Date sent: Thu, 09 Mar 1995 16:42:06 -0600
To: CENET@agvax2.ag.ohio-state.edu
From: x1floraj@exnet.iastate.edu (Jan Flora)
Send reply to: x1floraj@exnet.iastate.edu (Jan Flora)
Subject: Rural Communities Ag*SAT course
Copies to: x1mbank@exnet.iastate.edu, doerfert@iastate.edu
March 9, 1995
Dear CENET member:
We would like to alert you to a course called Models of
Community: Social and Economic Perspectives, which we plan to
teach over the AG*SAT network in Fall 1995. We have applied to
AG*SAT for funds for satellite transmission of the program. This
will be the second year that the course will be offered. It is an
interdisciplinary graduate course designed for development
professionals, to be jointly taught at Iowa State and Texas A&M.
Instructors are Dr. Judy Stallmann, agricultural economist and
extension community development specialist at Texas A&M, and
Cornelia and Jan Flora, rural sociologists at Iowa State. (See the
accompanying brochure for details.)
The course will use high quality video segments from the PBS
series Rural Communities: Legacy and Change, with lecture,
interviews, and learner participation, electronic communication and
networking, audio conferencing, FAX, and telephone. Learners will
do a comprehensive study of their locality.
The course is designed specifically for development
professionals who are interested in gaining a new perspecive on the
communities in which they live and work. It should be particularly
attractive to those pursuing an advanced degree or who must
periodically complete continuing education units. The course can
also be used in local Extension programming. One approach is for
the local Extension agent to recruit community members to either
watch the program live or on a tape delay, utilizing support
materials to meet local needs. Selected projects designed for the
credit course could be completed by the non-credit audience and
used as a foundation for solving local problems and meeting local
leaders' agendas.
We are looking for collaborating instructors at the various
AG*SAT institutions, and would like to know if you or someone else
at your institution is interested. Learners will do a
comprehensive study of their community or county. That will
involve carrying out a half dozen field and library assignments,
and a concluding summary paper on their community. There will also
be one essay exam, with emphasis on integration of readings and
lecture. We are asking collaborating instructors to grade the
exercises and exam for students in their state. We will provide
guidelines and model answers for each of the exercises, and will be
available for consultation with instructors by phone or e-mail.
Should three or fewer students enroll in your state, we are willing
to do the grading (though we would be quite happy if you
volunteered). If you do the grading, obviously credit should be
arranged through your institution. If there are only a couple of
students, they could enroll for credit in Sociology at Iowa State
or perhaps in Agricultural Economics from Texas A&M. (Judy has
just arrived from Virginia Tech, and does not have a definitive
answer from her institution.)
If you are interested in the class being offered in your
state, please communicate that interest to your campus AG*SAT
coordinator. If you need brochures announcing the class,
additional information or or sample materials, please contact
me. Contact us as soon as possible
so we can work together on a marketing strategy. We learned a good
deal about the importance of early and aggressive advertisement of
the course last year.
Sincerely,
Jan
rtment of Sociology
315 East Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-1070
Tel: (515) 294-4295
FAX: (515) 294-2303
Home Phone: (515)232-7664
e-mail: floraj@iastate.edu