During 2007-08 a team of six Miami
University students engaged in a range of interdisciplinary projects with
community partners in the Over-the-Rhine community. Wilks Scholars participating in Over-the-Rhine included: Erin Donia (Business School); Michael Lanton (History); Amy Weber (American Studies); Tom Whalen (Business School); Lisa Doninger (International Studies) and Marisa Rendina (Interdisciplinary Studies and Urban Design).
The Wilks Scholars Program is a multi-year curricular project developed in collaboration with the Harry T. Wilks Leadership Institute. During the 2006-07 and 2007-08 academic years, a select group of students will participate in a university/community partnership project entitled Acting Locally: Civic Learning and Leadership in Southwestern Ohio. This one-of-a-kind Miami University program offers a chance to develop leadership skills and gain real-world experience through community interaction and problem solving.
Miami University's Wilks Project "Acting Locally" focuses on global transformation in the context of three distinct American communities: Over-the Rhine, an inner-city neighborhood that has received national attention for police brutality, historic preservation and gentrification; the 4th Ward in Hamilton, Ohio, the home to hundreds of newly settled immigrants from Mexico and the Dominican Republic; and rural Butler County, the center of an ongoing struggle between farmers and developers.
Together these three communities reveal contemporary manifestations of the most salient issues in American history: agricultural sustainability, immigration and citizenship, urbanization and suburbanization, the tensions between labor and capital, and the viability of public culture. While exploring the broader impact of globalization on these specific communities, we will address issues of race and class in the context of urban development and decay; environmental and community sustainability in the context of urban sprawl; and the expansion of a service sector economy in the context of increased Latino immigration and migration.
A unique curriculum designed by American Studies faculty, under the direction of Marguerite Shaffer, provides students with a two year intensive experience in a classroom without walls. For faculty the program provides opportunities for collaborative research and team-teaching.
FACULTY SCHOLARS FOR 2007-2008
Over-the-Rhine: Dr. Mary Frederickson, History
Hamilton: Dr. Shelly Bromberg, Latin American Studies
Dr. Sheila Croucher, Political Science
Rural Butler County: Dr. Tom Klak, Geography
Dr. Charles Stevens, American Studies
For additional information on the Wilks Program contact: 529-9295.