|
Release date: March 28, 2003
Take a Look Inside the Emory University Classroom
From music and Mid-East politics to service learning and scientific discovery, Emory students encounter a rigorous learning environment that plants the seeds for future careers and shapes life-long interests. "I am amazed at how much I am able to learn in a class that may seem overwhelming at first," says Jonathon Cohen, a senior psychology major. "Many of the professors I've had at Emory push and challenge you to raise the bar. Even when you're struggling, they are there as a source of support and motivation to keep you going." Below is a sample of what's going on in Emory classrooms--the teaching, research and learning that shape students' experiences. Table of Contents:
1. Spanish Seminar Changes Lives In and Out of the Classroom
2. Lessons in Poverty Make Students Committed To Service
3. Students Get All That Jazz and More from Music Class
4. Showcasing Scientific Discoveries Ignites Interest Among Freshmen
5. Professor's First-Hand Experience Provides Powerful Insight for Middle East Course
6. Atlanta Serves as Living Laboratory for Studying Gentrification
7. Learning About Love Means More Than Romance
8. Tibetan Monk Teaches the Mind-Body Connection For more information on these classes, see links below, or contact Nancy Seideman, director of Emory's Office of University Media Relations, 404-727-0640, nseidem@emory.edu. For more news from Emory, our news Web site is www.emory.edu/central/NEWS/. 1. SPANISH SEMINAR CHANGES LIVES IN AND OUT OF THE CLASSROOM
An Emory Spanish class that merges advanced writing instruction and language analysis with weekly hands-on experiences in the Atlanta Hispanic community has had a life-changing impact for students such as recent Emory graduate Jessica Clarke, who took the course last spring. She is now working to establish a reading program for Spanish-speaking children in the coastal hamlet of Beaufort, N.C., that's based on her community service in Atlanta. "Without the class and the experience it gave me, I would never have had the confidence to try something like this," says Clarke, a Spanish and Latin American studies major who is now director of Spanish programming at the Carteret County (N.C.) Public Library. "The course made me realize that I really do have what it takes to positively impact my community."
MORE 2. LESSONS IN POVERTY MAKE STUDENTS COMMITTED TO SERVICE
Although many college students know what it's like to be short on cash, few fully grasp what it means to be poor. But for a group of students at Emory, a course on poverty changed that perspective. Since taking the course, three students have taken part in the Kenneth Cole Fellowship in Community Building and Social Change, an academically challenging, 12-month program designed to prepare Emory undergraduates to be the next generation of community builders. "The Kenneth Cole Fellowship built upon what I learned in the 'Poverty in America' course, and put it into action. The combination of the two made me even more committed to working on issues of community building and social change for the greater good," says senior Christopher Richardson.
MORE 3. STUDENTS GET ALL THAT JAZZ AND MORE FROM MUSIC CLASS
While music classes may not be a requirement for most college students, one course on the history of jazz has become nearly a necessity for students of all majors at Emory. The introductory course "Jazz -- Its Evolution and Essence" is one of the most in-demand classes due to the passionate teaching of professor Dwight Andrews, a renowned composer and musician who recently served as music director of the critically acclaimed Broadway revival of August Wilson's "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom." "Dr. Andrews' love of jazz is expressed in every word that comes out of his mouth. His excitement is contagious," says senior Anna Overman.
MORE 4. SHOWCASING SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES IGNITES INTEREST AMONG FRESHMEN
Some college students may see science courses as a frustrating requirement to get out of the way or simply the path to med school, but Emory chemistry professor David Lynn is working to change that attitude by bringing the excitement of scientific discovery directly to undergraduates. "Origins of ORDER" -- which stands for "On Recent Discoveries by Emory Researchers" -- is a new freshman seminar created by Lynn that allows some of Emory's top scientists and graduate students to share their recent research while introducing students to broad interdisciplinary scientific concepts. The seminar is Lynn's first major step toward establishing a new training program for undergraduate students since he was named one of 20 inaugural Howard Hughes Medical Institute professors last year.
MORE 5. PROFESSOR'S FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCE PROVIDES POWERFUL INSIGHT FOR MIDDLE EAST COURSE
The morning the world learned that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter had won the Nobel Peace Prize, students in a class on the Arab-Israeli conflict at Emory were already getting a first-hand account of the man and his work from their instructor, history professor Kenneth Stein, who can provide such insight due to his close work with Carter for 20 years as a Carter Center fellow on Middle East affairs. Stein's expertise and passion for the material, combined with the chance to hear directly from figures in their history books (Carter is a regular guest lecturer), have made the course a memorable one for students fortunate enough to get in.
MORE 6. ATLANTA SERVES AS LIVING LABORATORY FOR STUDYING GENTRIFICATION
Many of Atlanta's once-blighted urban neighborhoods are rapidly transforming as new residents return to the inner city to rebuild and revitalize struggling communities. One such neighborhood is providing a living laboratory for Emory students who are examining this trend in the freshman seminar "Gentrification in America." Using classroom learning and hands-on field observation, the sociology class is exploring how dramatic changes in the race and class make-up of an urban neighborhood affect community life.
MORE 7. LEARNING ABOUT LOVE INVOLVES MORE THAN ROMANCE
Students in the Emory University freshman seminar "(First) Love" have learned to check their romantic notions at the door when it comes to examining this complex subject. As a ubiquitous topic in literature, film, music and art, students are exploring the varieties, customs and portrayals of love, from conservative Christian "betrothals" and Hindu arranged marriages to famous couples and the idea of soul mates. For instructor Erdmann Waniek, a German studies associate professor, the focus on love is an avenue to get students to expand their world-views and critical thinking abilities.
MORE 8. TIBETAN MONK TEACHES THE MIND-BODY CONNECTION
By studying a combination of Western science and Eastern spiritualism, students at Emory are learning from a Tibetan monk how mental moxie can give the physical body an edge in overall health. Students in the "Mind, Body and Healing: Tibetan and Western Perspectives" class this semester are making the mind-body connection by studying scientific research on mental attitudes and health, while also exploring centuries-old Tibetan traditions from a teacher with first-hand knowledge of the practices.
MORE ###
Back
|
