So Much Buzzing

New Applied Humanities Evening Pathways Major for Working Adults

We’ve been hard at work over the past few months crafting an exciting Applied Humanities major for the “Fast” Pathways cohort program slated to launch in January. (Business and Psychology will also launch cohort majors.) The Applied Humanities major emphasizes engaged learning and professional development including project-based learning, service-learning, linked-in professional mentoring, professional portfolio development, and a cohesive curriculum designed by key faculty, all of whom are working closely together to build a seamless intellectual and applied experience for our students.

Molded from our current Pathways Humanities major, the Applied Humanities major stresses breadth in foundational knowledge areas (history, art history, literature, philosophy, and cultural and gender studies) as well as analysis and critique of a range of historical and contemporary issues including sustainability, social justice, diversity, globalization, and the role and responsibility of creative imagination.

If all goes as planned, the Applied Humanities major will prepare and inspire our graduates to think creatively and develop an entrepreneurial spirit.

Entrepreneurial Sustainable Communities Program Graduates

Talk about entrepreneurial spirit. Two graduates of the Sustainable Communities program have started interesting businesses. Deanna Moore founded a chocolate company called Chocolatl. She sources raw cacao from family farmers in Ecuador and her products are hand-made and packed in boxes made of 100% recycled materials. Devin Stubblefield co-founded the Regenerative Real Estate Company in Sonoma County, which seeks “to blend real estate with permaculture to restore community through conscious land ownership.” Both of them exhibited recently at the Bioneers Conference.

Visual Literacy Pedagogy Collaboration

The collaborative and creative spirit is alive and well across the Humanities disciplines. Carlos Rodriguez, Lynn Sondag, and Leslie Ross recently presented a panel in the interdisciplinary/multi-disciplinary conference, Visual Literacy in Faith-Based Higher Education, which represented an important collaboration between St. Mary's, the Graduate Theological Union, and Dominican. The conference addressed such questions as: What is the role of visual literacy in faith-based education and what is its role as a pedagogical strategy outside of the arts disciplines?

Carlos, Lynn, Leslie, and Steven Polacco will be offering a faculty development workshop on Visual Literacy on Nov. 20th, 12:30-2:30, in the Creekside Room.