• BENN 2030: Intro Civic Leadership

  3.00 Credits

  University of Utah

  
  Poverty, illiteracy, hunger, exploitation, and environment degradation continue to plague our communities. What is at the heart of these issues? What is our best path to solutions? What can we do to cause change... together or individually? In this course, students will explore the complex challenges that affect our communities today and the general principles of leadership, collaboration, and collective impact in a democratic society. We will introduce tools and strategies, utilize community engaged learning to help with community development, and create positive social change.
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• BENN 2929: Community Immersion

  1.00 - 3.00 Credits

  University of Utah

  
  This community engaged learning course is the academic component to the Bennion Center's Alternative Break (AB) experiences. Each section of this course and its corresponding AB trip is collaboratively designed by students, faculty, and staff, at the University of Utah to address social, economic, political, and environmental issues through education, community engagement, and travel. Alternative Break teams and this course will address critical community issues such as food access, illiteracy, environmental degradation, gender, society equity/justice, animal welfare, discrimination, inadequate housing, hunger, and poverty in cities and communities different from their own. The course provides transformative deeply engaged community learning experiences that help students develop their civic competencies and inspire them to generate new ideas, global perspectives, and empathy, that fosters active and engaged citizenship. Students in this course will learn and develop: 1) the four civic competencies outlined by the Bennion Center; 2) the components of quality Alternative Break experiences'Strong Direct Service, Education, Orientation, Training, Reflection, Reorientation, Diversity, and Alcohol/Drug-free; 3) how to deeply reflect on learning experiences individually and as a team; 4) the root causes and potential solutions to social, economic, environmental, and political problems facing communities; and 5) the important empathy and perspective gleaned from travel to and working with diverse communities that are different than their own.
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• BENN 3580: Costa Rica

  3.00 Credits

  University of Utah

  
  This is a community engaged learning abroad course (CELA) to explore the power of community engagement in an international context. We will utilize the history, culture, and the civic issues affecting Costa Rica, including sustainability, as a living learning journey. The course is composed of weekly on-campus classes and a one week intensive in-country experience in Costa Rica over spring break in March. This is a collaboration between The Lowell Bennion Community Service Center, Learning Abroad, the Department of Political Science, Undergraduate Studies, and the Monteverde Institute. Central to the course is the interdisciplinary and collaborative nature of community-based experiential learning. We will consider and discuss civic leadership, environmental sustainability, community health, and collective impact to better understand people, systems, and places away from home.
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• BENN 3710: Creative Disruption

  3.00 Credits

  University of Utah

  
  Everything around us has been designed and authored'including systems of inequity and injustice. In this course students will critically engage creation narratives (Who benefitted from the design? Who participated in the creative process? Who was harmed by the design?) and examine the foundations of creative and maker-led justice (shared principles, authentic and genuine relationships, longevity and impact, and collaboration and co-creation). Students will explore and identify the potential for positive and negative impact that the creative disciplines can have in the world.
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• BENN 3720: Theories of Change

  3.00 Credits

  University of Utah

  
  This course offers an introduction to theories of change for those seeking long-term positive growth within their communities. Students will learn the component parts of a theory of change and explore the strengths/weaknesses of various theories of change (i.e., Positive Deviance, Theory U, Public Narrative, Radical Help, Adaptive Leadership, and social movements including Civil Rights, Women's Rights, LGBTQI+ Justice). Students will gain an understanding of how methods, concepts, and theories from outside of the creative disciplines are relevant to devising new maker-led strategies for change.
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• BENN 3780: Cuba: Comm & Change

  3.00 Credits

  University of Utah

  
  This is a community engaged learning abroad course (CELA) in which we explore the power of community engagement in an international context. We will utilize the history, culture, and civic issues affecting Cuba as a living learning journey. The course is composed of weekly class meetings, readings, discussions, and a week-long community engagement experience in Havana, Cuba. The course is the result of collaborative efforts between The Lowell Bennion Community Service Center, Learning Abroad, the Departments of Political Science, Public Administration, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Center in Havana, Cuba. Central to Cuba: Complexity, Community & Change is the interdisciplinary and collaborative nature of community-based experiential learning. We will consider and discuss civic leadership, community health, systems ecology, and collective impact to better understand how the activities and impacts of traveling and tourism affect quality of life, culture, and community in a historically isolated Latin American country. This course examines the current political, economic, social, and environmental issues in Cuba. Despite the evolving diplomatic relations with the U.S, there remain many misconceptions regarding the internal and external dynamics of Cuba. Through in-class and in-country discussions and activities we will analyze various historical and contemporary perspectives regarding Cuba and the Cuban Revolution.
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• BENN 3960: Special Topics Comm Eng

  1.00 - 3.00 Credits

  University of Utah

  
  This course allows guest faculty to offer courses on current, pressing, and evolving issues in community engagement across disciplines. Specific content will vary depending on the faculty teaching the course and the Special Topics theme for the year.
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• BENN 4825: Comm Capstone Methods

  3.00 Credits

  University of Utah

  
  In this course, students enrolled in the Bennion Scholars program and/or the Community Engagement Certificate will develop and leverage their civic values, skills, habits, and awareness, to meet genuine community needs in their own unique community-engaged capstone project. Students will learn tools and strategies to help build capacity so that individuals, families, and neighborhoods can thrive. Students will engage in mutually beneficial partnerships with faculty members and community organizations to design innovative solutions to issues facing their communities. Prerequisites: (BENN 2020 OR BENN 2030) AND (Admitted to The Bennion Scholars program OR Community Engagement Certificate)
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• BENN 4950: Inclusive Dialogue

  3.00 Credits

  University of Utah

  
  One of the marks of an educated person should be that the person is capable of having a nonviolent conversation and cooperative relationship with anyone in their local or global community. Every high school in the USA probably has a debate team, but few if any have a dialogue team. Yet dialogue is a process that is much more likely to help students in their future personal and professional lives and is also an effective method of helping humans bridge the differences that divide us and form inclusive local and global communities. Thus, in debate, there is always a 'winner' and a 'loser'; in dialogue, everyone 'wins'. In this class, students will have the opportunity to learn dialogue skills, knowledge, and values. In this largely experiential, 'flipped' class, students invite groups from the community to dialogue with us in the classroom. Students are encouraged to bring in groups that are especially challenging, including people who claim, for example, various religious, political, racial, sexual, or cultural identities that conflict with most students in the class. Students have the opportunity to facilitate and participate in these dialogues, as we practice listening for understanding and speaking with respect.
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• BENN 4965: Comm Engaged Internship

  1.00 - 3.00 Credits

  University of Utah

  
  Enrolling in this course allows undergraduate students to earn from 1-3 academic credits for successfully completing a community engaged internship or professional experience. In addition to fulfilling the requirements of the internship provider, students will complete bi-weekly assignments. These assignments include reflection about the relevance of the community-based internship experiences, skill-building exercises to help prepare students for the professional world, and guided examination of community-engaged work in the context of community-identified needs and the public purpose of the student's intended profession.
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