Sample Syllabi

This collection of syllabi represents the wide range of Service-Learning (S-L) at JMU. You’ll find diversity in discipline, type of service, level of commitment, and degree of integration. These syllabi are abridged to specifically highlight the S-L component.

S-L Courses with Online Content
  • Case Watkins, watki2ac@jmu.edu
  • This course examines maps and practices of mapping to analyze distributions of justice and injustice across space. Using case studies, multimedia content and hands-on exercises spanning the fields of criminal, global and social justice, students learn the fundamentals of geospatial analysis while designing their own digital maps and interactive web sites. Students work with community partners to create story maps to more accessibly demonstrate community areas of concern.
  • In 2019, the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank partnered with students to create a community mapping project analyzing food access, food justice, and food sovereignty in Harrisonburg.
  • Laura Hunt Trull, trulllh@jmu.edu
  • Emphasizing active learning, this course teaches the basics of grant and proposal writing. culminating with the distribution of two $5,000 grants to local nonprofit organizations. Efficient research, persuasive prose and the importance of relationships are stressed. Private and corporate philanthropy and government grants are examined.
  • Learning by Giving Project
  • Dear Future Grant Writing Students video
  • Kathryn Hobson, hobsonkd@jmu.edu
  • The goal of this course is to work in a feminist collective to write daily blog posts for the Shout Out! JMU blog. Students will organize the blog, research and write blog posts, publicize the blog, and create dialogue by commenting on one another's blog posts as a means of consciousness raising.
  • Kathy Guisewite, guisewkf@jmu.edu
  • Students provide support to a Caregivers Community Network family who is managing caregiving responsibilities for an elder member (age 60+ years). Some of these strategies include family interests/needs, self-care practices, and evidence-based strategies that support caregivers and those living with dementia. This course is intended to benefit all participants (family caregivers, their care-receiving members and students) by offering an academic and service-focused experience that validates the common need for human connection, understanding and respect.
  • Caregivers Community Network 20
Campus Compact Syllabi Database

Campus Compact is a national coalition of 1,000+ colleges and universities committed to the public purposes of higher education by building democracy through civic education and community development. They maintain a syllabi archive with a wide range of national and international examples.

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