Research Collaboration (AMST 496)

A course that allows students to observe and participate in the research process at the professional level. Building from ongoing faculty projects, the course demonstrates research methods and paths to publication and allows students to work closely with faculty on new research ventures.

• The inaugural offering of this course was Paul Croce's "Reading and Writing Media Culture" (fall 1997), in which he wrote two newspaper essays and circulated them in draft form to "fellow seminar participants" in class. He and the students also participated in the planning and research for the forum The News Media and the Community, which was sponsored by Volusia Vision. Students in AMST 496 and in Elsie Wanjohi's Bethune-Cookman Journalism class researched and conducted interviews with members of the community, with small groups focusing on different constituencies: religious leaders, government officials, small-business owners, students, and journalists. Speakers at the forum included David Broder (Washington Post), Bill Maxwell (St. Petersburg Times), and Jay Rosen (New York University).
• In Emily Mieras's Research Collaboration course on Student Activism, students learned about the history of student activism from the late-nineteenth century to the present, touching on subjects that included 1930s radicalism, 1960s protest, and 1980s apathy. Building on Emily Mieras's own research on Progressive Era student community service; the students in this class carried out their own research projects on student activism. Topics included University of California students' role in the battle over affirmative action and the brand of activism students wield in the Best Buddies social service group.
• Another research collaboration was an independent study that Paul Croce directed for computer science/philosophy double major, Brian Mistler in 2001. The course, William James in the History of Psychology was part of Brian's psychology minor. Brian is using his diverse interests in his Peace Studies graduate work at Bramford University in England.