Engagement Through Outreach Scholarship in Higher Education

Catalog description

To develop an understanding of outreach scholarship as a nonformal educational system and its relationship to relevant social systems. AEE 515 AEE 515. Engagement through Outreach Scholarship in Higher Education (3)Through this course, students will develop an understanding of outreach scholarship as a non-formal educational system and its relationship to relevant domestic and international social systems. Students will explore the historical and legislative history of how higher education evolved. Drawing from both contemporary as well as historical resources, students will understand the "land-grant" philosophy and outreach scholarship in higher education in order to define an engaged university. Using their definitions, students then critique outreach scholarship as it is carried out through specific institutions of higher education, both in the United States and around the world. Alternative institutional missions, organizational policies and procedures as well as organizational structures and financial arrangements will be explored to demonstrate how distinct approaches to outreach scholarship evolve and their perceived value within an institution. Within this framework, students explore today's definition for scholarship and appropriate standards for scholarly performance through outreach. Case studies, interviews, and guest lectures supplement the current and historical literature. Students carry out individual capstone projects in order to allow each of them to synthesize course content in terms of their own professional interests within an engaged university. Given the visibility of outreach scholarship in higher education today and the fluidity of its definition, implementation, and perceived value within institutions, this course reflects contemporary thought in addition to its historical underpinnings.