Spring 2018 Community-Based Learning Courses

An updated list of CBL courses will be collected and posted prior to the corresponding semester's advising period. If you would like to see your course added to this list, please email Program Coordinator, Cody Fleeger.

Understanding Language and Culture: Latin America/Latinos in the US (IDST 304U), George Hiller and Anne Marie Morgan

With Latinos now the largest minority in the U.S.—and more than 40,000 in the Richmond area alone—it’s more important than ever for students to understand Latino culture and roots to be adequately prepared for their careers and lives. IDST 304U helps bridge the gap in our diverse society and enable students to be more effective community citizens, co-workers, school teachers, parents, etc. In addition to important information about Latin America and Richmond’s Latino community, this course will include compelling guest speakers, community-based projects tailored to each student’s interests, and Skyping with an English-speaking class in Mexico!

Richmond: City of the Dead (RELG 358/AMST 381), Doug Winiarski

This advanced Religious Studies and American Studies seminar explores the material culture of Richmond’s historic burial grounds. Working in teams, seminar participants use digital cameras and GPS technology to photograph, map, document, and analyze eighteenth-and nineteenth-century funerary art: gravestones, statues, mausoleums, and stained glass windows. At least one session of the semester is devoted to exploring the broader material culture of death in early America through the examination of artifacts at either the Valentine Museum or the Museum of the Confederacy. As part of the Collaboratory, students will also be engaging with the city’s historical African American cemeteries, including East End Cemetery.

Eco-epidemiology (BIOL 336), Jory Brinkerhoff

As part of the Collaboratory, students will analyze patterns of morbidity and mortality in historical and current East End populations. This kind of activity will give students real-world data to work with as they practice calculating statistics and, as a group, will be able to analyze health trends in a particular Richmond community over time.