MAKE THE WORLD YOUR CLASSROOM
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Students in the Social Change in Developing Societies class learn and explore in the prehistoric village of Cojitambo, Ecuador.
EXPERIEN CE MATTERS: RO LL UP YOU R SLEEV ES “Without a doubt, the biggest benefit of experiential learning is ‘getting one’s hands dirty,’ so to speak. The experiential approach central to Oxford’s curriculum (and a defining part of my Sociology of Food and Sociology of Sustainability classes) puts students in touch with parts of the human and nonhuman world in a physical sense. Thus, the abstractions come to life and the social imagination can be set on fire. The process is not only a fantastic learning process for students, but is also often personally transformative. Secondly, of course, students get out of the classroom, out of stand-and-deliver lectures, and into social surroundings much more exciting than the gray-ish walls, chalkboards, and rows of desks that are typical of college classrooms.” —Deric Shannon, Assistant Professor of Sociology
Oxford students don’t just sit in lecture halls and take notes. They work an organic farm, examine immigration in Costa Rica, and explore the climatology and geology of deserts in Big Bend National Park. And that’s just the beginning. At Oxford we know that learning by doing works, so we have added meaningful experience to our curriculum. Our students aren’t just learning about a subject, they’re going out into the world and engaging with it. When classes include hands-on learning, learning is more effective, and students gain lasting skills for college and beyond. And, there are four different types of experiential learning at Oxford: service learning, travel education, research, and leadership training.
Sample Theory Practice / Service Learning Classes and Programs
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uA NTH
352 Globalization and Transnational Cultures uP SYC 205 Child Development uP SYC 305 Psychology of Gender uP SYC 312 Psychological Conceptions of Giftedness uS OC 214 Class/Status/ Power uS OC 240 Sociology of Food uS OC 348 uS PAN 202Q Intermediate Spanish II uW GS 100 Introduction to Women’s Studies uW GS 200 Gender, Race, Class, and Sexuality uA NTH 385RQ Special Topics in Anthropology uE DS 201 American Education uE NG
389RQ Special Topics in Literature: Reading Memoirs in Prison uS PAN 300 Reading in Spanish: Texts and Contexts uB IOL 245Q Freshwater Ecology with Lab uS PAN 385Q Special Topics in Language
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S ERVIC E LEA RN ING: EN G AG E WIT H COMMU NITY THEORY PRACTICE / SERVICE LEARNIN G
Oxford’s Theory Practice / Service Learning (TPSL) classes integrate the theory from class with experience in the community. TPSL courses give students a chance to apply their classroom learning to the world around them.
E X P E R I EN C ES Sociology of Food Students work on Oxford College’s organic farm, partially growing a dinner to raise funds to provide sustainable and healthy foods to local people in need. Students discuss the sociology of the conventional food system and sustainable alternatives and reflect on these practices to better understand the sociological limits and possibilities of different food systems.
Special Topics in Literature: Reading Memoirs in Prison Students travel to Lee Arrendale State Prison, a maximum-security women’s prison in Alto, Georgia, for a collaborative classroom with 11 incarcerated students, where they share in critical reading of memoirs, and they develop—through peer response—a personal narrative.
Concepts and Methods in Cultural Anthropology This course uses service learning as the “methods” component in studying cultural anthropology. Students practice anthropological methods such as participant observation, interviewing, and writing field notes through a service-learning project. The course explores the culture of multiple organizations and the challenges of fieldwork.
“Participant-observation is one of cultural anthropology’s most important methodological tools. I try to reflect this in the way I teach my students. If they are to learn anthropology, they need to observe it and participate in it (go out and do it!) as anthropologists.” —Alicia Ory DeNicola, Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Every year, students in Theory Practice / Service Learning courses spend
3,000+
hours serving the community and gaining real world knowledge.
A class at the Oxford Organic Farm prepares to dig in.
“In inquiry-based classes, you get the opportunity to learn beyond the words written in a textbook. In American History up to 1830 (HIST231Q), we began the class learning about the history of not just the US but of Georgia. Instead of lecturing in a classroom, Dr. Ashmore took us to the town of Oxford’s cemetery and held class there. As Dr. Ashmore told us about prominent figures in Georgia’s past, she would point out their tombstones to give us a visual about their lives.” —Rachel Glasberg, sophomore Majors: sociology and film studies
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At Oxford, students can choose from
INQ courses across all departments.
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Sample INQ Classes
INQU I RY C U R R IC ULUM: APPLY W H AT YOU LEARN I NQ C L A S S E S
In INQ classes, students learn to examine and then practice the methods of the discipline they are studying. These inquiry-guided classes stimulate curiosity and independent thinking, and many have service components.
E X P E RI EN C ES Forensic Chemistry
Economic Anthropology
Europe in the 20th Century
Designed for non-science majors, this course introduces students to the techniques used in crime labs.
This course is a cultural study of traditional markets and exchange patterns and economic customs.
Students undertake a survey of modernist art and artistic movements and developments during World War II in this course.
Applications and Communications in the Biological Sciences In this course, students learn how topics such as biotechnology, evolution, and the environment are communicated to the public.
uA NTH
101Q Introduction to Anthropology uE CON 112Q Principles of Macroeconomics uB IOL 135Q Plants and Society uA NTH 202Q Concepts and Methods in Cultural Anthropology uS PAN 201Q Intermediate Spanish I uS PAN 202Q Intermediate Spanish II uA NTH 385RQ Special Topics in Anthropology uE NG 389RQ Special Topics in Literature: Reading Memoirs in Prison uB IOL 245Q Freshwater Ecology with Lab uS PAN 385Q Special Topics in Language Culture: Aproximaciones A La Cuba De Hoy uM ATH 207Q Probability and Statistics uE NG 311Q Shakespeare
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Sample Travel Education Programs and Classes
T RAVEL EDUC ATION: G AIN A WID ER PERSP ECTIV E
215N Social Change in Developing Societies uS OC 231R Social Problems in Contemporary Society uG EOL 235N/ENG 235N Geology and Culture in Scotland uG EOL 100N Desert Geology uG EOL 220N Modern and Ancient Tropical Environments uA NTH 101Q Introduction to Anthropology uH IST 357 America in the 1960s uH IST 349 The New South uE CON 112Q Principles of Macroeconomics uS PAN 300: Reading in Spanish: Text and Context
Travel education courses at Oxford combine experience and academics, as students travel to learn and contribute at locations in Georgia, the US, and around the world.
uS OC
E X P E R I EN C ES Desert Geology
Global Connections
This course explores the nature of arid environments. Students learn about the general climatology, geology, and landforms present in deserts. Adaptations by organisms to their environment is examined. The class includes a 12-day field trip to the Chihuahua Desert in Big Bend National Park, Texas.
This non-credit travel experience is designed to help students create meaning in their lives and connect their religious and spiritual convictions by examining justice issues.
Social Change in Developing Societies The course includes a trip to Ecuador, and it focuses on issues of globalization, modernization, and other aspects of non-Western health care. Also examined is the influence of the US and Western corporations on the lives of the people students meet in Ecuador.
Journeys This non-credit program allows students to travel to and study in communities both in the US and abroad that have a history of conflict, violence, or exploitation. Recent destinations include Montana, Costa Rica, Northern Ireland, the Texas/Mexico border, South Africa, Poland, Cuba, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Japan.
Oxford students beside a mural they painted in a community in Costa Rica.
“Our goal as faculty is not only to educate our students, but to provide opportunities for them to develop realworld analytical skills, to understand various issues in the context in which they occur, and to develop interactional and social skills that are consistent with effective leadership.” —Mike McQuaide, Professor of Sociology
Oxford students can choose from more than
100
study abroad programs through the Center for International Programs Abroad.
Students work in the lab with Associate Professor of Biology Nitya Jacob.
“I was a student teaching assistant for Bio 142 after completing it myself. I worked rather closely with Dr. Nitya Jacob, and I really enjoyed being a lab TA for this class. Taking the class really opened my eyes to research, and it was the first time I had worked on my own initiative in a lab rather than simply following procedure. When I TAed the class—the semester afterwards—I realized how much I really understood about the process of research and the type of thinking that has to go into it. The Mount Arabia research project also showed me the value of research.” —Surina Odhav, junior Major: biology; Minor: English
Sophomores reported that at the end of their two years at Oxford,
92%
are satisfied with faculty availability outside of class.
F I N D O U T MOR E V ISIT OX FOR D .EM ORY.EDU/EXPERIENCE
Students at Oxford discover new knowledge and gain experience through research with their professors, and not only in the sciences. E X P E R I E NC ES SURE SURE stands for Summer Undergraduate Research at Emory, a 10-week program where students work on research with Oxford faculty on projects with biological or biomedical emphases.
Survey and Excavation of Prehistoric Sites in Jordan Students are invited to join a prehistoric archaeological excavation in the Jordan Valley led by Fouad Houran, head of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Jordan. The excavation work seeks to uncover new information about how and why ancient hunter-gatherers abandoned foraging for agriculture very early in Near Eastern prehistory.
Oxford Research Scholars Program The Oxford Research Scholars Program offers selected students the opportunity to work directly with faculty members on disciplinary research projects or projects related to the scholarship of teaching and learning.
Honors Program Honors Program courses are for students in their second year who want additional academic challenge. The program requires each student to complete a milestone project demonstrating independent inquiry and original research.
Sample Research Classes and Programs
R E S EA R CH : LE A R N T H R O UG H D IS C OVERY
uP SYC 305 Psychology
of Gender 245Q Freshwater Ecology with Lab uM ATH 207Q Probability and Statistics uE NG 311Q Shakespeare uO xford Research Scholars Program uO xford Scholars uH onors Program uS ummer Undergraduate Research at Emory (Oxford) uB IOL
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Sample Leadership Training Classes and Programs
LEADERS HIP T RAINING: C REAT E A N IM PACT
uF reshman
Students at Oxford benefit from early opportunities for student leadership, an element that sets Oxford apart from other colleges. Through academic skill-building programs and a number of extracurricular leadership organizations, students gain tools for life and make a meaningful impact on campus.
Seminar
u iMentors uP eer Assistance
Leaders
u Residence Assistant uL eadership
Oxford
uE xcel uS upplemental
Instruction uP ierce Leadership Certificate Program and Leadership Lecture Series uO XST100R Oxford Studies uO xford Theater
E X P E R I EN C ES Supplemental Instruction Students who have mastered difficult courses—and demonstrated their ability to lead other students—partner with faculty to offer weekly student-led review sessions for their peers.
Pierce Leadership Certificate Program and Leadership Lecture Series In this program, participants complete requirements including academic courses and meetings. They also attend a retreat and demonstrate their abilities through on-campus leadership opportunities.
Leadership Oxford This annual leadership-training program prepares student leaders for their roles in campus organizations. In a retreat setting, a weeklong series of training sessions, workshops, and challenge courses help students develop campus-leadership skills.
Week of Welcome (WOW) leaders and residence assistants (RAs) arrive to help new students on move-in day.
“The Pierce Leadership Certificate Program has helped me see leadership as a habit of service toward others and a cornerstone of a full and useful life.” —Jonathan Broniec, sophomore Majors: chemistry and economics
400
More than
students participate in a leadership training opportunity each year.
F I N D O U T MO R E Vi si t oxfo rd.emo ry.edu/e x p e r ie n c e
Emory University is an equal opportunity/equal access/ affirmative action employer fully committed to achieving a diverse workforce and complies with all federal and Georgia state laws, regulations, and executive orders regarding non-discrimination and affirmative action. Emory University does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, sex, gender, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression. 15-OC-ADM-0020