Six demonstration projects have been selected for the Ithaca College Integrative Curriculum initiative -- known as (IC)² -- a concept intended to give students College-wide opportunities to increase the breadth and depth of their educational experience.
(IC)² was developed as a result of the strategic visioning process conducted over the past year by Ithaca College President Tom Rochon. The demonstration projects were chosen by the president, following a review by a group including the provost and vice president for academic affairs, the deans of the schools and divisions, and two representatives from the faculty.
"All of the 29 submitted proposals focused on teaching, learning, and innovation and provided exciting possibilities for the development of the integrative curriculum concept," says Kathleen Rountree, provost and vice president for academic affairs. "We hope that these demonstration projects will serve as an illustration of and inspiration for the (IC)² concept as the College plans for a more widespread implementation in the future."
In addition to the proposals submitted by faculty in a competitive process, one project designed by students has also been chosen as a demonstration project. It will involve the ICNet student organization in collaboration with the College's Information Technology Services.
Ithaca College has already reaped some benefits from (IC)², as it has been invited to become a member of the Bringing Theory to Practice Leadership Coalition. An initiative of the Engelhard Foundation, the coalition is composed of a group of college presidents who are sponsoring innovative projects that take advantage of recent gains in knowledge about how students learn most effectively. The foundation has awarded a $10,000 grant to Ithaca, which is being added to the $200,000 already set aside in the College's budget for this year to support the (IC)² initiative.
"The Provost's office website will post periodic updates on the progress of the projects, so everyone can learn from their successes as well as the challenges they faced," says Rountree.
Below are short descriptions of the six demonstration projects, along with their primary sponsor(s). For more information on strategic visioning and (IC)², including full descriptions of the faculty demonstration projects, visit:
Office of the Provost: Strategic Visioning
"IC Studio"
Nancy Cornwell, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Television-Radio
Steven Gordon, Assistant Professor, Department of Television-Radio
Pete Johanns, Associate Professor, Department of Television-Radio
Jon Hilton, Instructor, Department of Television-Radio
Designed to showcase how the collaborative efforts of students, regardless of academic degree program, can come together to leverage the resources and student-faculty expertise to create a narrative media product for screening and distribution. The end product could take many forms, including interactive websites; multimedia informational kiosks for a hospital, senior center, or school; interactive DVDs; serious games; radio documentaries; feature films; Internet webisodes; magazines; or books.
"Classical and Contemporary Opera and Musical Theater"
Brian DeMaris, Assistant Professor, Department of Music Performance
A senior capstone experience designed for students from various fields of study who will focus on comparing and contrasting a classical opera with a contemporary counterpart, such as La Bohème with Rent and Madama Butterfly with Miss Saigon. The students will collaborate on a final project that expounds upon the works in their original context and their relevance in contemporary society. The project will provide an opportunity to generate campus-wide awareness and discussion of social and cultural issues.
"Representing South Asia: An Integrative Approach"
Jason Freitag, Assistant Professor, Department of History
Anjali Nerlekar, Assistant Professor, Department of English
Denise Nuttall, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology
Taking advantage of a confluence of courses on South Asia being offered in three different disciplines this fall, students in the classes will be invited to participate in a weekly colloquium. This will allow the students to more deeply engage the material from their individual classes in a structured environment, and provide both students and faculty with an opportunity to reflect on the nature of interdisciplinary study and the process of knowledge integration itself. The project will serve as a blueprint for developing flexible and creative combinations of topics and integrative experiences.
"Integration‐Insight‐Creativity‐Character (IICC)"
Gordon Rowland, Professor, Department of Strategic Communication
The project will develop and test the first two in a sequence of four proposed one-credit courses. These courses are intended to provide a direct approach to integrative learning by developing a deep understanding of concepts -- and skill in using tools -- for both faculty and students in the following areas:
- Integration: systems thinking and the art of synthesis
- Insight: seeing the world through multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinary lenses
- Creativity: responding to complexity by designing desirable futures
- Character: serving an evolving society
"Ithaca Project"
Warren Schlesinger, Associate Professor, Department of Accounting
Designed to make a difference locally, nationally or around the globe, Ithaca Projects are service-learning team projects which inform students about a topic, engage them in helping to solve a problem, and provide them with an opportunity to work together while approaching solutions from an interdisciplinary perspective. Teams will include a faculty or staff coordinator, two student leaders, and up to 20 students, and the chosen projects will be designed to benefit the College, the community, and/or others around the world.
"IC Net Collaborate Module for myHome Community"
IC Net Student Organization (Chair, Greg Dunbar '10)
David Weil, Director, Enterprise Application Services
A module will be developed for the College's myHome Community social networking service that will give students tools to effectively connect and collaborate with one another. Students will be able to maintain a running list of projects that they have worked on and the role that they played on each, share samples of their work, and find others to collaborate with on new projects through an online classifieds-like service (help wanted/skills offered).
