Internships are an important part of experiential learning in H&S. Through most departments, students can enroll in for-credit internship courses that allow them to integrate classroom learning with hands-on professional experience. Students wishing to enroll in an H&S internship course must complete the H&S internship application in advance.
Internships in H&S
As part of the Pilot Project in Experiential Learning, the School of Humanities and Sciences has awarded five Curriculum Enhancement Grants for 2009.
Information on Award Winners and Their Projects
H&S Strategic Plan, Priority III: Curriculum and Pedagogy,
Goal #2:
“Encourage and make available experiential learning to all H&S students, including fieldwork, service learning, and student/faculty collaborative research and creative work; support innovative pedagogies, especially those fostering a student-centered learning environment.”
During the fall of 2006, H&S established a small committee, composed of an Assistant Dean and five faculty drawn from different disciplines, to consider Curriculum and Pedagogy Goal #2 in depth and to explore the nature of, and possible directions for, experiential learning in the School. The work of this Committee grew out of the August 2006 Faculty Forum, when nearly 200 H&S faculty were invited to brainstorm about this goal, exploring two questions: 1) What can/does experiential learning accomplish for our students? and 2) What kinds of experiential learning opportunities do we provide to our students?
Determining that student-centered learning environments were already an established part of the H&S faculty’s approach to teaching, the Committee focused its efforts on the first part of this goal—to encourage and make available experiential learning to all H&S students. The Committee determined that what needed to be discussed and developed were key features of effective experiential learning, along with a working definition that recognized the rich variety of learning experiences in H&S. The Committee made its goal for the 2006-2007 academic year the drafting of a working document that would serve as a framework for further discussion and potential program development. In addition, the Committee planned to conduct a preliminary survey of H&S faculty, both to explore the array of current experiential learning offerings and to collect data to help refine the framework.
March 2007: A working document, A Framework for Experiential Learning in the School of Humanities and Sciences, was drafted and presented to H&S Chairs in March. This “Framework” identified criteria for an effective experiential learning opportunity, and also identified four models of experiential learning that characterize courses offered through H&S.
April/May 2007: H&S Faculty were invited to complete an on-line Survey to help the Committee collect information about the range of experiential learning activities in H&S. Survey results would help to extend the discussion about the role of experiential learning in H&S, and to clarify an important aspect of H&S identity. A Report of the survey results were presented to H&S faculty at the Faculty Forum in August 2007.
Fall 2007: The Committee co-sponsored, along with the Center for Faculty Excellence, a panel series “Experiential Learning -- It’s Worth Talking About!” The series featured presentations by H&S faculty who offer courses that fit into the four models of Experiential Learning.
Spring/Summer 2008 and 2009: The Committee sponsored a Pilot Project which offered several Curriculum Enhancement grants to faculty to develop new or enhance existing courses to incorporate experiential learning components that meet the criteria and models identified in the Framework.
Spring 2009: The Committee hosted a Roundtable Conversation on Experiential Learning in H&S, featuring short presentations by the 2008 recipients of Experiential Learning Curriculum Enhancement Grants, followed by open discussion.
Karin Breuer, Department of History, kbreuer@ithaca.edu, 274-1489
Janet Hunting, Department of Chemistry, jhunting@ithaca.edu, 274-1475
Patricia Spencer, Department of Writing, pspencer@ithaca.edu, 274-3770
Alicia Swords, Department of Sociology, aswords@ithaca.edu, 274-1209 (2008-2009)
Don Tindall, Department of Theatre Arts, dtindall@ithaca.edu, 274-3929
Leigh Ann Vaughn, Department of Psychology, lvaughn@ithaca.edu, 274-7353 (on leave 08-09)
Stacia Zabusky, H&S Dean’s Office, szabusky@ithaca.edu, 274-3409
