A course taught by Assistant Professor Mark Enfield challenged freshmen to consider the role and importance of service in their lives.
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Essays from a fall semester global studies course have been published in a book where freshmen reflected on service experiences undertaken through their class.
Edited by Assistant Professor Mark Enfield in the School of Education, the book, “What are we doing for others?”, features 25 essays that focus on the question of why service is important. Each is accompanied by a peer response in which a classmate offers feedback on the essay.
As he describes in the introduction to the book available through Amazon.com, Enfield assigned the essays as an “authentic activity” that “people do in the world for real purposes.”
Students provide details and insights into programs run on campus and the community, including S.H.A.R.E. and Best Buddies, which assist with animal care; Girls in Motion, a program led by Liz Bailey in the Department of Health and Human Performance at the university; a local elementary school; and the Boys & Girls Club, among other partners.
Essays in the book are organized in three sections: why students engage in service, how they served in these contexts, and what they learned based on their experiences. All proceeds from book purchases will go toward the community agencies that students helped over the fall.