The following is a list of sample syllabi that help in conceptualizing courses under the banner of engaged humanities.
- “Collaborative Digital Storytelling and the Ethics of Representation in Creative Writing” (University of Illinois-Chicago) This course uses digital platforms to complicate the idea of writing as a solitary activity.
- HistoryLabs (University of Michigan) explore a dozen or more HistoryLabs, dynamic courses that “mobilize the power of history for real-world impacts that contribute to the common good.” For instance, the Environmental Justice HistoryLab site collects artifacts and projects from a series of UM history courses that have created public-facing, community engaged outcomes since 2017.
- I/Robot (Karla Erickson, Grinnell College) This interdisciplinary American Studies/Sociology course focuses on robots, machines, and AI as it relates to humans. After a series of discussions on readings in modern technology, the students’ final project is to create an entry in the Grinnell College Visual Archive of Machine life.
- David Scobey, historian and public humanities advocate, has been developing and teaching engaged courses for more than two decades; below is a sample of his syllabi, and you can peruse more of his teaching materials including finished project here.
- Spanish in Ohio (Dr. Elena Foulis, Ohio State University) A fairly simple engaged course syllabus that requires students to connect with Spanish speakers in their local communities through low-stakes assignments and a final project.
- Public History (Dr. Jessica Taylor, Virginia Tech) A place-based syllabus that gives history/ethnic Studies students a variety of opportunities to learn and do oral history and digital archiving of local people’s stories.
- Philosophy for High School (Dr. Sarah Vitale, Ball State University) An upper-division course that has students working together to research best practices for teaching philosophy in high school, to run a high school philosophy club in a local school, and to develop and put on a high school philosophy conference.
- Community Writing (Carol Spaulding-Kruse and Timothy Knepper, Drake University) A philosophy, religion, and writing course that has students attending religious services in their community and collaborating on an illustrated book/resource for the Des Moines community.
- TIDES: a community-engaged intro to environmental and ecosystem stewardship (Tulane University) A service-learning course that has students creating collaborative visions of environmental citizenship and marketing campaigns to communicate associated practices to fellow students
- Environmental Citizenship (Robin Saha, University of Montana) A service-learning course that has students creating collaborative visions of environmental citizenship and marketing campaigns to communicate associated practices to fellow students
- Hospital Stories: Narratives of Illness, Medicine, and Hope (Dr. Ann Green, St. Joseph’s University) A cross-listed English, Faith/Justice, and Gender Studies course in which students read essays, memoirs and fiction about illness and medicine and do weekly service at a hospital, clinic, or hospice. Has good descriptions of engaged assignments.