not the privilege of some few persons but the right of everyone.”  — Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed

This program is offered in collaboration with Evergreen’s Center for Community-Based Learning and Action. It supports students to work in community settings through internships or projects. It builds skills for community work and provides a collaborative learning space through round-table discussions.

Our primary focus is on literacy. For many organizations, literacy is central to the development of personal and collective capacity; it is a foundation for full community participation, and it figures in the development of social movements. Literacy highlights the many domains of knowledge people possess, even if their knowledge is not validated through formal schooling. It encompasses not just language and reading, but the ability to intervene in issues important to community life, including youth development, homelessness, public health, immigration, environmental justice, and climate change. Finally, literacy means the collective production of knowledge through dialogue, research, writing, and cultural and artistic production.

We will learn about literacy in a community context, while expanding our own literacy skills. In fall, students will learn video production and explore how art and culture can document and intervene in community struggles. Workshops include documentary video production, working respectfully with community organizations, and oral histories. Practices of reflective and autobiographical writing will be taught and strongly encouraged. Students will earn half their credits through a project or internship (15–20 hours per week), and half in the classroom through critical exploration of case studies and discussion of community experiences. The goal is to build a foundation for extensive community work in winter and spring. Possible readings include Horton’s The Long Haul , Freire's  Pedagogy of the Oppressed , Barndt’s Wild Fire: Art as Activism , and Landay and Wootton’s A Reason to Read: Linking Literacy and the Arts .  

In winter and spring, students will earn up to 12 credits through community work (20–30 hours per week) while participating in classroom-based learning and reflection (4 credits). Students will meet as a group one day per week to share successes and challenges, discuss short readings, and participate in workshops. Workshops will include refining skills in community-based work and reflective writing, using writing and art as tools to support literacy, and exploring how our personal histories shape our interactions with communities. Readings will cover case studies in the U.S. and Latin America, including informal publishing projects, alternative library systems, memory work, and photography. At the end of winter quarter, students will collaboratively shape our spring reading list.  

This program is ideal for responsible, self-motivated students. It is intended for students who value collaborative learning, are enthusiastic about shaping a community of co-learners and co-teachers, and are committed to learning from and with community organizations.

Research Opportunities

Research in the area of each student's interest will be strongly encouraged. Collaboration with the faculty on a research-, media-, or community-based writing project is also possible in this program.

Quarters

Fall Signature Winter Signature

Location and Schedule

Final Schedule and Room Assignment

• Fall

Campus Location

Olympia

Time Offered

Day