Experiential Learning
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LAH Experiential Learning courses for LAH Scholars and Distinguished Scholars Tracks
Student leadership, Research, Study Abroad, Internships, Community Service
To fulfill the certification requirements for the Liberal Arts Honors Scholar or Distinguished Scholar programs, LAH students must take at least one upper-division Liberal Arts honors course with an experiential learning designation.
Some classes have specific registration requirements. See the list below for details on registration:
LAH 350 - Treasure Hunt HRC Arch Research — Lang, Elon
Experiential Learning: Research
In this course, students will discover, explore, and promote some islands of order that emerge from the vast cultural and historical collections at archives on the UT-Austin campus, including the Ransom Center, the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, and the LLILAS Benson Latin American Collection.
Students will develop essential skills for pursuing original research projects in humanities disciplines and learn how to apply those skills to bring public attention to hidden histories and marginalized voices in our culture.
See the website with exhibits from the Spring 2019 and Spring 2020 class.
LAH 350 - The Johnson Years — Lawrence, Mark (HMN 351C 18)
Experiential Learning: Research
Nearly 50 years after it ended, the presidency of Lyndon Johnson continues to inspire enormous interest and controversy. What sort of person was Johnson? What motives underpinned his greatest achievements and biggest errors in both the domestic and foreign-policy arenas? How can we reconcile the triumphs of civil rights with the setbacks of the Vietnam War? What is LBJ’s legacy, and what place does he deserve in the long flow of American history? These will be among the major questions at the heart of this seminar. In addressing them, we will read and discuss scholarship on the Johnson administration and the 1960s. We will also meet with various participants in – or close observers of – the Johnson administration who live in and around Austin.
Course requirements will include two short essays as well as a 10-12 page research paper based on materials in the LBJ Library archive. We will devote considerable time early in the term to identifying promising topics and learning how to use the library’s reading room. Over the remainder of the term, students will be expected to conduct research and, in consultation with the instructors, produce a polished paper.
LAH 350 - Archival Advocacy: Experiential Learning — Lang, Elon
Experiential Learning: Research
Students will use digital archives and exhibits to amplify voices that actively promote social justice, cultural awareness, and service, and to test the ethical positions about impartiality and advocacy in archival and exhibit practices. Through a client-based semester-length service project, students would work with a service organization or cultural institution in the community that has materials or records that could provide a good subject for archival inquiry and an exhibit. The students would develop a series of scaffolded projects throughout the semester in which they would collaborate with members of the organization to access records, to digitize and describe a collection of their items, and to produce a public Omeka exhibit on selections from this collection. The first major project for the students would be a “pitch” that they would deliver to the organization in which they describe their research interests and also to make a case for what the organization itself might gain by opening itself up to the students’ digital archiving and historical inquiry. Their goal would be build toward a capstone project that situates the collection in the context of both the organization’s own institutional history and a broader history of the community in which the organization is situated, and then to promote the Omeka site on behalf of the organization.
This experiential learning class will cultivate professional skills in information science, cultural outreach, media literacy, and web design--as well as teamwork, independent research, critical thinking, work ethic discipline, accountability, and creativity.
LAH 350 - Philanthropy/Non-Profit Orgs — Lang, Elon
Experiential Learning: Research • Community Service
This course will introduce students to nonprofits, philanthropy, and how to give money away. It will cover theories of giving, the nonprofit sector, and criticisms of both.
The experiential learning portion of the class provides first-hand experience in donation to charitable organizations and research in evaluating nonprofits.
LAH 350 - Public Policy Internships/Advocacy — Merfish, Brett
Experiential Learning: Internship
Through this course, you will participate in a public policy oriented internship. This position can focus on an issue or institution of interest to you, and while assistance will be provided to select your internship before the semester begins, where you work is your decision. The role you select should be discussed and decided upon with your host supervisor and the course instructor. Examples of suitable host agencies include county and city officials, city, county, or state agencies, area non-profit organizations that have policy as part of their mission, public policy think tanks (e.g. the Texas Public Policy Foundation and Center for Public Policy Priorities), and state legislators’ offices. Students should make their best effort to have their host agency selected and approved before the semester begins.
To be eligible for this course, the internship host agency must be a policy-related nonprofit organization, government agency, or elected official’s office at the city, county or state level. Internship eligibility is reviewed on a case-by-case basis. The internship must (1) provide direct and daily supervision and guidance; (2) provide regular access to the supervisor; (3) assign meaningful projects; and (4) provide a professional, established working environment with a strong learning component (home-office sites, shared or co-working sites, virtual/work from home or "in the field" internships are not eligible for the course).The hands-on experience students will gain in their public service internships will help shape classroom discussions. Students will learn about the field of public policy while gaining practical experience and first-hand knowledge of what it is like to work in public policy.
LAH 350 - Social Inequality and Health in the U.S. — Musick, Mark (H S 340, SOC 321K)
Experiential Learning: Research
This course examines patterns of health and illness in the US and their possible causes. By focusing on societal structures and demographic trends, the course is able to uncover the ways in which American society and social interactions shape health outcomes across the adult population. Some attention in the course is also devoted to the healthcare system in the US and the ways in which it leads to certain population health outcomes. The course is designed with experiential learning in mind, thus it requires students to undertake projects that help them better understand how health outcomes are patterned in the community around UT Austin.
LAH 351S - Interpreting Black Rage — Jones, Brandon (AFR 370)
Experiential Learning: Research
The story of Black people in the United States has been one of struggle and resilience. James Baldwin once said: “To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.” This rage is evident in the writings of Baldwin or the films of present-day visionaries like Spike Lee. Expressions of rage can be heard in the vocals Nina Simone and in the fiery lyrics of Tupac Shakur. This state of rage also has manifested itself in the form of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, March on Washington, the Black Power Movement, and Black Lives Matter. Yet the question still remains, to some, “why are Black people so mad?” To answer this question, we will examine the residual effects of slavery and its impact on race relations in the U.S. We will also conduct a multimodal exploration of literature, music, and film that convey the sense of rage described by Baldwin. Lastly, we will critique and evaluate expressions of rage in contexts such as politics, media, and the academy.
LAH 350 Contemporary Issues in Leadership – Schumann, Brenda
Experiential Learning: Research
Leadership is all around us -- in our work, communities, classrooms, homes, and society. We see examples of leadership that has made a positive impact and examples where the leader has been detrimental to an organization. This class will focus on contemporary leadership problems by investigating examples from present-day including formal and informal leadership, for-profit and not-for-profit leaders, government leaders, the impact of organizational culture on leadership, and effective and ineffective leaders' traits, behaviors, and styles.
Requires Professor and Career Services approval:
LAH 340L - Legal Internships — Levy, Mark (LAH 350 - Legal Internships and the Law)
Experiential Learning: Internship
America’s laws, lawyers, and courts have charted and changed the course of American history. In our classroom discussions and readings, we will explore the role of lawyers and how the practice of law has shaped American society. As a component of Liberal Arts Frontiers, students in the Legal Internships clinic will also intern in law offices or legal settings and meet weekly in class to discuss and learn from each student-intern’s experience. The hands-on experience students gain in their public service internships will help shape our classroom discussions, from topics including legal ethics and professional development to legislative oversight and settlement negotiations. Students will learn about the practice of law and how lawyers serve the public interest while gaining practical experience and first-hand knowledge of different legal fields.
The cornerstone of the Legal Internships clinic will be your participation as a student-intern in a legal, public policy, judicial, or legislative office. While help will be provided to select your internship before the semester begins, the final choice of where you work will be yours. The role you choose should be discussed and decided upon with your host supervisor and the course instructor. For permission to register for this course, please fill out the application application linked here.
Other Experiential Learning Opportunities Include:
LAH 350 (Normandy Scholars Program) - Hitler Nazism/World War II (Honors) — Crew, David (HIS 376G)
MAN 347P Entrepreneurship Practicum
Or if you wish to substitute another upper division course with significant experiential learning, the experiential learning portion needs to be at least 1/3rd of the final grade and involve community service/work, research with primary sources, internship, or real-world experience. This requires professor and LAH Program approval.