Summer 2022

GirlPower! 

In this course, we will be working with our community partner, the local non-profit organization; the IPRC, Independent Publishing Resource Center.  Our project is to coordinate a series of *rap sessions* with local teen girls about current issues in their lives. We will use these group conversations to encourage the girls to become a part of our ZINE project - where they will write, edit, and publish a grassroots, mini-magazine with our class.  In preparation for this project, we will read feminist scholarship about teenage girls as well as focus groups and zine publishing methodologies.

Course Description: 

Middle School Equity & Inclusion is a hybridized capstone offered each Summer.  Through text and community engagement PSU students will observe and reflect on race, language, and class privilege as they are encountered by immigrant children and their families.

Summer Youth Enrichment. This summer, we will be working as tutors/mentors with the 6-week summer program Upward Bound on the PSU campus.  We will be part of the summer session of this college preparatory program offering assistance to approximately 90 low-income and first generation high school students.  98% of participants ultimately graduate from high school, 95% of participants enter college after high school graduation, and 80% of our high school graduates since 200 are still in college or have graduated.

Portland's Water

This course is designed to give students an opportunity to learn about tap water and create community outreach products for the Portland Water Bureau.  Our community partner for this class is the Portland Water Bureau. This class will focus on the Bull Run watershed (the source of Portland's drinking water) and the work of the Portland Water Bureau -- how they deliver our water to our taps.

Mentoring & Empowerment at NAYA

This class is an opportunity to explore hands-on the complexity surrounding education, equity, and empowerment, with a specific focus on collaborative peer mentoring, which often includes academic tutoring. Our community partner is the Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA). At NAYA, students will have the opportunity to interact with bright youth from diverse cultures and work with them on improving their academics and future prospects.

Multimedia Production Team

The Multimedia Production Online Capstone addresses community issues and needs by developing educational interactive online media. Continuously taught since 1999, the class has undergone adjustment to the changes in technology - from output on CD-ROMs and video, to web pages and blogs developed entirely by teams of students working completely online and working remotely, from around the world!

Working with Latine Youth. ​Since 2007, this course has offered students the opportunity to explore the outdoors with at-risk and gang-involved Latine youth enrolled in Latino Network's Youth Empowerment and Violence Prevention Program. Students can also choose to complete indirect service options such as research, data collection, and curriculum development.

Community Partner: Latino Network http://www.latnet.org/

Youth Empowerment and Violence Prevention Program: http://www.latnet.org/youth-empowerment-and-violence-prevention

Queer & Trans Youth

It is estimated that 1 in 10 individuals identify as a sexual minority. Often an already challenging stage in identity development, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender & questioning (LGBTQ) youth face a set of issues unique to their daily lives.

Juvenile Justice

This Capstone partners with the Multnomah County Department of Community Justice, Juvenile Services Division.  Students work together to facilitate a writing/art workshop in juvenile detention. Through your work in the detention facility, as well as through supportive academic activities, you will have the opportunity to deeply explore current issues in juvenile justice.

Tutoring Adult ESL

Capstone students will work with adult English as Second Language learners for 2.5 to three hours a week at local community colleges (locations and times vary). Capstone students must be proficient speakers of English but are not required to be native English speakers.  In addition to tutoring times, all Capstone students will meet from 12:45 pm - 15:45pm every Wednesday on the PSU campus for coursework. Coursework involves strategies for tutoring ESL/ABE and issues pertaining to immigration.
Coursework involves strategies for tutoring ESL/ABE, intercultural communications, and issues pertaining to immigration.  

This course will present opportunities for students to:

• Apply practical skills and strategies in tutoring English Language Learners
• Expand their understanding and ability to participate in cross-cultural communication while interacting with limited-English speakers.
• Understand the political, social, and economic implications of immigration in the United States.
• Think critically about social responsibility as it pertains to living among people from various cultures.