Spring Break
CEL funds minimally affected for spring
by Alana Abramson
Staff writer
News | 12/9/08
Posted online at 2:20 AM EST on 12/9/08
The current economic crisis will not drastically impede the Community Engaged Learning program's various projects the way it is impacting other programs, such as the programming at Prospect Hill, because CEL uses resources from the organizations with which they partner, according to Prof. Mark Auslander (ANTH), the CEL academic director.
The University plans to make cuts to account for the projected gap in the fiscal year 2009 and fiscal year 2010 budgets, but because CEL programs collaborate with off-campus organizations, they will not be as affected as other academic programs and campus clubs.
Auslander acknowledged that in the current economic climate, "everyone is scrambling" and working to make do with as little material as they can.
"It is a strength of CEL that we do not just depend on Brandeis, because the organizations with which we partner provide a lot of the resources," said Faith Brigham '10, who was a Community Engaged Fellow for Prof. Laura Goldin's (AMST) "Greening the Ivory Tower" last spring.
Students in the CEL classes, which are interdisciplinary, apply the lessons they learn in the classroom to the local community through different service projects. Projects this past semester included working at the Tenants' Center in the Prospect Hill Terrace housing development to help members with tenants' rights issues and working with a Spanish-speaking Waltham resident.
Auslander said that his objective for CEL next semester in his "Museum and Memory" class is to link the minority communities in Waltham through an outdoor exhibit about the Charles River. Students will create this exhibit by interviewing various Waltham residents including Native Americans, Caribbean immigrants and African Americans about the river, and their interviews will culminate in the outdoor exhibit.
"We anticipate creating a cell phone-based walking tour of the river; walkers will be able to call into a special Brandeis telephone number to access edited audio segments about locales on the river, hearing the actual voices of local community members," Auslander wrote in an e-mail to the Justice.
The University plans to make cuts to account for the projected gap in the fiscal year 2009 and fiscal year 2010 budgets, but because CEL programs collaborate with off-campus organizations, they will not be as affected as other academic programs and campus clubs.
Auslander acknowledged that in the current economic climate, "everyone is scrambling" and working to make do with as little material as they can.
"It is a strength of CEL that we do not just depend on Brandeis, because the organizations with which we partner provide a lot of the resources," said Faith Brigham '10, who was a Community Engaged Fellow for Prof. Laura Goldin's (AMST) "Greening the Ivory Tower" last spring.
Students in the CEL classes, which are interdisciplinary, apply the lessons they learn in the classroom to the local community through different service projects. Projects this past semester included working at the Tenants' Center in the Prospect Hill Terrace housing development to help members with tenants' rights issues and working with a Spanish-speaking Waltham resident.
Auslander said that his objective for CEL next semester in his "Museum and Memory" class is to link the minority communities in Waltham through an outdoor exhibit about the Charles River. Students will create this exhibit by interviewing various Waltham residents including Native Americans, Caribbean immigrants and African Americans about the river, and their interviews will culminate in the outdoor exhibit.
"We anticipate creating a cell phone-based walking tour of the river; walkers will be able to call into a special Brandeis telephone number to access edited audio segments about locales on the river, hearing the actual voices of local community members," Auslander wrote in an e-mail to the Justice.
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