Online or Hybrid Courses
Capstone Courses that are offered online or hybrid (class time and online)
Grantwriting for Environmental Defense
Environmentalism is a philosophy and social movement (come call it a revolution) involving both protection and improvement of the health of our natural environment. Environmentalism is an attempt to achieve sustainability so that both humans and the Earth thrive without compromising future generations. The movement in this country is credited as starting with Rachel Carson and her extremely popular book Silent Spring published in 1962, when it fact it was spawned in 1945 with the return of soldiers from World War II and the creation of suburbs that caused issues with sewage, storm water runoff, nonpoint source pollution, and inefficient energy sources.
You will be writing real-world grants (or coming as close to that goal as possible given our short 10-weeks together) in order to enhance your professional development.
Students will collaborate to write grants to support local Jewish education and culture non-profit organizations. Students will develop grant research and grant-writing skills and learn about the challenges facing non-profits and the community. All programs supported by the grants will be open to Jews and non-Jews. No prior knowledge of Judaism or prior grant-writing experience is required.
The goal of this course is to provide students professional skills for grant proposal writing in the field of language diversity and sustainability. Along with the proposal writing skills, the students will learn a solid background in historical and societal issues that influence language diversity through hands-on collaboration with current language sustainability efforts. This capstone partners with one of the endangered language communities in the Northwest, specifically, the Warm Springs Tribal Language Program.
During this course students will grow in their cross-cultural skills and understanding. They will learn about refugee resettlement and the systemic educational obstacles that English learners face and overcome.Students completing this capstone will have a well developed sense of their civic identity as it relates to newcomers in their local communities.
Water Scarcity (online)
The project will work alongside Water4 Foundations, a non-profit that is focused on water scarcity issues. Students will address needs affecting the field of water scarcity. Students may participate in the following service-learning:
Research cultural practices and country dynamics to assist NGOs transition into new markets;
• Research water technologies, benefits/drawbacks of each, identify best practices; and
• Survey water scarcity activities, map out industry trends, and conduct gap analysis.
Older Americans have been witness to great social and political changes in the lives and acceptance of LGBT people in American society. As the Stonewall generation of boomers near their later life, is estimated that as many as 7 million older adults will identify as LGBT by 2030. These seniors face unique challenges in accessing the care and rights that enable them to age with dignity and stability. For many LGBT seniors, recent research has marked a disconcerting trend of going "back into the closet" for fear of intolerance and survival in senior housing, assistance and care facilities.
Story, Portraits, and Civic Action
This online course explores how civic action, and the process of story finding and telling through the medium of digital portraiture, as inspired by Humans of New York, can effect change in our community. Each student is expected to volunteer thirty hours with a community organization of their choice over the duration of the term. Positions must be arranged before the term begins.
Over the course of the term, students will be expected to photograph and interview three to four people with whom they come in contact while volunteering at their respective sites. Students will submit a portfolio of their favorite portraits, paired with compelling excerpts of their interviews, as inspired by Brandon Stanton’s ongoing Humans of New York project. These will then be published on a course Instagram account, and made available to our community and the public at large. Not only will the project showcase the great spectrum of volunteer work and civic action that our students are participating in and contributing to, but importantly, this work will be humanized with particular stories, voices, and faces.
In this fully online course we will be exploring how to be effective change agents through volunteer work and by producing a series of radio shorts. Each student will be expected to arrange a project with a community organization before the Capstone begins. This project may be an existing relationship or one sought for the purpose of this class. A minimum of thirty hours of volunteer work is required over the course of the term.
Grant Writing for Animals: Shelter Pets
Approximately 2.7 million healthy, adoptable cats and dogs - about one every 11 seconds - are euthanized in U.S. shelters each year. This class partners with a local no-kill animal shelter to further its goals of eliminating the unnecessary euthanasia of healthy or treatable companion animals in the community and finding them permanent, loving homes.
Students will participate in the various aspects of grantwriting, including locating appropriate funders and ascertaining the needs of the community partner, as well as writing and reviewing grant proposals. A significant portion of this course is spent in online discussions, allowing students to explore the social/cultural dynamics of pet overpopulation, the ethical dilemmas presented by it, and the rise of the no-kill revolution in the United States. Please have a webcam or smartphone available for the discussions.
The end project will be a presentation and portfolio of grant proposals addressing the current needs of the community partner. Please contact Kimberly Mukobi, kmukobi@pdx.edu, for more information.