Service Learning Research and Readings

1-3 credits · Undergraduate

Under faculty supervision, students will design a program of community service associated with a set of learning objectives. The service component (3830) should benefit both the recipient and the provider of the service, offering the latter opportunities for self-reflection, self-discovery, and the development of values, skills, and knowledge. A central objective must be firsthand experience of a central issue or issues studied in sociology, psychology, political science, economics, or another academic discipline. The MHS program will work to find placements for interested students. The other component - 3831 - will consist of an independent study in the relevant discipline and must be closely linked to the issue(s) addressed in 3830. For example, a student may provide services to the elderly in nursing homes and use 3831 to study how state and federal policies affect the delivery of health care and other services to nursing home populations. To be accepted, students must have a 2.90 overall grade point average and 6 hours of prior work in approved MHS courses. They must submit a specific plan for the service-learning experience to the MHS program director. Students will write a substantial research or interpretative paper under the supervision of a Vanderbilt faculty member on a topic related to their service learning experience. Corequisite: 3830. [1-3] (No AXLE credit)