One of our amazing Community Based Learning(CBL) professors here at Bucknell is Dr. Karen Altendorf, who is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Sociology. Professor Altendorf works diligently to provide three CBL courses, which give her students a variety of experiences and opportunities.
The first course, being offered this semester, is a Sociology 100 Inside-Out Course, in which Professor Altendorf takes 7 outside (Bucknell) students to Muncy State Correctional Facility (SCI) every week to meet with 8 inside (incarcerated) students. The main focus of the class, as stated by Professor Altendorf, is, “We are really focusing on perspectives and broadening them and being intentional about learning. Having the opportunity to do that, with our incarcerated classmates, is just incredibly powerful”.
The students usually read a book and discuss varying sociological topics, and with very different backgrounds of the students, they can share new ideas and gain perspective. This is one of the main reasons why this class has been described as “transformative” and “life-changing” by previous students.
“Being able to go into that environment [Muncy] and say these are individuals and these individuals, for the most part, acknowledge that they did something wrong and acknowledge that they need to be held accountable, but also acknowledge that they are trying to make their lives better. The fact is that over 90% of people who are incarcerated are going to be out, returning to our communities someday, so the more we can do to interact with incarcerated people as members of a community, the better it is going to be for all of our communities”, was another perspective shared by Professor Altendorf, which really describes the importance of the Inside-Out classes and how they are beneficial for all parties involved.
The second class, being offered this semester is UNIV 190 (Community Engaged Leadership). This is a 0.5 credit class in which students often engage in 1-on-1 conversations, group discussions, and other small projects (while eating dinner) in order to better learn how to be engaged in their communities in the right ways.
Professor Altendorf describes this class as the following, “Saying “I need to learn about this environment”, and then, “how can I do something that is going to help people in this environment””. She also talked about what she hopes students are able to take away from this class, “I hope that when they[students] return to communities or begin careers, they are able to bring what they learned from this class into that. It’s about learning about how to be involved in your communities to be the most beneficial to them. As well as learning community and civic engagement”.
Both of these CBL courses are open to all students and allow students to gain perspective, learn new skills, and become better members of their community! If you are interested in Professor Altendorf’s work or her classes, you can email her at kaa025@bucknell.edu.
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