2008 Woodie Awards
Students volunteer, connect with literature
Kim Gailliard
Issue date: 3/31/08 Section: Lifestyles
For many students, spending a semester in a class unrelated to their major seems to be yet another mundane general education requirement that is of no use to their future plans.
Yet students in a Honors Literature and Society English class are disproving that.
Betty Ramey, associate professor of English, worked with several local humanity and health agencies that have enabled her students to perform community service projects closely related to the stories they've read.
"During these experiences, they see things that they've never seen before," Ramey said. "They certainly see the real world and people with real problems, so I think it puts flesh and bones to the issues we've been dealing with."
Dr. Pamela Rooks, professor of English and director of the Honors Program, said Ramey decided to add community service to the curriculum to help students better connect to the themes found in the stories.
"She wanted to sort of close the loop and give them hands-on experience in dealing with societal issues," Rooks said. "She felt that if students could actually be engaged in helping people, that would be a good connection (instead of) just reading about it in literature."
Themes include domestic and child abuse, death, divorce and alcoholism. There are nine organizations at which students can choose to base their stories on and volunteer.
One example is the work students did at the homeless shelter House of Hope after reading Lorraine Hansberry's play "A Raisin in the Sun," Ramey said.
"Some of the students went to the homeless shelter and saw that the homeless aren't always people who don't want to work," she said.
She said they realized people become homeless for several different reasons, such as falling into debt while trying to take care of medical bills or, in the case of "Raisin," mismanaged funds.
Participation with health organizations also has helped students reassess their career plans, Ramey said.
Yet students in a Honors Literature and Society English class are disproving that.
Betty Ramey, associate professor of English, worked with several local humanity and health agencies that have enabled her students to perform community service projects closely related to the stories they've read.
"During these experiences, they see things that they've never seen before," Ramey said. "They certainly see the real world and people with real problems, so I think it puts flesh and bones to the issues we've been dealing with."
Dr. Pamela Rooks, professor of English and director of the Honors Program, said Ramey decided to add community service to the curriculum to help students better connect to the themes found in the stories.
"She wanted to sort of close the loop and give them hands-on experience in dealing with societal issues," Rooks said. "She felt that if students could actually be engaged in helping people, that would be a good connection (instead of) just reading about it in literature."
Themes include domestic and child abuse, death, divorce and alcoholism. There are nine organizations at which students can choose to base their stories on and volunteer.
One example is the work students did at the homeless shelter House of Hope after reading Lorraine Hansberry's play "A Raisin in the Sun," Ramey said.
"Some of the students went to the homeless shelter and saw that the homeless aren't always people who don't want to work," she said.
She said they realized people become homeless for several different reasons, such as falling into debt while trying to take care of medical bills or, in the case of "Raisin," mismanaged funds.
Participation with health organizations also has helped students reassess their career plans, Ramey said.
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