Graduate

ADVANCED EXCEPTIONALITY THEORY AND PRACTICE ~ This course examines the philosophical, historical, legal and ethical foundations for individuals with special needs. The characteristics, etiology and sociopsychological implications of exceptional conditions, including specific disabilities, gifts and talents, are explored. Categorical and noncategorical classification systems; assessment; diagnosis and evaluation; and educational adaptations and assistive technologies, are included. Participants will explore the impact on families of disabilities at different life stages, from infancy and early childhood to adolescence and adulthood.

BASICS OF CHILDHOOD TRAUMA ~ This course introduces participants to the foundational concepts of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), childhood trauma and positive childhood experiences (PCEs). The primary age-group focus of this course is birth-18, but many concepts will apply to young adults. Short term and long term impacts will be introduced as they relate to physical, social and emotional well-being. Extensive discussion of possible precipitators of trauma, as well as its prevalence, and the mitigating impact of PCEs will be covered through extensive readings of professional literature.

CHILDHOOD TRAUMA:BRAIN AND DEVELOPMENT ~ This course will delve into the brain’s response to traumatic experiences birth-age 21 and the resulting developmental impacts. The course will begin with a review of child and adolescent development and then progress to brain-specific development. Participants will use this foundational knowledge to learn how traumatic experiences can impact brain development and have short and long term impacts cognitively, physically and emotionally. Discussion of how Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) can mitigate brain and development impacts will be featured.

RELATIONSHIPS & RESILIENCE ~ Safety, trust, and relationships are critical for supporting students who have experienced trauma. Extensive discussion of these concepts, as well as the developmental aspects of attachment, will provide the foundation for this course. Protective and promotive factors that contribute to resilience will be discussed and connected to the importance of both strong peer and student-adult relationships.

Prerequisite: EDUC 65000

TRAUMA RESPONSIVE:MANAGING BEHAVIORS ~ Learning and discussion in this course will focus on what it means to be trauma-informed and how to put that knowledge into action to create trauma-responsive environments. Participants will engage in readings from a range of authors whose work focuses on the importance of trusting and supportive relationships as a means to manage classroom behaviors. Additionally, discussions will emphasize the need to look beyond behaviors to recognize the safety and relational needs of students, especially those who have experienced trauma. Discussion of Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (PBIS) will be included, but not the primary focus.

Prerequisite: EDUC 65000

WORKSHOP~SCHOOLYARD HABITATS~ This workshop will provide teachers with basic knowledge for exploring field, pond, stream, and forest habitats with students that can then be applied to schoolyard environments. Participants will learn observation and journaling techniques, as well s scientific field methodology used to collect, census, and identify living and non-living organisms. Travel to nearby schools to generate ideas for incorporation into teachers' curricula.

WORKSHOP~TEACHING EVOLUTION~ This workshop addresses the practical issue of how to teach evolution during an era of heightened sensitivity to religious beliefs. In addition to discussing the origin of the universe and biological evolution, teachers will learn why evolution was upheld in Ohio's content standards.

GWS~HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS AND THE HIRAM GENOMICS INITIATIVE AS RESEARCH COLLABORATORS: Unique research experiences are designed to strengthen problem-solving and critical thinking skills and to motivate students to take greater control of their learning and to prepare them to take the next step in their academic training. Biology and Life Science teachers will develop their own lab skills through research experiences alongside Hiram faculty and students. Teachers will work with bacteria to isolate, purify, and identify strains from environmental samples, as well as isolate and analyze genes from a bacterial genome. Teachers will design collaborative research projects with Hiram faculty, and then develop implementation plans for their own classrooms.

GWS: DISCOVERING THE WONDERS OF NATURE~

PRACTICAL BOTANY FOR TEACHERS~ Target Audience: K-12 teachers This course is designed for elementary, middle, and high school teachers of biology, ecology, and science. One area which is sometimes missing in science education is the identification of plants and their structures. This class will focus on identification of common weeds, wildflowers and trees in forests, fields, roadside ditches and even landscaping. Participants will utilize field guides and simple plant keys to learn identification techniques, as well as methods to create an herbarium. Hiram College and the James H. Barrow Field Stations will be the focus areas of the course with field trips to Holden Arboretum, Kent Bog and other nearby sites.

GWS~WRITING AND DRAMA ACROSS THE CURRICULUM:Teachers of any content area and any grade level can engage their students in classroom writing and process drama activities. "Process drama" is improvisational drama that encourages students to co-create with their teachers' ways to solve a dilemma, reflect on historical or current social conditions, or explore new directions to take. In a hands-on approach, participants will experience process drama episodes and writing activities throughout the course that they will apply to their own curricula in a course project. This course supports standards by emphasizing ways for teachers to incorporate oral and written communication skills, problem-solving skills, and real-world relevance into future lessons.

GWS~LEVERAGING CHANGE~THE POLITICS AND ECONOMICS OF GLOBAL POVERTY AND HEALTH CARE: This course and symposium will address critical topics in international health care and issues of disparity within the U.S. health care system, paying attention to the political and economic forces that contribute to these health care disparities/inequities. It will focus on potential solutions to the many problems that exist and how humanities, especially literature and the arts, might contribute to those solutions. During the symposium, participants will engage with researchers, health care professionals, humanities and social science scholars, and artists on issues related to human moral equity and justice, and the role of the biomedical research community and health care planners/providers.

GWS~IGNITING STREAMS OF LEARNING IN SCIENCE~SUPPORTING AND ENHANCING STEM CAREERS USING THE RECOVERING CUYAHOGA WATERSHED AS A LOCAL MODEL: This collaborative program pools the collective resources of faculty, graduate and undergraduate students from Hiram College, Kent State University, and University of Akron, and utilizes best practices in science education to engage learners in local examples of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) applications in the miraculous recovery of the Cuyahoga River. Igniting Streams of Learning involves an in-depth study of the upper and middle Cuyahoga Watershed including habitat analysis, stream water quality testing, transect studies, ecological microhabitat analysis and much more during a two week institute for teachers and high school students, and several follow-up workshops throughout the school year in which a learning module will be developed.

PUTTING LEARNING INTO PERSPECTIVE IN THE NEW LANDSCAPES OF SCIENCE STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS~ In this workshop, we will explore what we have learned from two decades of research on learning and the brain. We will identify questions of concern to us as teachers and environmental stewards. We will collect data from our own learning experiences as we inquire into local environments (wetlands, streams, and urban forests). Participants will develop an action plan that emerges from their experiences and from field books and teacher resource materials already aligned to revised Core Curriculum, Next Generation Science Standards, and the North East Ohio Regional Sewer District Watershed curriculum. Through generative collaborative experiences, teachers will develop an action plan on an important local environmental issue. By shifting our focus from teaching to learning, everyone will experience the value of critical colleagues among our shared STEM community of teachers, professors, professional scientists, and undergraduate students.

GWS~PHYSICAL SCIENCE-NATURE OF ENERGY. Teachers will explore and discover concepts related to the nature of energy through an inquiry approach to teaching physical science. Concepts relating to temperature (thermal energy, conduction, convection, radiation), electrical energy, energy transformations (potential, kinetic), and light and sound (transmission, refraction, reflection) will be investigated. Participants will be provided time to design developmentally appropriate lessons and units of study based on conceptual understanding and inquiry that can be integrated into their own course of study.

EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE STANDARDS IN THE SCHOOLYARD: The focus of this course will be to explore developmentally appropriate strategies to teach Earth and Space Science Standards in schoolyards. Northeast Ohio offers many unique resources for study in this area. Field trips will include The Cleveland Museum of Natural History and the Shafran Planetarium, Nelson Ledges State Park, and rock collecting at a local sand and gravel company, as well as visits to area school grounds. Emphasis will be placed on understanding Earth & Space Science Standards as they relate to Ohio. Teachers will receive a variety of instructional materials and have access to borrow additional resources and materials for classroom use. Materials and resources include rock collections, soil samplers, stream erosion tables and weather instruments.

UNIVERSAL DESIGN APPLICATIONS FOR YOUR CLASSROOM~ Universal design, a concept that originated in architecture but which has spread far beyond, is the process by which products and environments are designed to be accessible and usable by the greatest variety of people, disabled or not, without any special adaptations or modifications. In any classroom, K-12 and beyond, you will see individuals with a variety of learning styles, previous experiences, diagnosed or undiagnosed learning difficulties, and cultural backgrounds. In this course, participating teachers will learn how to apply universal design concepts from a pedagogical perspective by learning about best practices, inclusive instructional design, and practical approaches among other topics. Teachers will work, both individually and in groups, to apply strategies of universal design and design/redesign lessons for the classroom.

GET MOVING! PHYSICAL SCIENCE EXPLORATIONS TO ENERGIZE STUDENTS~ The focus of this course will explore developmentally appropriate strategies to teach physical science standards PK-6. Emphasis will be placed on understanding physical science, scientific inquiry and scientific ways of knowing, as they relate to Ohio Academic Content Standards. Teachers will explore and discover concepts related to the nature of matter, nature of energy, and forces and motion through an inquiry approach to teaching physical science. States and properties of matter, chemical and physical changes, motion, contact and non-contact forces (including speed, direction, mass, collisions, position), sound and light, kinetic and potential energy, and energy transformation will be investigated. Emphasis will be placed on schoolyard physical science explorations. Participants will be provided time to design developmentally appropriate lessons and units of study based on conceptual understanding and inquiry that can be integrated into their own course of study. Teachers will receive and make a variety of instructional materials, and have access to borrow additional resources and materials for classroom use.

WOLVES AND CIVILIZATION~ By surveying the representation of the wolf in history, myth, folklore, natural history, and popular culture, this course seeks to examine the complexities of the natural and political relationship between humans and wolves. We will use these varying fields to analyze the ideology that now constitutes our understanding of the wolf. We will examine the virtual extinction of the wolf in the lower 48 states of America and why some people want to re-introduce the wolf. Wolves have been re-introduced in Yellowstone, and they have also been re-introduced in the Southwest. As human development has spread and wolf populations expand to include a tiny fraction of their original territory, there is now a remendous amount of interest in wolves and wolf re-introduction. The readings also demonstrate how the lives of humans and wolves are deeply connected to the margin and the mainstream of our society. For hundreds of years our country engaged in a sometimes organized campaign to exterminate the wolf. The ferocity and sadism of hundreds of years of wolf slaughter calls out for intellectual inquiry. With wolves now reclaiming some former habitat in the lower 48 states, we now ask why this mysterious yet social animal has provoked such violence, compassion, and interest.

PLACE BASED EDUCATION: USING THE COMMUNITY AS A LEARNING LABORATORY~ Emphasizing the need for students to utilize their local community as a learning environment, this workshop will help teachers gain strategies, instructional plans, and resources to allow students to explore and investigate their local communities. Through local walks, interviews, and field trips, students come to understand ways in which local individuals, businesses and movements have both historically and currently work to impact the nation's and world's condition. Teachers will be asked to connect best practices in place based education to create lesson plans that energize student learning and connect students to their community.

WETLAND ECOLOGY STUDIES~ Middle and high school science teachers will be introduced to the fascinating ecology and biodiversity of wetland habitats and explore strategies to integrate wetland studies into their curriculum. The importance of wetland habitats in the water cycle and in species diversity will be explored. Participants will learn how to identify wetland characteristics of lakes, ponds, floodplains, drainage ditches, retention ponds and bioswales, as well as determine areas that are not considered wetlands. Each teacher will receive a wetland determination kit and many ideas and suggestions to involve students in analysis and exploration of these unique habitats. The course will be held at the Hiram College Field Station with field trips to local wetland areas and schoolyards.

WHAT IS NORMAL? WAYS WE RESPOND TO PHYSICAL AND MENTAL ABNORMALITY~ Whether as a nation, a community, or a classroom, we tend to define our "in" groups partly by the people we exclude. We usually try to "normalize" those who are outside our standards, but if we cannot somehow repair or transform them, we often cast them out because they disturb us deeply. This course examines fiction and nonfiction about physical and mental abnormalities, sometimes from the perspectives of the insiders, sometimes from the perspectives of those who are left out. Class exercises include ways of learning "to walk in others' shoes," to be more open and inclusive, to be less fearful of the "other." Teachers will describe five students they have previously taught who don't fit the normal stereotype. They will describe what was done to accommodate them and how the rest of the class responded. They will suggest what additional or different accommodations could be done.

INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY ~ This course will focus on integration of technology to engage 21st Century learners in today’s classrooms. Students will explore and discuss applications for both instruction and assessment through implementation of student blogs, student created websites, learning boards, screencasts, iPad/tablet apps, and presentation applications. Throughout the course itself, students will engage in discussions and personal reflection around how these technological advancements may be changing the way students learn, and how to adapt their instructional strategies to meet the needs of those they teach.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY IN ONE WEEK~ Physical geography is all around us, yet often forgotten in our curricula because it fits in both science and social studies. This course will introduce teachers to the study of maps, weather, climate, landforms, and glaciers as a means to understand and interpret the landscape of Northeast Ohio and how it influences water flow, soil formation, location of natural resources (gas, coal, oil, etc.), biotic characteristics, and land use issues. This course includes several day-long and half-day field trips throughout Northeast Ohio to observe interesting features of the land, including the Hiram College Field Station, Mentor Headlands, Big Creek and Grand River, Bass Lake Preserve and more. Strategies to incorporate physical geography into the curriculum will be discussed.

BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY AND ECOLOGICAL SAMPLING~ Biodiversity and species richness are terms that we hear all the time and are addressed in state and national standards. But what do these terms actually mean? How can we incorporate the study of biodiversity into our curriculum? This field-based course will explore biological sampling as one method for studying biodiversity. Participants will learn various techniques to sample species and environments in and around the schoolyard, including transects, quadrats, random pairs and more. The role of environmental parameters (pH, dissolved O2, moisture, N, P, K) will be explored.

CURRENT ISSUES IN DEVELOPMENTAL AND EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY~ Target Audience: PK-6 Teachers In the early 21st century, teachers are faced with an increasing number of new concerns in the classroom. From psychotropic medications, to social media, to bullying, the modern teacher must navigate a variety of new challenges. This class will address important topics related to the classroom and the child development. With a focus on ages 5-12, we will explore new research findings, in an attempt to separate fact from fiction, reality from myth. Participants will analyze case studies of related issues and will research best and promising practices.

iPAD SUMMER WORKSHOP~ Target Audience: Grades 9-12 Teachers The new Common Core Standards being adopted by the State of Ohio require students to become proficient in technology and digital literacy as well as become independent, critical-thinkers as they develop 21st century skills. By implementing iPads in the classroom curriculum, students have the opportunity to foster these abilities and to get a head-start as they continue in their schooling and career paths. Learn how to incorporate iPads into a classroom curriculum by learning about the following: starting an iPad pilot program from an administrative point of view; Creating a PLN (Personal Learning Network); and using specific apps in the class-room such as FlipBoard, QuickOffice Pro, Phoster, iMovie, and Story Starter to enhance student engagement and learning. Participants will have the opportunity to use an iPad for the duration of the class, but it is preferred that you bring your own or one from your school. Participants will be asked to create and present a lesson for their specific class and grade level using the iPads. In addition, participants will create a proposal to take back to their school district presenting rationale for implementing iPads in their curriculum.

iPAD BASICS FOR BEGINNERS~ This course is an introduction to the iPad and will emphasize applications that can be easily incorporated to enhance classroom instruction. Basic iPad skills will include settings, organizing and utilizing apps, iTunes, iCloud, and much more. Participants will be guided through a wide range of applications and have opportunities to create and share documents and media. Classes will be held at James A. Garfield Elementary School, Garrettsville, Ohio. Target Audience: K-6 Teachers

TECH AND TREK:SPC TPC ~ This is course is tied to an educational technology conference that is offered each summer around varying topics based on the year. Students are required to submit additional assignments, beyond participation in the conference, to qualify for the credit. PREQ: Earned Bachelor’s degree.

PORTAGE COUNTY CRISIS INTERVENTION TEAM COLLABORATION~ Target Audience: Teachers, administrators, and school staff members (bus, custodial, secretarial, cafeteria) Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) is a collaborative effort between law enforcement and mental health to educate police officers who handle individuals with mental health issues. This five-day program is designed for school personnel to increase awareness of mental health issues and develop crisis management skills. Topics include crisis with kids, depression and suicide prevention, child abuse, bipolar disorder, bullying, substance abuse, domestic violence, de-escalation principles, stress management and much more.

REAL COMMUNICATION IN THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSROOM~ Target Audience: K-12 Foreign Language Teachers Are you tired of verb conjugations and uninspired work-sheets? Is there an audible groan when you ask your students to open their workbooks? I was there years ago and had the good fortune of being introduced to a different philosophy of teaching a foreign language, focused on the art and science of real communication. That was 28 years ago and I have never looked back (and never used a workbook since!). This course will involve participants in open-ended activities, grounded in grammar and syntax, yet created with the premise of real communication. Through a variety of activities which can be adapted for any level, you will connect with your students as they connect with each other in your target language. You will take home reproducible and adaptable ideas which you will be able to implement this coming academic year.

REAL COMMUNICATION IN YOUR FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSROOM THROUGH ART~ As teachers of foreign languages, we desire to have our students embrace the culture. One of the difficult areas to grab and hold students’ attention can be the paintings of the great masters. It can be challenging for students to connect to artists so far removed from their lives. However, when we focus on interpretation and communication, we can create an atmosphere designed to produce open-ended discussions and engaging activities, yet, grounded in syntax and grammar (and they will learn a few facts about history and artistic technique along the way!). In this course participants will experience how to use art in their classrooms in imaginative ways. Through art we will demonstrate how to introduce grammatical ideas, reinforce concepts, and use the interpretive and communicative techniques in a field trip situation. Target Audience: K-12 Foreign Language Teachers

CONNECTING CREATIVE NONFICTION TO BIOLOGY, MATH, AND LANGUAGE ARTS: A WORKSHOP FOR HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS~ New Ohio Science Standards and the Common Core Standards deal with traditional disciplinary goals but also with interdisciplinary goals, for example connecting nonfiction reading in a multitude of disciplines including STEM courses. Hiram College will be conducting a month-long series of events around the book Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Fish by Paul Greenberg. In this workshop, we will discuss the book and brainstorm ways to bring together discussions and activities around creative nonfiction, concepts in ecology, mathematical modeling, as well as the impact of personal and societal decision-making in the sciences and language arts.

"OH SAY, CAN YOU SEE":EXPLORING THE FIRST CENTRUY OF US HISTORY THROUGH NORTHEASTERN OHIO ART MUSEUMS~ This six-day workshop is designed for 25 Ohio middle and high school teachers of social studies, history, government, American literature, fin art and art history. Participants will explore the historical development of the United States during a very tumultuous time, from approximately 1776-1876, through material culture-paintings, sculptures, prints, and (after 1840) photographs-found in the extraordinarily rich collections of Northeast Ohio art museums in Cleveland, Akron and Youngstown. Visual artifacts can bring the past to life and make it accessible and understandable for young learners. Participants will discover how the study of America through material culture can assist with their own comprehension of critical issues in our nation's history and help them develop tools for engaging their students in interpreting history through visual arts.

CLASS MANAGEMENT SKILLS AND STRATEGIES-PREPARING FOR OTES~ This class will help you prepare in part for your OTES evaluation… with all the changes currently under consideration in Ohio; one thing you CAN control is your classroom environment. As demands increase on classroom teachers, there is no time to set class culture or address behavioral disruptions without sabotaging lessons. One suggestion: Make the students be responsible for their own learning, and you will be able to continue teaching and meeting the needs of your entire class. Participants will gain experience in various forms of creative class management techniques as well as develop effective strategies to extinguish behavioral issues before they rob the class of valuable learning time. Emphasis is on building students’ confidence, self-monitoring skills, and problem solving abilities. This class takes a collaborative approach to design and develop activities specific for each participant, enabling all to return to the classroom with routines that support cooperative learning structures that eliminate inappropriate behaviors. This workshop is designed to help you on the performance aspect of the Ohio Teacher Evaluation System.

21ST CENTURY TEACHING AND LEARNING~ The new Common Core Standards being adopted by the State of Ohio require students to become proficient in technology and digital literacy as well as become independent, critical-thinkers as they develop 21st century skills. As a result, teachers must continuously master new technology in order to help build and strengthen these skills within their students and help students to become college and career ready in the process. In this course, participants will learn how to take control of their own professional development through 21st century approaches to curriculum planning and teaching. Participants will explore how to incorporate Common Core State Standards by utilizing different aspects of social media, technology and project-based learning into their own curricula and classrooms. This course is technology based, so participants are asked to bring their own iPad, tablet or laptop during class.

STRATEGIES IN REAL COMMUNICATION IN YOUR FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSROOM THROUGH ART~ As teachers of foreign languages, we desire to have our students embrace the culture. One of the difficult areas to grab and hold students’ attention can be the paintings of the great masters. (It can be challenging for students to connect to artists so far removed from their lives.) However, when we focus on interpretation and communication, we can create an atmosphere designed to produce open-ended discussions and engaging activities, yet, grounded in syntax and grammar. (And they will learn a few facts about history and artistic technique along the way!) In this course participants will experience how to use art in their classrooms in imaginative ways. Through art we will demonstrate how to introduce grammatical ideas, reinforce concepts, and use the interpretive and communicative techniques in a field trip situation.

PREK-12 FORMATIVE INSTRUCTION AND DATA-DRIVEN ASSESSMENT~This course will provide an overview of best practice in teaching and assessment including strategic planning, formative instruction, formative and summative assessment, student growth measures. Course topics will also include balanced assessment systems, providing support for teacher-candidates in lesson planning and assessment design, and the collection of valid, reliable data for making decisions about student growth.

IMPLEMENTING FORMATIVE INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES I:~ This course will provide an overview of best practice in teaching and assessment including strategic planning, formative instruction, formative and summative assessment, student growth measures. Significant time will be spent in team discussion of content and implementation of the Battelle FIP systems—specifically modules 1 and 2.

IMPLEMENTING AND LEADING FORMATIVE INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES I:~ This course will provide an overview of best practice in teaching and assessment including strategic planning, formative instruction, formative and summative assessment, student growth measures. Significant time will be spent preparing to lead grade-level or department teams in discussion of the content of the Battelle FIP systems—specifically modules 1 and 2.

FORMATIVE & SUMMATIVE ASSESMENT FOR STUDENT LEARNING ~ This course examines the goals, benefits, and uses of both summative and formative assessments. Students will learn how to create and analyze classroom assessments in four main categories (selected response, written response, performance assessment and personal communication) and how to integrate these assessments in day to day instruction. There will be an emphasis on formative assessments that involve students in self-assessment and goal-setting for improved achievement.

IMPLEMENTING FORMATIVE INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES III ~ This course will provide an overview of best practice in teaching and assessment including strategic planning, formative instruction, formative and summative assessment, student growth measures and differentiating planning, teaching and assessment of gifted learners. Significant time will be spent in team discussion of content and implementation of the Battelle FIP systems—specifically module 5 and the gifted module.

IMPLEMENTING FORMATIVE INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICES III ~ This course will provide an overview of best practice in teaching and assessment including strategic planning, formative instruction, formative and summative assessment, student growth measures and differentiating planning, teaching and assessment of gifted learners. Significant time will be spent preparing to lead grade-level or department teams in discussion of the content of the Battelle FIP systems—specifically module 5 and the gifted module.

FIELD STUDIES FOR THE HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROOM ~ High school teachers will work with science faculty and Field Station staff to design a curriculum and collaborative program with Hiram College that enhances their existing curricula and connects their students to the natural world via field studies. As part of the curriculum development process, teachers will design a collaboration with Hiram College for the upcoming school year. This will include creation of a materials and equipment request to support the collaboration and curriculum. Participating teachers will invite 4-6 high school students to a 2 ½-day field studies experience. These students will work with faculty, Hiram College students and their teachers to learn the necessary field studies to help implement the curriculum.

IMMIGRATION & BORDER CROSSINGS ~ Economic and political controversy besieges the Mexican-American border. Arguments against immigration range from keeping out “unwanted aliens” to fighting a billion dollar drug trafficking business. Arguments in favor speak of social justice and economic benefits. In this course, students will try to understand the forces creating these problems. Most importantly, the course will take a very close look at the plight of the migrating children and study the perspectives of the Border Patrol, the immigrants from Mexico and other Latin American countries, the U.S. residents close to the border, the U.S. businesses using immigrant labor and/or moving to Mexico to get cheaper labor, the drug runners and the Mexican drug wars, and the politicians who try to reduce the complexities to “sound bites.” Students will learn to discern the ethical issues, including questions of discrimination and racism.

THE AMERICAN COLD WAR ~ This seminar will explore historians’ evolving understanding of the United States’ involvement in the Cold War. Readings will examine the Cold War in both its domestic and international contexts. The class will place a particular emphasis on how historians have analyzed the connections between domestic social relations and international developments, how the Cold War allowed key social categories to be simultaneously understood locally and globally. Through close examination of recent historical works on the Cold War, students will develop both an understanding of important transformations during this critical era and an appreciation for the ways historians work. We will pay attention to how historians have exposed new archives to contextual analysis in order to change historical narratives about the Cold War.

SEMINAR ~

EVOLUTION ~ Evolutionary theory is the cornerstone of all modern biology, whether molecular, organismal, or behavioral. The theory of evolution is “true – and the truth only makes us free,” according to the late invertebrate paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould. We will examine parts of Charles Darwin’s fundamental text “On the Origin of Species,” and will then examine the fundamental principles of evolution using population genetics, biogeography, behavioral biology and molecular genetics - which form the basis of modern evolutionary biology. We will finish by discussing human evolution to ascertain whether we follow the same “rules” of evolution as all other living organisms. Throughout the course, the emphasis will be placed upon the methods used to provide the vast array of evidence for evolution and its processes.

GENOMICS & BIOINFORMATICS FOR THE CLASSROOM ~ This course is designed to provide the content knowledge and hands-on experience needed for high school teachers to bring genomics and bioinformatics into their courses. You will learn how to implement in your courses a free online gene and genome analysis project on a microorganism of your choice and also how you can connect genome analysis to a wet lab project. You will also have the opportunity to put what you learned into practice by helping teach high school students in the Hiram Bio-innovation Institute.

CONTACT & CONFLICT: EARLY AMERICAN LITERATURE (BEGINNINGS TO 1820) ~ American Literature, particularly before 1820, was a time of genesis--of contact (and subsequent conflict) between human beings sharing this space that we now call the United States. We will examine the historical, political, religious, and pre/post-societal implications that spurned the literature of this time period. With a 21st century lens, we will explore various forms of literary criticism of readings by authors such as Mary Rowlandson, Red Jacket, Benjamin Franklin, and Olaudah Equiano.

AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY ~ This course will introduce students to the history of environmental issues and environmental activism in North America. Students will consider how Native Americans interacted with the natural environment prior to the European arrival, how the Europeans who entered North America looked upon the natural environment and how their views and practices differed from those of the Native Americans, and how the European settlement in North America affected the natural environment. Students will also explore how the growth of industrial capitalism and westward expansion affected the natural environment, and how Americans viewed the “wilderness” and the environment in the nineteenth century. Finally, students will explore the rise of a conservation movement and social activism to protect and preserve the environment, and they will study closely the rise and growth of a modern environmental movement in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century.

WRITING CREATIVE NONFICTION ~ This course is designed to introduce participants to forms of nonfiction that have as their purpose not only the presentation of “facts” and research, but also the inclusion of personal voice; a target audience of good general readers (not just academic ones); attention to literary techniques beyond straight exposition; the opportunity for imaginative decisions about writing that are more commonly associated with “creative” writing. According to Sue William Silverman in her book Fearless Writing, the genre of creative nonfiction “is a long river with many moods and currents.” We will explore several of them, allowing participants to be more present in their nonfiction writing than perhaps they had before, more relaxed, and more open to surprise.

USING POPULAR FICTION IN THE LANGUAGE ARTS CLASSROOM—BORDER FICTION ~ This workshop is designed for secondary teachers who are interested in using popular fiction in the language arts curriculum. Participants will develop strategies for effectively using the kind of popular fiction—such as immigration stories—that draws in reluctant readers. Taking Luis Alberto Urrea 's Into the Beautiful North as the focus, participants will develop a strategy for teaching popular novels in the secondary curriculum and develop lesson plans that support the Common Core State Standards for Language Arts using Into the Beautiful North or similar popular novels. Participants will be immersed in the novel from a variety of perspectives, including historical context, hot-button discussion topics, pedagogical hurdles and approaches, resources for involving students in the novel, and much more.

IMPLEMENTING FORMATIVE INSTURCTIONAL PRACTICES II ~ This course will provide an overview of best practice in teaching and assessment including strategic planning, formative instruction, formative and summative assessment, student growth measures. Significant time will be spent in team discussion of content and implementation of the Battelle FIP systems—specifically modules 3 and 4.

IMPLEMENTING & LEADING FORMATIVE INSTRUCTIONAL PARCTICES II~ This course will provide an overview of best practice in teaching and assessment including strategic planning, formative instruction, formative and summative assessment, student growth measures. Significant time will be spent preparing to lead grade-level or department teams in discussion of the content of the Battelle FIP systems—specifically modules 3 and 4.

MAIS COMPLETION WORKSHOP ~

WHAT IS BEAUTY? This seminar focuses on the conception of beauty as translated into music and visual art of the Renaissance period (1300-1600) of Western history. Beauty is a variable ideal, first articulated for western culture by the ancient Greeks, and reaching a fever pitch of theoretical and creative manifestation in the Renaissance age. This course will examine both the theoretical underpinnings of artistic beauty and the creative results of those ideas in the major canons of western musical and artistic compositions.

MOTIVATION IN EDUCATION ~ In this course, students will explore theories of motivation and relate them to educational settings. We will explore what it means to be motivated on a day to day basis as well as during life in general. Strategies for increasing motivation will also be evaluated. High and low motivation will be explored and the aspects of educational settings that increase and decrease motivation will be considered.

LEADERSHIP & MOTIVATION ~ This course offers a broad framework for understanding leadership in a variety of contexts. Evolutionary, biological, and social perspectives on leadership, what it means to be an effective leader, and how motivation plays a role in leadership will be explored. Contemporary issues and perspectives as well as classic theory will be examined in relation to theories of motivation and how these intersect with leadership styles.

POSITIVE LEADERSHIP ~ This course explores the nature of effective leadership within the modern organizational context. The central questions to be addressed include: What is “Positive Leadership”? How does it differ from traditional approaches to leadership? What is the relationship between “Positive Leadership” and the emerging field of “Positive Psychology”? Why is such an approach needed? What, exactly, is involved in the practice of “Positive Leadership”? This course is primarily directed at those MAIS students and upper division management majors who wish to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to function as “Positive Leaders” in professional and personal contexts.

THE AMERICAN COLD WAR ~ This seminar will explore historians’ evolving understanding of the United States’ involvement in the Cold War. Readings will examine the Cold War in both its domestic and international contexts. The class will place a particular emphasis on how historians have analyzed the connections between domestic social relations and international developments, how the Cold War allowed key social categories to be simultaneously understood locally and globally. Through close examination of recent historical works on the Cold War, students will develop both an understanding of important transformations during this critical era and an appreciation for the ways historians work. We will pay attention to how historians have exposed new archives to contextual analysis in order to change historical narratives about the Cold War.

COLD WAR HISTORIOGRAPHY ~ In this course, we will be learning how historians use historical method (historiography) and evaluate evidence (primary and secondary sources) in their own scholarship. This class will begin by examining the Tokyo International Tribunal in the aftermath of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the conclusion of the Second World War. Then we will move to examine the United Nations military government installations in Japan and Korea and study this interim government’s role in two wars: the Korean War and the Vietnam War. We will study the United Nations military orders to “stamp out” communism and other political insurgencies, how or why these purges were conducted with impunity despite the existence and evolution of genocide prevention laws from the 1950s onward. In this historiography, we will critically evaluate primary sources from 1945 to the 1970s (such as archived speeches, military correspondences, legal testimonies, op-eds), conduct a literature review of historical essays and create an annotated bibliography in order to understand the complicated landscape of human rights and international security during the Cold War era.

SEIZING THE MOMENT: GENDERED PERSPECTIVES ON SUCCESS AND LEADERSHIP IN THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY US ~ This interdisciplinary course analyzes two special “moments” in the past that appeared uniquely poised to offer special opportunities to one gender. The first occurred in the early 19th century, the era of the “self-made man” mythology, when the new United States was experiencing unprecedented expansion and development. The second “moment,” during and following WWII, saw women taking on so-called male roles as builders, doers, and providers. Each “moment” resulted from a unique convergence of economic, political, and social conditions, and beckoned the most ambitious to step forward and claim participation and leadership roles in it. The themes of success and leadership inform our examination of these two unique situations. The disciplines of history and organizational behavior provide the framework to help determine what individuals, organizations, and society deemed successes and failures within organizational or institutional settings, including the idea of home and housewifery considered a career for women. Through the lenses of history and organizational behavior disciplines, leadership theory and concepts of historical context, gender, culture and organizational behavior will be analyzed.

"What is man born for," asked Ralph Waldo Emerson, "but to be a Reformer?" The urge to remake society, to perfect democracy and humanity, has inspired people to take action throughout U.S. history. This course will examine the ideas, the efforts, and the social impact of various reform movements in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Students will explore the conditions and problems that gave rise to each movement as well as the reformers' strategies for change. Students will also examine what made these reform movements more or less effective, and what impact these movements had on the wider society. The reform movements will include antislavery, women's rights, labor and socialism, and religious fundamentalism.

THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS ~ What is happiness? Is it something which can actually be "pursued"? If so, how? What are the factors which contribute to human happiness? Inhibit it? What can we do, as a practical matter, to increase happiness (both our own and others')? Isn't the topic just trendy and frivolous? An increasing cadre of scholars from a variety of disciplines, not to mention the "founding fathers" of the United States don't/didn't think so. (e.g. "We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness"). This course will explore these and related issues.

LEADERSHIP THEORY ~ This course will examine various leadership theories which were developed from one of two major research approaches which tend to be psychologically driven-measuring, for example, traits and behavior-or- sociocultural driven-measuring power, gender, and social relations influence. Students will examine and discuss as well as compare and contrast the leadership theories strengths, weaknesses, and appropriateness. Students will be encouraged to research leadership in education, non-profit, and private sectors. Discussions on this research will focus on the differences and similarities of leaders in each of these sectors.

AMERICAN WOMANHOOD: MARKET REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR ~ This course examines a variety of lived experiences (the social roles) of women in the United States from roughly 1820-1860. As a pre-market farm and subsistence economy gave way to a market economy, Americans saw the concurrent rise of a consumer culture and middle class, and a decline in family- or home-based work. The desirable role of women came under debate, with some insisting they should inhabit the “separate sphere” of home, where their superior qualities of virtue and nurturing could create a sanctuary for husbands now needing refuge from the harsh and competitive masculine world of work outside the home. Some Americans promoted the middle class premise that a female “cult of domesticity” was normative and should prevail in the largely feminine space of home. Many other women’s lives ran counter to that narrative, however, and this course also exposes students to a wide variety of those experiences by revealing the complications that class, race, region, ethnicity, or urban environments imposed. Topics examined include northern women’s role in the formation of the middle class (including their participation in revivals and reform), black and white women in the plantation South, working women in northern or southern urban environments (black and white), the “Lowell girls” in the New England textile mills (both from New England farm families and Irish immigrants), southern Native American women’s experience, and the choice to remain single in middle and upper class women of the Northeast.

INDEPENDENT STUDY~

PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT ~ In this course, the student will work with individual faculty advisors and with the course instructor to plan, research, and write the capstone proposal. The course instructor and fellow students will provide support, feedback and guidance to each student during the writing process. The capstone proposal must be submitted to and approved by the MAIS Oversight Council before the student will be allowed to register for the capstone course. The capstone proposal development course is taken on a Pass/No Credit basis. Students must have approval from the associate dean of academic affairs prior to enrolling in the capstone proposal development course. For further details, see the Capstone Guidelines.

CAPSTONE ~ Students whose capstone proposals have been approved by the MOC will register for the capstone course. In this course, the student will continue to work with individual faculty advisors and with the course instructor to research and write the capstone. The course instructor and fellow students will provide support, feedback and guidance to each student during the writing process. Students will also reflect on and assess their experiences with interdisciplinary inquiry and research. This course is taken pass/no credit. Students will use research and interdisciplinary integration in writing the complete capstone paper, reflect on the cognitive and affective experience of doing interdisciplinary work, and interpret individual experience in the MAIS Program holistically and as it relates to individual goals. For further details, see the Capstone Guidelines.

CAPSTONE II ~ Students in this course will continue to work on the MAIS capstone, providing feedback to each other on capstone drafts, and preparing a final draft for approval by faculty advisors and the outside reader. Students will continue to use research and interdisciplinary integration in writing the complete capstone paper, reflect on the cognitive and affective experience of doing interdisciplinary work, interpret individual experience in the MAIS Program holistically and as it relates to individual goals. Additionally, students will prepare for the oral presentation of the capstone to the community. For further details, see the Capstone Guidelines.

INTERDISCIPLINARY INQUIRY, THEORY, AND PRACTICE ~ This course explores the interdisciplinary research process and the theory that informs it. A portion of the course focuses on the intellectual essence of interdisciplinary and, in general, lays the foundation for the MAIS program. Also emphasized, however, is the step-based interdisciplinary research model which seeks to unify and balance disciplinary influences and create a more comprehensive understanding of complex problems. Familiarity with this research process fosters cognitive capacities useful in all interdisciplinary inquiry as well as methodological tools which are necessary for the successful completion of the integrative capstone project. Students will explain the meaning and significance of interdisciplinary inquiry, describe the process of interdisciplinary inquiry, evaluate examples of interdisciplinary scholarship, develop an appropriate interdisciplinary research question of significance, do a literature search in two disciplines on the research question, write a critical literature review of sources in the two disciplines on the research question, and write a paper answering the research question that integrates supporting scholarly evidence from two disciplines.

INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH ~ Students in this course will plan and complete a research project that requires the analysis of scholarship in two disciplines and the integration of insights from these two disciplines to answer a significant question. Pre-requisite: MAIS 57100 INTERDISCIPLINARY INQUIRY

Prerequisite: MAIS 57100

METHODS AND APPROACHES OF DISCIPLINES ~ This course will expose students to a particular discipline or related disciplines and explore the particular disciplinary perspective and insights that the disciplinary perspective tends to produce. Students will examine the various assumptions and theories of the discipline, phenomena the discipline generally engages, and methods for producing and evaluating discipline-related insights. Students will discern the assumptions of scholars in different disciplines, describe the methodologies used by scholars in different disciplines, compare and contrast the methodologies used by scholars in different disciplines, prepare a literature search in two disciplines on a question or topic of significance, prepare an annotated bibliography of sources in two disciplines on the question or topic chosen, and prepare a critical literature review of sources in two disciplines on the question or topic chosen.

LEADERSHIP STUDIES ~ This course will provide students with an overview of historic and contemporary leadership theories and encourage students to consider how those perspectives inform our understanding of what makes a good leader, especially in a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary settings. The course will also include discussion of inclusion and diversity in leadership and what techniques or perspectives are most effective in embracing and sustaining diverse workplaces and environments. Students will reflect on their own experiences as a leader or in observing leadership and develop their own leadership philosophy.

CONTACT & CONFLICT: EARLY AMERICAN LITERATURE (BEGINNINGS TO 1820) ~ American Literature, particularly before 1820, was a time of genesis--of contact (and subsequent conflict) between human beings sharing this space that we now call the United States. We will examine the historical, political, religious, and pre/post-societal implications that spurned the literature of this time period. With a 21st century lens, we will explore various forms of literary criticism of readings by authors such as Mary Rowlandson, Red Jacket, Benjamin Franklin, and Olaudah Equiano.