Life in Iowa
Nancy Bevin, Director
The Life in Iowa Program introduces students to community-based learning
for leadership and service in locations throughout the state. The curriculum
integrates humanities centered classroom study (Fall and Spring) with
summer experiential learning, including an internship, service and community
research. The program's academic goals are that students will:
- grow as persons and scholars. Their intellectual
skills, as well as their capacity for intentional engagement, will be
developed through learning that emphasizes awareness, understanding
and stewardship of local and regional cultural life (past and present),
and ecosystems.
- gain a clearer awareness of interdependent global
community through structured research and action aimed at sustaining
local communities. While one program goal is to encourages students
to remain in Iowa after graduation, they will become more effective,
empathetic and responsible citizens of whatever place they eventually
inhabit.
- prepare for both professional and civic life by
learning from community mentors in addition to classroom instructors.
The integration of analysis and reflection with example and practice
will help students develop the attitudes, habits and skills associated
with lifelong learning: resourcefulness, judgment, collaboration, and
flexibility.
Life in Iowa's Academic Purpose
Life in Iowa's academic program offers a unique and comprehensive
"place-centered" learning experience to ISU students. Our academic
purpose is to:
- integrate the practical and liberal arts through humanities scholarship
and experiential learning (internships and service)
- encourage ethical reflection and civic responsibility
- cultivate knowledge and understanding of local and regional culture
and ecosystems
- nurture skills that contribute to a vital and sustainable quality
of life in Iowa.
What is "Place-Centered" Learning?
Life in Iowa's academic program integrates the practical and liberal arts
through classroom study of Midwestern culture and identity, along with
experiential, community-based learning. The program is modeled on the
"pedagogy of place," in which learning is substantively linked
to unique and diverse communities and natural environments. Following
classroom preparation in the spring, students work and serve in an Iowa
community over the summer, and engage in academic study that centers on
personal values, civic responsibility, and local sustainability. In addition,
Life in Iowa's place-centered learning provides a meaningful context for
the study of larger cultural, economic, political and ecological systems,
of which local communities are a part. The program' s academic content
thus encourages students both to appreciate and create useful local knowledge,
and to become effective and ethical citizen-stewards of Iowa's "home
places" in an era of globalization.
What are Life in Iowa's Academic Objectives?
Life in Iowa students will be equipped with the skills of self-determination
and civic responsibility, and will grow as both persons and scholars.
Their intellectual skills, as well as their capacity for leadership and
engagement, will be developed through learning that emphasizes awareness,
understanding and stewardship of local and regional cultural life (past
and present), and ecosystems.
Life in Iowa students will gain practical experience, and will discern
the essential value of meaningful work (vocation and avocation) to their
personal growth and fulfillment, as well as to the well-being of others.
They will be better prepared for both professional and civic life by learning
from community mentors in addition to university instructors. The knowledge
attained through example and practice, in addition to analysis and reflection,
will help students develop the attitudes, habits and skills vital to lifelong
learning: resourcefulness, judgment, collaboration, flexibility.
Life in Iowa students will develop a clearer awareness of interdependent
global community through structured reflection and action aimed at sustaining
local communities. They will be encouraged to remain in the state after
graduation, and will become more effective, empathetic and responsible
citizens of whatever place they eventually inhabit.
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