There are many stories on college campuses, some are heard, seen and easily recognized while others remain largely unnoticed. Who decides what stories and experiences are told and why do some students remain in the background? In January of 2010, I began a three-year Disability Awareness Civic Fellowship position with the Office of Community-Based Learning and Research (OCBLR). In early 2013, I entered into conversation with the OCBLR Director regarding my potential continued involvement with community based participatory learning through my Master of Arts and Cultural Studies (MACS) internship, what skills and resources I had to offer, and in turn, how the OCBLR experience would foster my Graduate learning and future prospects in higher education.

 

We found common ground in my desire to gain more on-campus facilitation and teaching experience through participatory action methods and OCBLRs focus on the student as an engaged member of the campus community.  Through several discussions we gathered a lofty list of learning goals and possible outcomes for a Fall/Winter OCBLR collaborative internship project, with a focus on developing an OCBLR participatory action course curriculum that is structured around UWB campus cultures, accessible across disciplines, civically engaged, attentive to social justice endeavors and finally, through sustainable design and concrete outcomes, appealing to UWB Faculty and Administrators.

 

The most logical first step was to spark a dialogue with campus Faculty with specialized expertise in community-led curriculum, participatory methods and those continuously seeking the unheard and under-represented experiences across the UWB campus. In my undergraduate and graduate studies here at UWB, it has been my privilege to work with and take courses from several Faculty members with wide-ranging knowledge and skills in participatory-action, social justice, community-engagement and performative methods. After several of them graciously shared their time and feedback on a potential OCBLR curriculum model, it became readily apparent the best way to move forward was to dive in feet first in the Fall. Professor Kanta Kochhar-Lindgren agreed to work intensively with myself and OCBLR on a course design that would engage hidden stories, facilitate student appreciation for campus cultures, teach participatory-action and performative research strategies, draw attention to our campus cultures and help students become civically minded and socially aware.