By Charles Whitaker and Ethan Gambriel There are many things in life that make wildly successful, yet unlikely combinations: dessert and breakfast, chocolate and peanut butter, Romeo and Juliet. Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy? Yeah, we’ll stand by that. In other words, life often reminds us that, despite our differences, our uniqueness can bring new opportunities that encourage us to grow as humans together. This was exactly what two roommates discovered when they took an Honors College service-learning course taught by CASL’s very own, Dr. Kathy Nordyke, in Spring 2023. Abby Bennett and Vaeya Nichols have fundamentally different academic interests. “I’ve always wanted to do [something] with biology,” says Abby, a microbiology student who grew up on a farm about an hour north of Springfield. On the other hand, Vaeya, who has a background in art and design and majors in Illustration, is interested in working on children’s books. One could argue that there are typically not a lot of easy to identify pathways for combining these academic interests. But one of service-learning’s … [Read more...] about Dynamic duos, cross-disciplinary combos, and finding connection through composting
In May, at Missouri State University’s annual Faculty Awards ceremony, Citizenship and Service-Learning was pleased to announce Dr. Billie Follensbee as the recipient of the Faculty Excellence in Service-Learning Award. The award, represented by a beautiful, engraved glass trophy, was presented at the Faculty Awards event, honoring exemplary teachers at Missouri State University. Dr. Follensbee is the Art and Design department’s Museum Studies Program Coordinator and a specialist in art history and archeology. She teaches courses on non-Western art (African, Oceanic, Mesoamerican cultures) to art history and anthropology students seeking careers in museums, educational institutions or community organizations. In addition to her successes as an arts and culture educator, Dr. Follensbee has skillfully integrated service-learning into her courses, giving students valuable work experience in a competitive field and a passion for connecting the arts with community. “It makes my classes much more interesting,” said Dr. Follensbee of service-learning. “Instead of just studying things … [Read more...] about Billie Follensbee and the art of service-learning