Community Engagement 101 is a proposed introductory curriculum for faculty and TA/Teaching Fellow graduate students across The New School (TNS) who incorporate external engagement or partnership as a part of their syllabus. For more information, visit our Collaboratory In-Depth Profile home page here.
On April 2nd, 2021, the Community Engagement 101 team hosted their second Peer Exchange Session to explore community-engaged learning, developing equitable collaborations with external communities and partners, and how various decisions and priorities shaped syllabi and partnerships.
The peer exchange session included a panel of faculty who presented their syllabi from courses developed with external partnerships, followed by in-depth conversation on incorporating equitable external partnerships within higher education curricula. Faculty presenters included:
- Andrew Shea, John Roach, and Caroline Dionne (School of Art & Design History & Theory and School of Design Strategies, Parsons): Freshkills Park Partnership, Sound the Mound, and Curating Design
- Alexandra Delano (Eugene Lang College & Schools of Public Engagement): Sanctuary
- John Bruce and Barbara Adams (School of Design Strategies, Parsons): MFA Transdisciplinary Design’s “Superstudio”
Faculty panelists were prompted to reflect on the following questions:
- What do you see as the benefits of equitable and mutually beneficial community-classroom partnerships, and for whom?
- How might courses and syllabi be designed so as to be beneficial for all parties? How might students be prepared to engage in such collaborative coursework?
- If you taught this course more than once, what changed or evolved over time? What did you learn from these changes?
- How has the pandemic context and social distancing guidelines shaped or changed community engagement practices this year? What might we learn from engaging external partners and communities during a pandemic?
Faculty presentations were followed by a vibrant discussion on the previous questions. We had a lively and productive conversation, and we look forward to the next iteration of Peer Exchange Sessions!