Fall 2006

Fall  2006

BIO 1550  Nutrition

• Instructor: Lynn Marie LoPresto, MS, RD

This course covers the fundamental aspects of human nutrition and metabolism including the basic biochemistry and physiological function of dietary protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamins and minerals in the human body.  The US Dietary Guidelines, MyPyramid and a dietary analysis program will be used to demonstrate dietary assessment techniques and as tools for nutrition education. Student will have 3 opportunities to adapt these materials to educate children in an elementary school classroom about healthy eating habits.  The course also includes a module on food production, pesticide use, food processing and safe food handling.  We will conclude with overview of food insecurity and world hunger issues which includes introduction to principles of sustainability and the prevention of environmental degradation.

RLGN 1055/3155  Passion for Justice: 
Liberation Theologies and Social Justice

• Instructor: Cynthia Taylor, Ph.D.

For two thousand years, Christianity has been a force for change and liberation, for domination and oppression. However, Christian theological movements in the 20th century have combined teachings from the Old and New Testament with social scientific analysis to bring about social justice in modern societies to challenge Christianity’s more oppressive characteristics. This course focuses on the Christian theological movement known as Liberation Theology, especially with its historical roots in the 1960s and 1970s in Latin America.  From this foundation, the course will then explore Black and Feminist Theologies that emerged with the civil rights movements in the U.S. after World War II.  Since social justice is at the crux of all Liberation Theologies, this course will combine the reading of several key theological texts with a service-learning component that enables the student to connect his/her academic learning with a community service project.

NUR 4150 Community Health & Nursing

• Instructor: Ingrid Sheets

This course is an introduction to population-focused nursing practice. The course utilizes our National Health Objectives, public health core functions, and the nursing process as the basis for health promotion, health protection, disease prevention, health maintenance, health restoration, and health surveillance of individuals, families, aggregates, and communities at the local, state, national, and global levels. The course emphasizes the needs of vulnerable populations across the lifespan, and examines socioeconomic, cultural, gendered, racial and political dimensions of vulnerability and risk.

Thursday is our off-site day at the Umbrella Project. The Umbrella Project is a community health, service-learning, outreach program, designed to provide the vulnerable elderly and disabled residents of Marin Housing Authority and Senior Access communities with health promotion services provided by Community Health Nursing and Occupational Therapy students of Dominican University of California (DUC). Home visiting will focus on medication management, safety, falls risk, nutrition, depression risk, and cognitive assessment. Home visits may often be made by an RN student and OT student together or RN students paired depending on the client need.

ENST 2000 (lecture) and ENST 2005 (lab) ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

• Instructor: Vania Coelho

Investigation of ecological principles involved in human relationship to and interaction with the environment. Emphasis is given to political and economic aspects involved in the solution of environmental problems. Students learn by serving the Dominican community on local environmental projects, or by serving San Rafael/ Marin partners that need help in protecting our environment units. Partners include: Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, Marin Headlands Native Plant Nursery, National Park Service, Presidio Park Stewards, Salvation Army, Sea Flow, Marin Sanitary Services, Marin Mammal Center, Humane Society, Marin Municipal Water District.

HON 3500 Self, Community, and Service: Ethical Theory and Practice

• Instructor: Julia van der Ryn

This course examines traditional and contemporary movements in ethical theory regarding questions of selfhood, authentic relation to others, and ethical action.  We will delve into a range of philosophical thought in this exploration the connection between ethics, personal autonomy and sense of meaning, and our responsibility  to and interdependence on others.

Our understanding of key themes will be deepened through a 25-hour service component that allows for active cultivation and expression of core values in the local community. Service is an integral part of this course as it allows us to bridge theory to practice within an academic context that supports and deepens our understanding of this experience through relevant texts, discussion, and reflection. Students will chose to work with an established community partner with a focus that will also add an enriching experience to their academic major: Youth Court, Canal Alliance, Marin Aids Project, School Environmental Education Docents, Homeward Bound.

PHIL 3510 / WGS 3510 / HUM 3510

Self, Community, and Service:
Modern Identity and Moral Meaning

• Instructor: Julia van der Ryn

I can define my identity only against the background of things that matter.
–– Charles Taylor (The Ethics of Authenticity)

This course examines contemporary movements in ethical theory, focusing on the essential human need for moral meaning and its modern implications. Themes include questions of identity, responsibility, perception of and relation to the “other.” We will probe the ways in which the existential question of authenticity, “who am I?” is inextricably linked to questions of morality and ethical being, such as how we determine right from wrong action and how we choose conduct ourselves in the world.

Our understanding of key themes will be deepened through a 25 hour service component that allows for active cultivation and expression of core values in the local community. Students will develop and act on their social and environmental concerns/interests within an academic context that supports and deepens their understanding of this experience through relevant texts, discussion, and reflection.

Honors Colloquium –– Radical Response: Moral Protest in a Changing the World

CQHO 4040 Human Rights Activists & CQHO 4060 Philosophy of Social Initiative

• Instructors: Chase Clow and Julia van der Ryn

This colloquium engages the different dimensions and expressions of protest as a vehicle for change and social justice: We will examine protest, revolutionary thought and action as impetus to the evolution of human consciousness and community. These courses will explore protest and activism and social initiative as a source of creative change that unifies diverse individuals and groups towards a powerful purpose. We will also explore the shadow side of social movements when the initial impulse for betterment produces complex results, repercussions, and serious side-affects.

Combining academic endeavor with service-learning, we will work with local groups to implement initiatives in our community. This component will complement the curriculum well, as students will have the opportunity to learn by participating in initiatives which address issues that are personally meaningful and very relevant to today’s social climate and needs. Students will also: gain experience in community organizing tactics and group dynamics, develop insight into the importance of civic engagement, learn to evaluate the efficacy of organizational practices, and hone leadership skills.

Graduate Courses

OT 5103 Program Development in the Community

• Instructor: Ruth Ramsey

Skills needed to design and develop innovative programs in community settings using a service-learning model. Topics covered include theoretical frameworks, research, development, implementation and evaluation of community programs, business planning, grant seeking, and marketing This fall, we are doing program development projects at several agencies: Homeward Bound, Marin Youth Center (MYC), Marin Brain Injury Network, and Marin Housing Authority sites, in conjunction with the nursing department and the Umbrella Project. We are also doing two special events: we are hosting a table at the Marin County Senior Information Fair, and we are co-hosting a CarFit senior driver safety evaluation event with the Marin County Division of Ageing.  More info

BUS 4075 -- Leadership: Theory and Application

• Instructor: Denise Lucy

This course examines the role of leaders in business, leadership styles, the ethical responsibilities of leadership, strategies for team development and leading, planning for organizational change, as well as conflict resolution and group decision-making. Particular emphasis is placed on the strategic significance of the organization’s structure and ways in which this impacts both the leader, members of the organization, and both the internal and external relationships. A significant component on course is the Leadership Practicum, where teams will be assigned to complete a service learning project in the community under the direction of a leader in the Marin community. Community Partners include:St. Vincent de Paul, Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership, Dominican's A Greener Dominican Task Force,  iReuse.com,  Next Generation.