Every spring, juniors and seniors have the option of taking a Community Research Seminar (CRS). The CRS is a service-learning course in which small groups of students work with community organizations to conduct research studies. The service-learning department sends a proposal letter to about 100 organizations every fall to explain the goal of the course, and then an advisory board meets to determine which four organizations will be the basis of the students’ research.
“The class is unusual in that it is a service-learning class, which means that the students are doing the research instead of only learning about it,” said sociology professor Rob Rosenthal who will teach this year’s CRS. “Part of their learning is combining their actual experience with what the theorists have told them.”
The class of 16 meets regularly at the beginning of the semester to discuss theories about social service before it breaks off into groups of four. Each group then begins research work with its chosen agencies.
“I worked on a project for Youth and Family Services of Haddam and Killingworth [YFSHK], evaluating their summer teen program,” said Emily Polak ’05. “This class was by far one of the best I’ve taken at Wes because it actually let me apply what I had learned about methods to a real life cause, that benefited the Haddam-Killingworth community.”
Tracy Helin, from the Connecticut Association of Human Services (CAHS) worked with students in Professor Rosenthal’s class last spring. The students working with CAHS last year conducted a study which illuminated the discrepancies between the federal poverty wages and what would be adequate coverage.
“Their report showed a single parent with two children in Middletown would have to earn approximately $25 an hour to live free of government support programs,” Helin said. “Yet, the federal poverty level is set at wages of $7.53 an hour for the same household size, and most families would be earning ‘too much’ for government support programs once they earn around $15 an hour.”
Cheryl Lim ’05, who worked on a program in association with YFSHK last year, conducted a study investigating the service’s summer program for youths from low-income households.
“The really incredible thing about CRS is I’ve never been in a class where everyone is so motivated, with students who know they are not doing this for a grade,” Lim said. “The students know that the people they are meeting with need them and continue to meet with them because they want to produce something that can make a difference. We offer agencies a service they might otherwise not be able to afford, in terms of time and monetary resources.”
CRS, which was originally developed for sociology majors, is now open to students in all majors. Professor Rosenthal makes clear in his introduction to the course that deadlines are non-negotiable because the class effects the world outside Wesleyan. Students often comment on the satisfying outcome at the end of the semester, knowing that they worked towards a goal.
The application process for CRS will begins on Wednesday Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. in PAC 002. Professor Rosenthal will pass out applications which require students to write one page describing why they are choosing the project they would want to work with.
CRS teaching assistant, Cheryl Lim encourages anyone who has questions to contact her, especially if they will not be able to make the meeting. Her e-mail address is clim@wesleyan.edu.
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