Service-Learning Courses – Spring 2021

While service-learning courses this semester do not look quite the same as they do when we can be in person, they are being adapted to meet COVID circumstances.  Some courses still have seats open, and interested students should feel free to contact the instructor if the course is POI.  Note that students who are not Dance or Theater majors are welcome in DANC376,  The Artist in the Community, and that first-year students may enroll in THEA 114, Incarcerated Stories.

AFAM307-01

Black Middletown Lives: The Future of Middletown’s African American Past

CSPL277-01

Community Impact: Building Capacity to Support Educational Enrichment and Socioemotional Development

DANC376-01

The Artist in the Community: Civic Engagement and Collaborative Dancemaking

GOVT379-01

Access to Civil Justice

MUSC463-01

Teaching Music Lessons to Children in Local Schools

THEA114-01

Incarcerated Stories: Documenting In/Justice

Wishing you a very good start to the new semester,

Peggy

Peggy Carey Best
Director, Service Learning, Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life

Visiting Assistant Professor, Sociology
Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT 06459
Phone: 860/685-3726

Patricelli Center Offerings – Spring 2021

I am writing to ask for your help getting the word out about three spring Patricelli Center offerings. These are an especially good fit for students who are inclined to project-based learning, social/environmental impact, or leadership.

 

CSPL262 Patricelli Center Fellowship (seats open)

In this course, students learn strategies for studying social and environmental problems, and they come up with ideas for innovative, systems-changing solutions. To learn more schedule a meeting- http://calendly.com/mjkingsley.

CSPL/CGST480 Engaged Projects (seats open; apply by 2/7)

Engaged Projects empower Wesleyan students to study a topic of their choice and produce a public project. Details attached and at http://www.wesleyan.edu/patricelli/engaged-projects.html.

PCSE Seed Grants (apply by 2/28)

$5,000 grants to fund the launch or early-stage growth of a project/venture with potential for impact. Details at https://www.wesleyan.edu/patricelli/grants/Guidelines-Seed-Grant.html

 

Makaela Kingsley, Director, Patricelli Center

Adjunct Instructor, Allbritton CSPL

http://calendly.com/mjkingsley

New Fair Trade Virtual Study Abroad Classes for Spring 2021!

New Courses Now in WesMaps!

CGST321 Theatre for Social Change

  • Taught in Spanish
  • Learn with Ecuadorian participants
  • Cross-listed with DANC320

CGST322 Storying and Re-Storying (Storytelling for Social Change)

  • Taught in Spanish
  • Learn with Ecuadorian participants
  • Cross-listed with DANC320

CGST340 Identity and Pacha

  • Taught in English
  • Learn from Ecuadorian educators
  • Cross-listed with ANTH250

CGST341 Critical Interculturality and the Pedagogy of Unlearning

  • Taught in English
  • Learn from Ecuadorian educators
  • Cross-listed with ANTH241

Interactive, experiential online courses provided by our partner in Ecuador

No additional tuition

Time zone same as CT

Fair Trade Virtual Study Abroad Course Flyer (2)

Fall 2020 Drop/Add: CLOSES TODAY Friday, September 11th 5:00pm ET

Please note that Fall 2020 Drop/Add ends TODAY Friday, September 11th at 5:00pm (ET).

Failure to resolve issues before the deadline will require students to use the petition process via their class dean.

STUDENTS MUST take the following actions before 5:00pm (ET) Friday:

  • Submit any additional enrollment requests, including tutorials
  • Accept any pending TA Tutorials (491) via the Teaching Apprentice Tutorial Link in WesPortal
  • Drop an enrolled course if they don’t plan to continue in the course
  • Change a Crosslisting for courses with crosslistings
  • Select GenEd designation for courses with dual GenEds
  • Change a Grading Mode for Student Option-graded courses in the Drop/Add system
    • After drop/add closes, you can continue to adjust the grading mode for student option courses in your Class Schedule through 5pm, November 24th.

SCHEDULE CONFIRMATION FOR STUDENTS:

  • If your schedule is correct, you can confirm your schedule in WesPortal by clicking on the link in the Drop/Add page or going directly to your Class Schedule.
  • If you’ve confirmed your schedule and now want to adjust your spring classes, you can un-confirm your schedule by clicking on the link in Drop/Add or marking your schedule as “Incorrect” in Class Schedule.

STUDENT FORUMS:

  • Student Forum leaders must follow the directions provided by Mrs. Tracey Stanley (tstanley@wesleyan.edu) to create the class enrollments.

INSTRUCTORS MUST take the following action before 5:00pm (ET) Friday:

  • Approve student enrollment requests, including tutorials
  • The status of pending TA Tutorials (491) can be viewed in the Teaching Apprentice Program link in WesPortal

CHAIRS/DIRECTORS and ADVISORS:

  • Please note that chairs/directors and advisors will be able to take action on pending student transactions through 5pm (ET) Monday, September 14th.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Karri Van Blarcom
Senior Associate Registrar
Wesleyan University
kvanblarcom@wesleyan.edu

Library Course Reserve Information

 

Some faculty make course reading, viewing, and listening materials available to students through Library Course Reserves. All Fall 2020 reserves are electronic, accessible 24/7 on any device. In Moodle, click on the “Course Reserve” or the “Resource List” link to get to course reserve materials. For non-Moodle courses, click on the “Course Reserve” link on the library homepage (https://www.wesleyan.edu/libr/research/coursereserve.html). Then click on “Access Online Reserve for Courses not in Moodle.” On the Course Reserve Lists page, click “Find Lists” to find your course.  Contact reference@wesleyan.edu for help.

Deadline for Grading Mode Selection Extended

This is a repost of the email sent to students by the Registrar on September 3rd.

Dear Students,

Please be informed for this semester the faculty have voted to extend the deadline for selecting the grading mode of a class that is already offered for student-option (A-F or Cr/U).  The new deadline is November 24, which is also the last day to withdraw from classes.

Sincerely,

Anna C. G. van der Burg, University Registrar

 

 

More Seats Available in CSPL/CGST 480

Still need a class this semester?

CSPL/CGST480 ENGAGED PROJECTS is a new 1-credit course in which students study a topic of their choice and produce a final project for a public audience. EPs deepen student learning and self-reflection, ease the undeniable challenges of online learning, and introduce students to their own agency and positionality in society.

Interested students should contact the instructor (Makaela Kingsley, mjkingsley@wesleyan.edu), submit a proposal on Handshake (instructions at https://www.wesleyan.edu/patricelli/engaged-projects.html), and submit an enrollment request in WesPortal.

 

Two New Online Courses – Fall 2020

Civil Rights Litigation Since 1978: A Practitioner’s Perspective

CSPL 217        Times: Th 6:00-9PM, Location: ONLINE

This course will examine major themes in modern civil rights litigation in the United States between 1978 and 2020.  The course will review major cases challenging police misconduct, school and housing segregation, including exclusionary land use policies, sexual harassment and bullying as well as cases supporting voting and gay rights. Students will be asked to present argument before their peers regarding the issues raised in and by these cases and will also be presented with imaginary fact patterns and asked to discern the critical legal issues raised and apply both the settled law and aspirational law as we develop it through Socratic method. In addition, students will select an area of civil rights litigation and writing about its evolution.

Understanding the 2020 Presidential Election

CSPL399    Times: M.W. 1:20-2:40PM, Location: ONLINE

In understanding the 2020 Presidential Election, students will learn how to read skeptically the political press and how to write critically about presidential campaign politics. Along the way, the course will touch on electoral history, political and social thought, public policy, media criticism, and much more. Students will read past examples of thought-provoking and influential commentary. They will read current coverage in the legacy press of the 2020 presidential election and come to class prepared to discuss the most important stories and issues of the week. Students will have the opportunity to learn about electoral politics and political writing alongside a veteran journalist. Students who have experience working for political campaigns will have a chance to share their knowledge and help the class incorporate their experience in a larger historical framework. They will have a chance to see their work published in the Editorial Board, the lecturer’s daily politics newsletter. Students will attempt to do what political writers do in real-time: explain what’s happening from a unique, particular, and informed point of view for the benefit of like-minded citizens seeking to achieve the ideal of self-government. In the end, the hope is that students see that campaign politics is simpler and more complex than it appears, but that neither is obvious without study, focus, and understanding.

Tips for Drop/Add and Learning in A Digital Environment – Fall 2020

Some students have asked about approaches to managing attending classes remotely during the initial period of quarantine on campus. Specifically, students who share a room with a roommate have asked about how to best approach learning when both roommates have a class at the same time.  Several options exist for students who have these schedule conflicts. Some students will plan to use noise-cancelling headphones while attending classes, while others have asked about alternative spaces that may be available. While we expect students to remain in their residences during the two-week quarantine, you may use lounges or study rooms in your residence, or sit outside your residence by yourself when these conflicts arise.  We understand that this may be challenging during the first week of classes, we are hopeful that as campus opens up following the initial quarantine students will be able to manage these situations more easily.

Student Academic Resources has also put together some resources and tips for students specific to learning in a digital environment. We would like to highlight the recommendation that students pay attention to building a balanced schedule that includes no more than two Zoom lectures in one day. Be sure to be attentive to giving yourself breaks from sitting in front of a screen and build in time to move around.

Check out the Semester Planning Calendars that are available on the Student Academic Resources page!

DROP/ADD

Fall 2020 Drop/Add opens in WesPortal at 8:30am ET on Monday, August 24th and closes at 5:00pm ET on Friday, September 11th.

You must enroll in the University to participate in Drop/Add. Please do so even if you have holds. You can follow-up with the holds after you’ve enrolled.

Instruction Modes:

  • Be mindful of the instruction mode of your classes. If you are a remote student, be sure your classes are either: Online, Hybrid with Remote Students, or In-Person with Remote Students.

Full-credit course limit:

The four-credit course limit cannot be raised in the first week of drop/add. This will be an option starting on the first day of classes, Monday, August 31st. A full-credit course is any course with 1.0 or higher credit, excluding private music lessons.

Time Conflicts:

Drop/add ignores time conflicts. If a student plans to consider two courses with overlapping times, they will need to touch base with both professors to confirm they can meet all commitments and expectations of both classes.

Browsing Courses during Drop/Add:

For Online Courses: Faculty may allow students to browse their remote courses.

  • To do so, go to WesPortal > Courses > Drop/Add Course Access, then input the zoom or moodle link to your course.
  • Students can see these links in their WesPortal > Courses > Drop/Add Course Access.

For In-Person Courses: Students should not attend in-person classes they are not registered for unless they have retained explicit permission from faculty during drop/add. This is due to strict requirements for Covid classroom capacity compliance.

One-week grace period for student attendance:

Normally, faculty may drop a student who does not attend the first class meeting. For fall 2020, EPC has revised this policy: “Any registered student who cannot participate in the first scheduled class meeting must contact the instructor (in advance, or as soon as possible thereafter) to explain the absence. After the first week of classes, faculty may drop any student who has not done so. Browsing for other classes is not an acceptable reason for students to miss any class in which they hope to remain enrolled.”

Auditing of in-person classes:

The reduced classroom capacity due to social distancing means that it may not be possible to allow students to audit in-person class meetings. Community auditors may only participate in a class remotely; they may not come to campus.

For Instructors Meeting in Classroom Space:

Classroom assignments are based on strict Covid-capacities. Do not overenroll a course beyond your listed enrollment capacity, unless you have explicitly confirmed you will still be within the mandated Covid-capacity. The Covid capacities are available in EMS.

Detailed information is available on the Registrar’s website.

Drop/Add for Fall 2020 will open one week before classes begin

Adding Your Thesis Tutorial During Drop/Add – Fall 2020

Tutorial forms are available electronically in the Drop/Add portion of WesMaps. Click on the “Tutorials” link, below the “Courses Offered” link. Tutorials are student initiated and are approved through a workflow process in our campus system.

The screenshot below gives an example of how tutorials should populate on WesMaps.

Note: you should not submit any paper forms for tutorials during the drop/add period.

Image of the Tutorial Option in WesMaps