“The annual HSS Interdisciplinary Student-Faculty Seminar brings together student-faculty pairs from across the College to explore a theme in depth. Last spring I led a seminar devoted to the theme ‘Toward Just and Sustainable Communities.’ For the first half of the semester the professors designed the curriculum; after that, students led classes devoted to literature, agriculture, air pollution, and educational theory and practice, among other topics. Everyone became both teacher and student, and it was an exhilarating intellectual experience for all of us.”
In 2017, English Professor Dr. Michael Robertson brought together six student-faculty pairs from across the college to explore the theme “Toward Just and Sustainable Communities.” This Interdisciplinary Student-Faculty Seminar focused on justice, sustainability, and community and participants drew from their diverse expertise to deeply address these issues in literature, educational theory and practice, agricultural policy, and physics. Students expressed enthusiasm for the experience: “Having professors sit down next to students was a huge change for me,” Another noted, “I felt like my voice was at the same level as a professor’s. We challenged each other’s ways of thinking, laughed, and explored together. The community that we built in class truly showcased a community of learners working together to go beyond the status quo.”