This course provides advanced ML language students and non- ML students enrolled in an Alternative Break student trip project the opportunity to earn credit by engaging in "connected" modes of knowing, by identifying and analyzing a problem, and developing plans for short-term and sustainable solutions, reflecting, and creating and disseminating an informational and interpretive website and print materials about their experience. Students will also bring to bear or gain experience in non-academic skills/ talents/interests in areas like photography, image editing, video production, writing, design, website development, sound recording, and art, etc., by doing community service under the auspices of Carnegie Mellon University's Alternative Break program. Students will earn three (3) units for full participation and fulfillment of course requirements. With the approval of the faculty facilitator, an additional three (3) units may be earned by completing an additional assignment.

This course provides advanced ML language students and non-ML students enrolled in an Alternative Break student trip project the opportunity to earn credit by engaging in "connected" modes of knowing, by identifying and analyzing a problem, and developing plans for short-term and sustainable solutions, reflecting, and creating and disseminating an informational and interpretive website and print materials about their experience. Students will also bring to bear or gain experience in non-academic skills/ talents/interests in areas like photography, image editing, video production, writing, design, website development, sound recording, and art, etc., by doing community service under the auspices of Carnegie Mellon University's Alternative Break program. Students will earn three (3) units for full participation and fulfillment of course requirements. With the approval of the faculty facilitator, an additional three (3) units may be earned by completing an additional assignment.

The Urban Lab is an outreach program that works in existing urban neighborhoods, and/or in other communities in the Pittsburgh region. Our approach is a bottom up / grass roots effort, where community input is the most important reference for our work. Our final products are reports that contain policies, plans and graphics that capture projected visions for the future for these communities, and step-by-step recommendations for their implementation. There are 380 communities in the Pittsburgh region divided by topography, economics, class, and ethnic and racial differences. This fragmentation and separation has been and is a major regional problem. Such diversity, however, presents opportunities as well as challenges. In this project students will study both the factors that divide communities and those that promote connections between them, building upon the experience of the Urban Lab in studying regional issues on the local neighborhood scale.

Students affiliate artmaking with a context outside of the university and within the Pittsburgh community. Students develop a relationship with an organization and artmaking is carried out within the context of that organization. Students may take this course for one or two semesters. Open to juniors in the School of Art, or by instructor permission.

The School of Art fosters connections with a variety of community groups, often involving elementary school children. All juniors take “Art in Context” and all graduate students conduct “Community Affiliation Projects.” These courses and projects involve the students’ identifying, researching, interacting with and responding to organizations, sites and audiences with a culminating project that often has a public face. This curricular component expands opportunities for artists and public awareness of the many roles that art can play in contemporary society.

Past projects include: teaching and exhibiting photography by elementary students at Colfax Elementary; a mural project at the Shadyside Boys and Girls Club; a Kiswahili’ exhibit from 9-13 year olds from the Friendship Academy; Jua Kali Field Station built in front of the Purnell Center for the Arts; art teaching at the Sarah Heinz House, a Boys and Girls Club on the North Side; and a printmaking project entitled, “City Wide Youth Arts with CAPA students.”

Contact:
School of Art
(412) 268-2409

The BHA/BSA Undergraduate Research Project is for Bachelor of Humanities and Arts (BHA) and Bachelor of Science and Arts (BSA) students who want to work on a self-designed project with the one-to-one guidance of a faculty advisor. The project should be interdisciplinary in nature, and can be a scholarly and/or creative endeavor. The project may take the form of a written thesis, a compilation of creative works, an outreach project, etc. The project topic must be pre-approved by the faculty member who agrees to supervise the project and assign a letter grade for the course. Projects are to be completed in one semester, and may be worth 3, 6, 9, or 12 units of academic credit. To register, students must submit an "Undergraduate Research Project Proposal Form" signed by both the student and the faculty advisor, along with a proposal, to the Associate Director of BHA and BSA Programs.

This is a community/university series of think tanks on local and educational issues structured Pennsylvania intercultural inquiry. Between 30-100 community partners attend each event.

Contact:
Dr. Linda Flower
412-268-2863
lf54@andrew.cmu.edu
www.cmu.edu/thinktank/docs/29.pdf.pdf

In this class, students will gain skills and information found outside of the classroom setting. Students will continue their study of ear training based on common practice, both current and traditional. For the jazz language to be assimilated in the student's instrumental and vocal vocabulary, skills for hearing and articulating musical ideas will be developed in the CMU classroom. Application of these skills with AAMI students in jam sessions and performances in the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh will create an environment in which students can gain a deeper understanding of the effect jazz has on the community. Through master classes by AAMI faculty and CMU faculty, this course will raise the ability of musicians past the rudiments of jazz improvisation to a level for public performance. Furthermore, the involvement of members of the community will demonstrate the important role music plays in bringing together the greater community. Admission is by audition or instructor permission. This class incorporates Jazz Ear Training (57-450).

This is a computer-supported on-campus program teaching decision making and planning skills with a pre-post written assessment supported by CMU mentors in the Literacy course.

Contact:
Dr. Linda Flower
412-268-2863
lf54@andrew.cmu.edu
www.cmu.edu/thinktank/docs/29.pdf.pdf

The Growing Theatre project pairs Reizenstein Middle School students with Carnegie Mellon mentors in a supportive learning environment in which students broaden their creativity and gain a better understanding of what it takes to make collaboration a success. Carnegie Mellon students expand their personal and professional outlooks by mentoring middle school students through the theatrical process in this community outreach program.

Started three years ago by Anne Mundell and Natalie Baker of the School of Drama in the university’s College of Fine Arts, Growing Theatre is an eight-month program open to Carnegie Mellon students in all departments. It counts as a university elective and provides students with credits as well as a unique creative and community-focused experience beneficial to the children of Pittsburgh’s inner-city schools. Mundell, director of the Growing Theatre Outreach program, is in the process of building partnerships with other universities and local schools to find mentors and students interested in participating in the program. She’s seen mentors and students learn and sometimes change as a result of the collaboration.

In addition to writing and acting in the final play, the middle school students take a roll in designing the scenery and costumes. They learn the parts of a play that are needed to make it successful. Students are also asked to write a short story about their own lives during the program. This provides an added understanding of what is needed to make a play and a story successful. Mundell is creating this program to be used as a national model for collaboration and student development.

Contact:
Anne Mundell
(412) 268-7218
amundell@andrew.cmu.edu

Literacy has been called the engine of economic development, the road to social advancement, and the prerequisite for critical abstract thought. But is it? And what should count as literacy: using the discourse of an educated elite or laying down a rap? What is your literacy quotient? Competing theories of what counts as "literacy"-and how to teach it-shape educational policy and workplace training. However, they may ignore some remarkable ways literacy is also used by people in non-elite communities to speak and act for themselves. In this introduction to the interdisciplinary study of literacy-its history, theory, and problems-we will first explore competing theories of what literacy allows you to do, how people learn to carry off different literate practices, and what schools should teach. Then we will turn ideas into action in a hands-on, community literacy project, helping urban students use writing to take literate action for themselves. As mentors, we meet on campus for 8 weeks with teenagers from Pittsburgh's inner city neighborhoods who are working on the challenging transition from school to work. They earn the opportunity to come to CMU as part of Start On Success (SOS), an innovative internship that helps urban teenagers with hidden learning disabilities negotiate the new demands of work or college. We mentor them through Decision Makers (a CMU computer-supported learning project that uses writing as a tool for reflective decision making.) As your SOS Scholar creates a personal Decision Maker's Journey Book and learns new strategies for writing, planning and decision making, you will see literacy in action and develop your own skills in intercultural collaboration and inquiry.

Students in the Modern Language Department’s course “Tutoring for Community Outreach” (82-281) work with pupils in the Pittsburgh Public Schools. Susan G. Polansky is the faculty liaison for the course, established in 1996. Students tutor elementary school, middle school, or high school pupils learning French, German, Spanish, Japanese and ESL at local sites (Greenfield Elementary School, Liberty School, Linden School, Frick Classical Academy, Schenley High School, and Taylor Allderdice High School). Each course participant completes a synthesis project. These projects have generated enormous energy, personal commitment, and continuing associations after the service-learning experience. Some example projects include: 1) creating a “me” book, compiled from interviews and photographs of the children 2) creating a series of vocabulary bingo games for ESL students 3) comparing language immersion models and programs 4) coordinating and directing a puppet show, presented by ESL first graders 5) studying the role of song in language learning.

Contact:
Susan G Polansky
(412) 268-2868
sp3e@andrew.cmu.edu

This course consists of career-related and community service activities in which the student participates over a period as long as four semesters. The student chooses activities posted on the BA web site, each of which is assigned a certain number of points. A minimum number of points must be accumulated in order to pass the course, and the course grade depends on the number of points accumulated above the minimum. Students may propose projects or activities that are not posted. Students should not register for the course until the semester during which they expect to complete their activities. The course is open to all students.

For their final project, each team of students in the sophomore course, Rapid Design through Virtual and Physical Prototyping (39-245), develop a hands-on activity to help children learn about engineering. The primary clients for their activities are K-12 teachers, so their activities should be suitable for classroom use and use only common, inexpensive household items.

Contact:
Susan Finger
(412) 268-8828
sfinger@ri.cmu.edu
http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~rapidproto/home.html

This is a community-based research (CBR) course for 400-level students of Modern Languages who wish to bridge service and action research. The course provides an experiential component for advanced students of Modern Languages. Such a component will allow ML students to use their second language and culture while acquiring or honing their research skills. CBR helps bridge the gap between university and community life to facilitate the development of life-long learning habits and humanistic citizenship. ML students and faculty will jointly design and create ways in which to 'give back to' the community under study, which will be chosen based upon the language, culture and/or history of a specific community. Some examples of this would be to: document a community's history or culture, establish an ongoing link between the university and the community, or identify and solve a community problem. Using both English and their target language, students in this course may participate in historical, ethnographic and cultural research; ethnographic fieldwork; and problem solving around the question of how best to identify a particular linguistic/cultural community and document, interpret, preserve and disseminate its history and culture. Class activities may include group, pair and independent reading and research; group and pair travel; group, pair and one-on-one interaction with community members; public presentations; photography/filming/scanning; webpage and document design; and different kinds of writing in both English and the target language. Prerequisites: 82-345 or permission of the instructor.

This course is designed for mentors to teach children at the 5th grade level to speak in a clear, efficient and pleasing manner with self-confidence. The children will also be able to understand the relationship between sound and speech; realize the differences between American English speech and spelling; relate symbols of IPA to phonemes we use in speech; improve their articulation of Vowels, Consonants and Diphthongs; discover the musical patterns their voices can make; follow directions and drills to learn to discriminate between correct and incorrect productions of Vowels, Consonants and Diphthongs; develop the techniques for memorization of challenging poetry.

This course is designed for mentors to teach children at the 5th grade level to speak in a clear, efficient and pleasing manner with self-confidence. The children will also be able to understand the relationship between sound and speech; realize the differences between American English speech and spelling; relate symbols of IPA to phonemes we use in speech; improve their articulation of Vowels, Consonants and Diphthongs; discover the musical patterns their voices can make; follow directions and drills to learn to discriminate between correct and incorrect productions of Vowels, Consonants and Diphthongs; develop the techniques for memorization of challenging poetry and participate in a presentation for family and friends using the skills they have learned.

Students will develop a process of teaching theatre to middle school children. Elementary school children will work with drama students from several disciplines in a mentoring relationship and learn that theatre is a collaborative experience. The result will be joint artistic performances at CMU. The Children's Heritage Theatre will present classic text as well as newly scripted plays based on myths and fairy tales from international cultures.

A special university-community learning partnership.

The goal of this class, Technology Consulting in the Community, is to expand the capacity of the Community Partner to use, plan for and manage technology, administratively and programmatically. The student focuses the consulting effort on the Community Partner and the organizational context in which the Community Partner operates. The student is learning process consulting, project management, communication, relationship management, problem identification, and analysis. In this course Community Partners receive valuable assistance as the partnership solves problems, pursues opportunities, develops strategies, and addresses gaps in technical knowledge. Additionally, the Community Partner receives a consulting report at the end in which the student analyzes the outcomes and formulates a set of recommendations designed to help you continue making progress toward your goals.

Contact:
Joe Mertz
412-268-2540
joemertz@cmu.edu http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/course/15-391/index.html

A summer consulting-abroad program.

Technology Consulting in the Global Community (TCinGC) is a collaborative partnership between Carnegie Mellon students and faculty and governmental and non-governmental organizations throughout the world. A select group of Carnegie Mellon students travel abroad each summer to enhance their own technical, management, and communication skills and developing locally sustainable uses for information and communications technology.

Contact:
Joe Mertz
412-268-2540
joemertz@cmu.edu http://www.techbridgeworld.org/tcingc

Students participate in a community outreach program and work in the Pittsburgh Public Schools with elementary, middle or high school students of ESL, French, German, Japanese, or Spanish. The elementary school experience may involve regular visits, mentoring, and tutoring at Greenfield Elementary School, Linden School, Liberty School or Frick International Studies Academy. The high school experience invites advanced students, majors, or minors in French, German, Japanese, or Spanish to work with language students at Schenley High School or Taylor Allderdice High School. Activities in the high schools may involve tutoring, may be remedial, or may be for enrichment. At Schenley High, Carnegie Mellon students may aid in students' preparation for International Baccalaureate Exams in the spring. During the early weeks of the semester, students will meet individually with the faculty liaison to arrange their community outreach activities and also as a group to prepare for their experience. Depending on the number of units to be earned, during the course of the semester, students will spend a certain number of hours per week engaged in some of the following activities: attending and participating in the individual and group meetings, tutoring four to six hours per week, reading and preparing for the school visits, keeping a journal of tutoring experiences, writing a paper at the end of the term that reflects experiences. Students earn 6 units by spending 4 hours per week at a school site plus completing related activities. Students earn 9 units by spending 6 hours per week at a school site plus completing related activities. Grade will be Pass/Fail, based on the student's fulfillment of the plan set at the beginning of the semester. Prerequisites: Permission of the faculty liaison plus completion of an information sheet and clearance forms available in the Department of Modern Languages.

Contact:
Dr. Susan Polansky
sp3e@andrew.cmu.edu
http://ml.hss.cmu.edu/tutoringforcommunityoutreach/

This course has service, intellectual, and personal goals. Its service goal is to provide effective tutors, mentors, and role models to local school children. Students meet for class once/week and tutor 2 hours/week. The course covers topics of tutoring (making tutoring interesting and creative, meta-learning strategies and study skills); mentoring (exploring mentoring models and the mutual benefits of a mentoring relationship); and informed citizenship (gaining a broader understanding of the issues that urban kids face, exploring how public policies affect the disparities between urban and suburban student performance). Tutors learn that they can be effective in helping younger students. Tutors often express that it is refreshing to step outside of Carnegie Mellon and do something worthwhile in the community.

Contact:
Judith Hallinen
(412) 268-1498
jh4p@andrew.cmu.edu

Carnegie Mellon juniors perform at Hope Academy of Music and the Arts, East Liberty Presbyterian Church, and in 2002 a program was established, under the direction of Professor Janet Madelle Feindel, School of Drama, in which the university drama students both perform and coach the Hope Academy students in preparation for the Shakespeare Contest at Pittsburgh Public Theatre. The ongoing collaboration is funded by a Pro Arts grant, awarded to Linda Addelsburger, Director of Hope Academy and Janet Madelle Feindel, Director of the CMU Student Performances and Adviser for Coaching contributions of CMU students at the Hope Academy.

Voice I students perform Shakespeare and original writing works at the Academy in the spring, along with Hope Academy students.

Additional work includes Master classes in voice/speech and text taught by Janet Madelle Feindel, conducted at the Hope Academy school with Carnegie Mellon students assisting Professor Janet Feindel.

Contact:
Janet Madelle Feindel
School of Drama
Purnell Center, CMU
(412) 268-3491