Academic Community-Engaged Learning

Community-engaged learning is an integral part of every course Lissy Goralnik, Ph.D., instructs. Goralnik is an Assistant Professor in environmental studies and community engagement in the Department of Community Sustainability and currently teaches two undergraduate-level and one graduate-level course in Community Sustainability (CSUS).

In fall 2021, CSUS 445 students worked with the Corey Marsh Ecological Research Center to develop educational materials. The following spring semester, students in CSUS 301 collaborated with the Corey Marsh Center, Michigan State Bird Observatory, and the Student Organic Farm on various sustainable design projects. Projects in the 301 course included planning a promotional event and developing an organic farming apprenticeship program for the Student Organic Farm, creating posters and educational materials for the Corey Marsh Center, and planning and building an ADA-compliant ramp for the Michigan State Bird Observatory.

“That was a really powerful learning moment for those students to think about why that actually mattered, what they were doing. They weren't just doing labor for the site,” Goralnik said of the group of students that constructed the ramp. “They were also really proud of the building skills they developed.”

Graduate students in CSUS 801 mentor the undergraduate students in 301 on their design projects.

“The theory of the graduate class is that you can't actually be a sustainable change agent without using community engagement skills,” Goralnik said.

Reflection is a crucial part of the learning in Goralnik's courses as students are encouraged to think critically about their projects and the ways they co-operate as a team.

“I think that's a really big piece of what the community engagement process is—learning to collaborate both within the group and also with the partner,” Goralnik said. “What can you do to make your other group members feel empowered?”

For Goralnik, the classes are about much more than just the final product of the students' projects, it's about the “leadership, group skills, collaboration, humility, patience, generosity, persistence” that go into those efforts.