Winter 2023

This Capstone explores visions for a just food system that empowers all community members to have equitable access to healthful, nutritious and culturally appropriate foods, information and education about food systems, and land to grow, without exploitation and with a commitment to sustainability. Students will engage with readings, group discussions, group activities, and Capstone team project work, to investigate the concepts of sustainability, food justice, and food sovereignty.

Students will support in sharing stories of local, socially engaged artists by creating podcasts in collaboration with McDaniel Highschool students. Art Talk Bus Stop is a public art education program and monthly podcast interview series about how artists do their work and make a living. Students learn about arts and cultural work and careers, and get hands-on experience producing alive interview, learning the technology, research and storytelling skills.

This capstone course introduces oral history as a method for documenting, preserving, and amplifying the diverse histories and voices of LGBTQ+ community leaders and activists regionally and nationally utilizing an intersectional framework. Through listening to interviews, exploring related primary source materials, and learning from guests to our course, we will learn about local and regional LGBTQ+ history as situated within the larger context of this history in the U.S. Topics will include exploration of movements for LGBTQ+ rights as they intersect with racial justice in Oregon and the U.S. Simultaneously, we will develop and practice our listening and interviewing skills, edit oral history interview transcripts, and work in teams to develop teach-ins and public-facing educational materials in partnership with the Gay Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest (GLAPN).

Meditation and Service

We will practice and grow in our understanding of mindful meditation and awareness as a foundation for personal and global healing. Meditation is a practice that encompasses a philosophy of living with a quiet mind, open heart, and in service to others. Learners will cultivate their own mindful meditation practice 6 days a week for 15-20 minutes a day. Together we will explore the connections between ancient Eastern philosophy, personal healing, and social responsibility. Service-learning with our non-profit community partners gives context to the course materials and our mindfulness practice. Equally important, it provides an opportunity to experience present moment awareness while deepening learners’ experiential understanding about the social determinants of health and their influence on individuals, communities, and society as a whole. 

Curriculum and Material Development for Heritage/Indigenous Language (INDIGENOUS LANG ACTIVISM) 

The goal of this course is to give students 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 endangered language communities in the Northwest (tribal language programs in general and the Warm Springs Tribal Language Program, specifically) to work together to support those programs by giving students “on-the-ground” skills to accompany class studies. Capstone students will develop language and/or pedagogical materials that will support the endangered language programs/teachers in their work to offer language classes in their communities. General class instruction will be exclusively online or hybrid and those students who can meet at the PSU campus may be able to participate in a visit to the language communities to increase students’ practical understanding of the language and community issues for their final work. All students who are interested in Indigenous and/or language activism are welcome to this capstone (regardless of any prior familiarity with Indigenous languages or history), and especially those who are interested in supporting our community partner’s fund-raising efforts and curriculum/teaching activities.  Students in this capstone are strongly encouraged, as a class goal, to foster a healthy online community and collaborate with peers through group work. Members from our community partner and other guest speakers will also join online (likely using Zoom), and other online meeting times will be determined by class and community participants’ availability and schedule.

Higher Education in Prison

Drawing on poetry, political theory, sociological texts, film, and personal narratives, this course offers an introduction to prison and its critiques, as well as the power of education to transform individuals and societies. This hybrid course meets once a week at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility (CCCF); Capstone students will study together with women enrolled in higher education at the women’s prison, about 20 minutes south of PSU in Wilsonville. Successful background clearances are required in order to participate.

Trans Oral History Project

This fully-online Capstone will examine the issues relevant to the lived experiences of transgender and nonbinary individuals and the associated socio-political climate for this population in the U.S.  Students will collaborate digitally with the Trans Oral History Project at the New York Public Library to transcribe recorded oral histories to increase access to the archives as well as deepen awareness and solidarity with those who are transgender and/or nonbinary.

Pathways to Health Equity (Formerly called Health Professionals as Agents of Change)

Description: This course introduces students to collaborative approaches for addressing the complex factors that influence health and equity, also referred to as the social determinants of health. Students will reflect on their current or future role as agents of change and the various sectors and pathways to promoting positive social change. Before the course begins, in consultation with the instructor,
students will choose a community-based organization according to their interests.

Regenerative Gardening, Mindfulness and Nature Connection

The time is ripe to be part of the growing sustainable food movement! This class addresses the current food issues that face urban citizens by holistically engaging students in the many layers of Portland's local food and farm culture.  Students will critically analyze the state of our current food systems while being engaged in positive solutions to agricultural-related issues. The community partner and classroom is the Learning Gardens Lab, where students will gain hands-on farming experience, experientially explore their personal connection to food and the land, participate in the Learning Garden programs, and positively contribute to food security in our greater community.

Rise for the Planet

This course will focus on the issue of climate change and individual steps we can take to respond to this global problem. In this course, we will explore the complexities of this issue, its impact on marginalized communities, and a variety of responses to climate change. Students in this course will be encouraged to reflect on their own identity and skills to determine a meaningful response to the issue.