2004-2005 Williams Fund Recipients

Integrating Community Economics into the Curriculum

Taught by Bruce Blonigen, Associate Professor of Economics, and Bill Harbaugh, Associate Professor of Economics, this class brings two superb teachers together to apply economic studies to non-profit community work, and to teach students in a wider range of classes within the department, to deal with real-world problems.

As proposed, the class will: develop a way to integrate the experiences from a class on non-profits into a sequence of existing courses that all Economics majors are required to take; develop the first segment of the non-profit course into a general introduction to research methods; and add a macroeconomics component to the course so that students can do a project of general interest that will bring statewide news attention to the university.

Field Based Service Learning: Adding a Restoration Stewardship Component to Geography 360

Taught by Patricia McDowell, Professor of Geography, and Steve Mital, Instructor in Environmental Studies, this class provides service-learning experience in watershed restoration projects as a hands-on experience for students already studying Watershed Science and Policy. It is an extension of a previously funded Williams proposal “Applying Economic analysis to Non-Profit and Community Problems.”

The class is designed to respond to the stated needs of Lane County’s five watershed councils and to help fill the void in monitoring current restoration work across the state. The class will connect undergraduates with the local watershed councils, providing real benefits to students and councils. Students will gain experience in a real-world watershed restoration context and will have the opportunity to learn in the environment. Watershed councils will benefit from student assistance in their restoration monitoring and maintenance efforts.

Building Bridges Between Architecture and Liberal Arts for Undergraduates through “The Human Context of Design”

Taught by Jenny Young, Associate Professor, Department of Architecture, and Christie Johnson Coffin, Associate Professor, Department of Architecture, this proposal builds on and broadens the goals of “The Human Context of Design,” a required class in Architecture. In doing this, the class will offer non-architecture majors the opportunity to understand how human interactions within the built environment play a critical role in design decision making.

In addition to exploring such diverse fields as anthropology, sociology, and psychology, the class also will enable students to use skills and ideas from the social sciences, literature, and journalism, enabling them to enrich their understandings of the relationships among people and the built world.