Fulbright College Will Offer New Service-Learning Literature Course This Spring

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A unique pilot course — Introduction to Literature: Community Engagement, or ENGL 1213 — will soon be available to all University of Arkansas students. The course, offered in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, will be a three-hour credit available to students in any college or discipline.

The introductory, general studies course will focus on local community engagement and service. It will use great literary works, as well as texts and film, along with modern to contemporary American, Irish and Russian short stories, plays and poetry.

The goal of the course will be to improve students' knowledge while also promoting broader access to higher education, reading, English literacy and scholarship in an engaging environment. The course will also feature a few local community partners, such as the Washington County Juvenile Detention Center, where lectures, films and fieldwork will take place.

Assignments will explore the question of whether or not literature can make a difference concerning serious issues in our society. Wealth allocation, policy, violence, substance abuse and human trafficking are topics that arise in art and in our community. The interdisciplinary curriculum will look at recent neuroscience studies that reinforce links between education, art and compassion. These studies also support the argument that compassion enhances human initiatives.

"Using course topics and materials in the field enhances meaningfulness for students," said instructor Laura Gray, who created the course in the Department of English. "One of the benefits of education is to deepen understanding and empathy toward our neighbors. This course opens access to the U of A for the broader local community because many factors affect educational opportunities here in our hometown."

The course will be offered starting in the spring semester of 2017, and space is limited. Students will have the opportunity in this first year to develop and shape community projects, as well as engage in research and real-world experiences.

For more information and to enroll in ENGL 1213, please contact Laura Gray at lgray@uark.edu.