The goal of this section of English 125, developed specifically for students enrolled in the new Michigan Community Scholars Program in Mary Markley Hall, is to use writing, along with reading, to gain a deeper understanding of community and  service and their relationship to scholarship.  You will have many options regarding the writing and reading you do for the course.  Also, you will have the opportunity to use writing to reflect upon your MCSP service experience and/or use the class to develop and refine writing you do for a community organization as part of your MCSP service commitment.  Finally, this course, will help you develop the writing and analytical skills you will need to be a successful writer in and and beyond academia.

Those of you enrolled in the Michigan Community Scholars Program will need to complete your 20 hour community service commitment for the program by the date specified in the course schedule.  Those of you not enrolled in MCSP will also be required to perform 20 hours of community service by the date specified in the schedule. Please ask me if you have questions as to what qualifies as service.  For information regarding community service opportunities for University of Michigan students, check out the Edward Ginsberg Center for Community Service and Learning (http://www.umich.edu/~mserve/).

As you read and write for this course, these are among the questions you'll consider:

1.  What is community?
2.  What are the obligations of a good citizen in contemporary communities?
3.  What is the relationship between diversity and community?
4.  How do technological, cultural, and economic change affect community?
5.  What is the relationship between community and identity?
6.  What makes for useful and effective community service learning experiences?

Count on  help along the way:  we'll have frequent peer conferences and student-instructor conferences so that you get plenty of feedback on your writing.