Whatever we call it (study-away, study-abroad, field studies, etc.), it involves living and studying in and about an area significantly distinct from Los Angeles ( whatever city or community you live in regularly), the more distinct the better. Although LA is extremely diverse and contains a number of wildly different cultural, economic and social landscapes, it's too close for the kind of immersive experience of otherness that is the hallmark of what we're after. Part of this process is learning how to negotiate "foreign" terrain on a daily basis, even if only for a week or two.
Given these issues of diversity and navigation, we should require at least two faculty from two different disciplines, one representing by dint of either academic experience or training one of our professional fields and another representing a traditionally defined liberal arts, now transdisciplinary, field. Such studies should not be the wholly owned subsidiaries of a particular discipline, as a mono-disciplinary focus narrows the field of experience and study so significantly that students may not find themselves actually on "foreign' terrain at all, save in name or location only.
Furthermore, students and faculty should deal constructively, explicitly and deeply with the intersection of professional and cultural fields, for want of another shorthand, through projects, journals, essays, presentations, discussions and other forms of writing and producing ideas that draw from both what students bring to the location as well as what they derive from it. The students require at least two faculty perspectives in this process as well, as the issues and complexities dealt with are beyond the abilities of all but the most gifted and talented of professors (and for all of our talents, I don't think that includes any of us, myself included).
We have to take on the challenge on integrating and contesting the different fields of professional and transdisciplinary studies, including outcomes, project design, assignment development and assessment. Such assessment must be both immediate and long-term, including work done shortly upon return to synthesize and embed the learning done while away, and slightly more long-term to assess the overall impact on both transdisciplinary and professional learning. Such evidence could be looked for in a student's capstone project, if it is appropriately designed to capture such experience and learning.
In short, go big or stay home!
Comments