Everyone a Changemaker: Perspectives Across Disciplines
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Item Internationalization across the Curriculum(2022-03-03) McCarthy, MaryIn this presentation I explore changemaking through internationalization across the curriculum. I begin by presenting changemaking itself as a global concept, emphasizing the interdependence of our world and the UN Sustainable Development Goals as connecting to multiple facets of changemaking in higher education. I then introduce my narrower focus within the presentation, which is changemaking through “internationalization at home.” I define the concept of internationalization at home, giving prominence to its impact through the lenses of DEI and COVID. I then highlight two case studies. One is my course, Human Trafficking, which has a service-learning component that engages with community partners. The second is a faculty-student joint research project on the integration of the UN’s Women, Peace and Security agenda by Des Moines-area organizations. My presentation illustrates how students can and have engaged with changemaking through these endeavors that represent internationalization at home.Item Collaborative Research: The Des Moines Housing Study(2022-03-03) Talbert, ElizabethIn collaboration with four community housing partners in the Des Moines area—Homeward, Habitat for Humanity, Anawim, and Home, Inc.—my course, “The Art of the Interview,” engaged in an iterative, community- and trauma-informed approach to interviewing people in unstable housing situations. Housing has increasingly become more unaffordable in Des Moines and across the country; in the wake of the pandemic, this issue must be understood locally as well within the national context to best address the impact of this social justice issue. Students in “The Art of the Interview” set out to ask people about their lived experiences with housing instability, analyze those experiences in a systematic way, and advocate with the community for change. This project is an example of community-based research that engages students in long-term change strategies. It is an example of changemaking that, with proper resources and alignment, could be scaled to achieve long-term collective impact. While one class cannot do that alone, this class is the first phase in creating a social innovation ecosystem at Drake to address the issue of affordable housing. Data from “The Art of the Interview” will continue to grow through continued research next semester. Additionally, it will be shared to inform discussions in a political science policy course next semester whose students propose new policy to Polk County Supervisors. It will inspire independent studies that turn the data into long-term advocacy and research agendas. And eventually it may provide a foundation for a partnership with the Entrepreneurship 101 where students would brainstorm innovative market driven solutions that do not yet exist to address the lived experiences of struggles with affordable housing. The possibilities are endless and exciting. This goes to show that practicing changemaking is something that spans modes and disciplines; we need the diverse perspectives and knowledge-making tools of every discipline involved in problem solving societal issues. In short, this project models the spirit of Drake’s inspiration statement: Together we transform lives and strengthen communities.Item Global Virtual Learning Collaboration Lessons Learned(2022-03-03) Mitchell, AlanahToday’s educators are tasked to produce students that are able to work in a global business world. Presentation attendees will learn how adding intercultural projects to courses can allow for student learning in relation to course concepts as well as what it is like to work in a global, virtual world. This presentation introduces global, technology supported collaboration assignments where students in the United States have partnered with students from different countries across the world (e.g., China, India, New Zealand, South Africa, and Taiwan) to complete class projects in order to learn about course topics as well as to become more globally aware and increase their intercultural competency. Tasks ranging from 1-week experiences, 8-week experiences, and semester long projects using widely available technology collaboration technologies (e.g., Facebook, Skype, Snapchat, What’s App, etc.) are presented. Findings, lessons learned, and best practices suggest that today’s widely accessible collaboration technologies provide a good fit for the development of intercultural competency.Item Coordinating and Supporting a Student-Led Storm Water Improvement Project(2022-03-03) Siegel, SophiaThis project was started by students from Drake Environmental Action League (DEAL) who wanted to improve the water quality of storm water runoff coming from Drake University's campus. Drake faculty and staff and the City of Des Moines assisted students in identifying best management practices for the highly visible site adjacent to Cline Hall that contributes to water quality issues. Through this project, we are hoping to install one bio swale and one bio retention cell to infiltrate and filter storm water. The initial goal of this project is to capture and treat the runoff before entering Ravine Creek but the scope of the project has expanded beyond that. Additionally, we intend to use this project to provide academic and research opportunities to Drake students and faculty as well as to host educational events to the broader community about the importance of water quality.Item Writing With: The Drake Community Press(2022-03-03) Spaulding-Kruse, CarolFor the past decade, the Drake Community Press has partnered with community organizations to tell their stories through collaborations with Drake University faculty and students. We call this model “writing with” because we produce titles not for the organizations but with them, negotiating all aspects of funding, content, design, and marketing. Throughout this process, students from most of Drake’s colleges, schools, and centers have worked with one another (often in cross-disciplinary, jointly taught courses from participating faculty) and with our community partner to produce the research, book content, design, marketing, events, and book launch. Students learn cross-disciplinary perspectives about the issues facing everyday Iowans, from immigration to religious diversity to cancer and wellness to the environment. Through community-engagement, DCP-related courses in a wide range of core disciplines, work directly with individuals affected by the issues as well as with the people working to solve them. DCP has partnered with Iowa International Organization, CultureALL, Latinas al Exito, The Comparison Project, Des Moines Area Religious Council, and Above + Beyond Cancer. Our current partner is the Iowa Environmental Council. In each of our past projects, DCP has published a book that has raised over $125,000 for non-profits here in our community. We understand that books, themselves, do not create change. But we believe in the power of storytelling to touch hearts as well as minds, helping to move the needle on the awareness, advocacy and action needed to create a better world. This presentation shares more about our specific titles, the way student’s lives and careers have benefitted from their involvement, and the outcomes our community partners point to as a direct result of our partnerships.