Participation Type
Panel
Session Title
Session 4.07 (Education) Oral Histories in English, Sociology, & Theater Classrooms: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Service Learning
Session Abstract or Summary
This session will feature three professors, a recent graduate, and a former staff member of Emory & Henry College who worked with the same oral histories in multiple courses over the series of four semesters. Oral histories collected in one or two courses eventually became theater pieces in another that were then performed by middle school students in the Glade Spring, VA, community where the histories were collected. Our panel will discuss the stages in the process from multiple perspectives.
Professors Shelley Koch (Sociology) and Nicole Drewitz-Crockett (English) will discuss the incorporation of oral history collection as service-learning in their courses. Recent graduate Stacy Sivinski, now a graduate student at U.T., Knoxville, will discuss her experience as a student in Drewitz-Crockett's course. Robin Grossman, former staff member in the Appalachian Center for Civic Life, will discuss her role in facilitating these projects with the professors, community members, and students. Professor Kelly Bremner (Theater) will discuss her work with theater students who turned the oral histories Koch and Drewitz-Crockett's students collected into performance pieces. She will also discuss the performance of these pieces by middle school students from within the community where the oral histories had been collected.
Presentation #1 Title
Service-learning in the Appalachian Literature Classroom
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
In this section of the panel Nicole Drewitz-Crockett and Stacy Sivinski will discuss the oral history project conducted in Drewitz-Crockett's Appalachian literature course at Emory & Henry, the class in which Ms. Sivinski was a student. Dr. Drewitz-Crockett will discuss the rationale behind the use of service-learning via oral history collection in the course as well as the specific assignment. Ms. Sivinski will discuss her experience as a student completing the project and provide material from her project as illustration.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Nicole Drewitz-Crockett is Assistant Professor of English at Emory & Henry College.
Stacy Sivinski is a graduate student in the English Department at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Presentation #2 Title
Service-learning in the Sociology Classroom
Presentation #2 Abstract or Summary
In this section of the panel Shelley Koch will discuss the service-learning project conducted in her Sociology course at Emory & Henry. She will consider the importance of the service aspect of service learning. In particular, she will bring ethical considerations into the discussion and discuss the most vital aspect of this type of learning: the community. She will reflect on community partnership and how such projects must be born of a cooperative spirit.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Shelley Koch is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Emory & Henry College.
Presentation #3 Title
Facilitating Service-learning
Presentation #3 Abstract or Summary
In this section of the panel Ms. Robin Grossman will discuss her role in facilitating service-learning projects as a staff member in the Appalachian Center for Civic Life at Emory & Henry College. She will consider the nuts and bolts of working with professors, community members, and students to see the vision for a project come to fruition. She will also consider the interdisciplinary nature of the overall shared project between professors Drewitz-Crockett, Koch, and Bremner.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #3
A member of the grant staff at the United Way of Southwest Virginia, Robin Grossman is the Regional Coordinator for the Virginia Star Quality Initiative.
Presentation #4 Title
Service-learning in the Theater Classroom
Presentation #4 Abstract or Summary
In this section of the panel Dr. Kelly Bremner will discuss the role of service-learning in the theater classroom. In particular, she will consider how and why the oral histories collected by Drewitz-Crockett and Koch's were turned into performance pieces by her students. She will also consider the impetus behind having those theater pieces performed within the community at Glade Spring Middle School.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #4
Kelly Bremner is Assistant Professor of Theater at Emory & Henry College.
Service-learning in the Appalachian Literature Classroom
In this section of the panel Nicole Drewitz-Crockett and Stacy Sivinski will discuss the oral history project conducted in Drewitz-Crockett's Appalachian literature course at Emory & Henry, the class in which Ms. Sivinski was a student. Dr. Drewitz-Crockett will discuss the rationale behind the use of service-learning via oral history collection in the course as well as the specific assignment. Ms. Sivinski will discuss her experience as a student completing the project and provide material from her project as illustration.
