Liberal Arts Voices

Read the perspectives of our current students

LA 402 Fundraising Leadership Building a Strong Base – Enrollment Open to Residential Students

by

Penn State residential students will be able to enroll in LA 402 Fundraising Leadership Building a Strong Base, which is an all online course, as of 8/14/17. Penn State Graduates may enroll in the course at any time. Please contact Dr. Sophie Penney, if you would like to learn more.

LA 402 can be taken as a stand-alone or as one of four courses in Penn State’s all online Postbaccalaureate Certificate Program in Fundraising Leadership. Students in Penn State’s M.Ed. in Higher  Education can take LA 402 and LA 802 as part of a concentration in fundraising.

LA 402 covers an array of topics such as:

  • an introduction to philanthropy and philanthropists,
  • creating a culture of philanthropy within an organization,
  • forms of giving,
  • working with volunteers, communication, stewardship,
  • and other subjects.

Literature includes readings about fundraising and about leadership. Assignments are designed to help enable students work in context, e.g., designing a presentation to deliver to a board or justifying a particular fundraising approach to an executive director. Students complete a final project of their own, the topic of which you would be asked to begin thinking about early in the semester. The project can take many forms from a PowerPoint presentation to a research paper to a video and could focus on nearly any topic related to fundraising and advancement.

Why I Loved PHIL 014

by

Melanie Versaw ('12) by LAUSatPSU
Melanie Versaw (’12),
a photo by LAUSatPSU on Flickr.

This post is written by Melanie Versaw, who graduated from the Pennsylvania State University in May 2012 with a BS in Marketing and a BA in Advertising. 


[Here is the Schedule of Available Summer Courses in Philosophy.]

As a Penn State graduate, I can honestly say that my education at Penn State was diverse, fascinating, and challenging. There are several classes that I would retake in a heartbeat, but the one that sticks out the most is PHIL 014: Philosophy of Love and Sex.

I majored in both Marketing in the Smeal College of Business and Advertising in the College of Communications, so I had never taken a philosophy class in my life. The great thing about Penn State, though, is that general education classes are required. Thus came my search for a meaningful GH course that would both challenge me and make a lasting impact. Scrolling through the countless courses, I came across PHIL 014 and I was SOLD. Who doesn’t like talking about sex? What I got out of this course, though, was so much more than I ever thought possible.

This class starts out with a bunch of students discussing what we believe the notion of love and sex to be about. Then it digs deeper. You learn about different types of friendship, the history of homosexuality, and how men try to pick up women. The topics are wide and the discussions intelligent. You learn to cherish your friendships and challenge social norms.
Your class experience, however, depends on how much the class is willing to open up and discuss taboo subjects. I’ll admit, some discussions lead to analyzing threesomes or fetishes. But that’s all part of the course.

If you are looking for a great GH course, seriously consider taking this class. You learn so much about theories of love, why we are kind of crazy about sex, and most of all: you learn a ton about yourself.

WARNING: This is a philosophy class and therefore has plenty of readings to be completed. Don’t fret, though. The readings are all incredibly interesting. I promise.

Melanie Versaw currently works in Carmel, Indiana, for Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies as a Marketing Specialist, and she is a lead Penn State recruiter for Ingersoll Rand. She is also a photographer and can be contacted at Mel Versaw Photography.  (Twitter handle: @MelanieVersaw)

Scheduling Tips for First-Year Students

by

Daily Planner.JPGAre you ready to schedule courses for the spring semester?  This post includes some great tips and reminders that might help first-year students  with the scheduling process, including how to schedule courses, what to do when courses are full, and how to find courses to fulfill specific requirements.

To schedule courses:

  • Find out your first day to register by checking the first page of your degree audit or by consulting the Registration Timetable.
  • If you have not yet met with your adviser to discuss the courses you would like to add for the Spring 2013 semester, please consult the Recommended Academic Plan for your intended major before scheduling. It is still recommended that you schedule an appointment with your adviser to discuss your course schedule prior to the end of this semester.
  • Use the Schedule of Courses to select the courses you prefer.
  • On or after your first day to register, use the Registration and Drop/Add Instructions and Registration Tips.
  • After you complete registration, check the “Student Schedule” on eLion to verify your course selections. For important dates and deadlines for the spring semester, refer to the Academic Calendar.
  • For a quick overview of how to register for courses, please refer to the video tutorial below.


To find courses to fulfill specific requirements:

  • Under degree requirements on the Liberal Arts Undergraduate Studies website, click on any requirement listed to view courses that qualify under the requirement you chose.
  • On the Schedule of Courses, use “Additional Search Criteria” to choose a specific type of requirement, such as General Education Requirements, Writing Intensive Courses, U.S. Cultures, International Cultures, and Other Cultures. The search will display courses that meet the specific criteria you selected.

To add a course that is full:
At this point in the semester, you will find that many spring courses are already full. Don’t worry; there are steps you can take to add a course that is full.  A list of tips to schedule a full course can be found at http://www.psu.edu/dus/dus101/classful.htm.

For more information and additional help regarding the registration process, please visit: http://www.psu.edu/dus/handbook/register.html.

Happy Scheduling!

Welcome Back, Students!

by

With the start of classes just a week away, we’re all very excited for the beginning of the Fall 2012 semester.  Beginnings typically involve transitions, and advisers are ready to help, whether you’re transitioning from high school to college, another university to Penn State, another campus to University Park, or even if the transition involves adjusting back to your academic life after a great summer break.  We hope to see you at least once during the semester to discuss your current and future schedules, but we also encourage you to see us if you have other questions or concerns.  And, every so often, let us know how the semester is going for you; we’d like to know how you’re doing.  

The start of the semester marks the beginning of the Drop/Add period, which refers to the first ten days of the semester.  During this “crunch time,” all Liberal Arts advisers will hold standard walk-in hours Monday through Friday for students who have concerns about their current schedules or need to discuss an issue that is time-sensitive and needs immediate attention.  

Fall 2012
Drop/Add Walk-in Hours
August 27 – September 5, 2012
8:30 am -11:30 am and 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm

**Please note that Wednesday, September 5, walk-in hours will not begin until 10:00 am. ***

If you need to see your adviser during the Drop/Add period and aren’t sure who your assigned adviser is, log into eLion and select “Adviser Information” from the menu on the left side of the screen.  You can also find out where your adviser’s office is located.

Please be assured that after the first ten days of classes, you will be able to schedule an appointment with your adviser.

So, what is the Drop/Add period?  You might wonder why it’s significant or what you can (or should) do during this time period.  Think back to when you put your fall schedule together–it was some time ago, right?  You probably made the best scheduling choices you could at the time based on your degree requirements, interests, and course availability.  The Drop/Add period gives you the opportunity to make changes to your schedule–in light of new information and new course openings– without any penalties.  You can use the Drop/Add period effectively by:

  • attending all your scheduled classes to assess their goodness-of-fit for you and your learning style.
  • reviewing the syllabus for each class to better understand the instructor’s expectations.
  • evaluating the overall workload of the courses you’ve scheduled; you might view the combination of courses differently once you have more information about individual courses.
  • paying attention to openings in courses that you wanted to add previously but which were full when you registered for classes.

It’s important to note that although there is no limit on how many changes you can make during the Drop/Add period, you should be mindful of how dropping courses may affect your financial aid.  With that in mind, please familiarize yourself with the Federal Student Assistance Satisfactory Academic Progress Standard.  

As you make changes to your schedule, you may be working quickly to adjust your schedule, so make sure you are dropping and adding the correct classes.  If you inadvertently drop a course, especially a popular course, the likelihood of re-adding it may be slim.
 
And–this is important–what happens after the Drop/Add period ends?  You should view your schedule as a fairly completed project at that point.  Any changes to your schedule after November 16 will involve a $6.00 fee, and dropping any courses will involve using your late-drop credits. 
 
We have also compiled a list of Frequently Asked Questions that we often hear during the Drop/Add period.  We hope the responses to these questions might clarify a few of your own concerns. 

The Drop/Add period can be a bit stressful, and we hope to help you manage it as smoothly as possible.  Coming to see us during our walk-in hours is the best way to connect with us at this time.

Wishing you a safe, energizing, and successful semester!

Integrated Learning, Research and Entrepreneurship Opportunity in East Africa, India, Nicaragua and the United States

by

Do you want to travel and explore life in developing communities?
…and apply your knowledge to empower marginalized people?
…and engage in research endeavors that lead to publications?

The Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship (HESE) Program provides several transformational integrated learning, research and entrepreneurship opportunities. HESE brings together passionate students and faculty from various disciplines to develop innovative and practical technology-based solutions to address compelling global challenges. Paterno Fellows can participate in seven sets of real-world ventures that range from low-cost greenhouses and ceramic filters to telemedicine systems, cellphone apps and innovative science education programs. Students will be working on various aspects of research, design, field-testing and implementation of these ventures in the Spring 2012 semester with travel to Kenya, Tanzania, Nicaragua, India or the US for three weeks in the Summer (Travel is optional).

Interested students are required to take both EDSGN 452 and EDSGN 497 during the spring semester.  Students can receive regular (or honors) three credits for EDSGN 497 (EDSGN 497H) and have the option of traveling to project sites in the Summer and participating in a follow-up honors course on reflection and research dissemination in the Fall semester. Credits count towards a certificate in Engineering and Community Engagement and the minor in Sustainability Leadership.

These courses are open to undergraduate and graduate students from all majors and all semester standings. Only 35% of participating students are engineers and every single college is represented…Enter the intersection!

Read a blog post from Amy Copley (BS, International Politics & Applied French, 2012) discussing her experiences working on HESE ventures:

I’ve been working as a part of the HESE Affordable Greenhouse Venture team for several months now, and I couldn’t be more excited about our progress and the future of our venture!

The greenhouse venture focuses on providing a low-cost greenhouse technology to small-scale commercial and subsistence farmers because it can help them increase their agricultural productivity by up to 50%. While the initial greenhouse team designed and field tested the greenhouse in rural Kenya and Tanzania, my teammates and I are currently creating an operable business model that will ensure the sustainability and scalability of our venture.

During my time working on this venture, I’ve engaged in developing and presenting several different types of business pitches, designing our venture website, and preparing application materials for submission to national and international grant opportunities. As an international politics major with a passion for food security, taking this class has been particularly meaningful to me because I feel like my teammates and I are working towards achieving real-life social, economic, and environmental goals that will someday impact the future global food security landscape. Although learning the technical intricacies of developing a sustainable business plan has been challenging at times, our in-class discussions, group interactions, and team meetings with Prof. Mehta have made us all well-versed in the concepts and practices that lead to successful social enterprises.

The most exciting part of this experience is knowing that soon we’ll be traveling halfway across the globe to implement the business plans that we’re developing in class. No other course at Penn State has given me the chance to apply the knowledge I’ve acquired in class to such a real-world opportunity. I’ve found that the HESE classes really teach you to become a skilled public speaker, a knowledgeable business person who understands and can explain engineering concepts, and a successful social entrepreneur, because when you’re traveling and working abroad you will assume these roles and responsibilities as you’re developing relationships with local partners, pitching your venture to potential investors, and working on the ground to get your venture up and running. I highly recommend the class to anyone interested in taking part in a multidisciplinary, cross-cultural initiative that makes a difference in the lives of people all over the world.

For more information, please visit www.hese.psu.edu

Watch HESE teams in action in Kenya on the Global Penn State TV Program:

L A101H Spring 2012

by

I am very happy to remind all Freshmen Paterno Fellows and aspirants that you are required to take L A 101H “Rhetoric and Civic Life” this spring 2012 semester.

This honors course offers comprehensive training in oral, written, visual, and digital communication for the twenty-first century. It unites these various modes under the flexible art of rhetoric and uses rhetoric both to strengthen communication skills and to sharpen awareness of the challenges and advantages presented by oral, written, visual, and digital modes. 
In the course, students read about and discuss rhetorical concepts and situations and put their knowledge immediately to use by: 
  1. analyzing civic rhetoric on campus and in their communities (including their networked communities),
  2. researching current issues, and 
  3. developing and presenting arguments in oral, written, visual, and digital form. 
LA 101H has been so successful that we are working on turning it into a 6 credit, full year honors experience for freshmen Schreyer Honors scholars and aspiring Paterno Fellows beginning in the 2012-3 academic year. 
Students can visit Penn State’s Schedule of Courses for course listings. Students should meet with their academic adviser if they have questions about their spring 2012 schedule.
I leave you here with some first hand testimony from students about the value of LA 101H:

RCL from debra h on Vimeo.

Accelerated Italian Courses Spring 2011

by

Open a window into contemporary Italian life and deepen your language learning by studying the Italian and the Italy that is not in your textbook. What does Italian hip hop and rap sound like? What are the chants of the most spirited soccer fans? What cross-cultural observations are the best Italian pundits making? What did Pinocchio have to say that Walt Disney left out of his version?  What lies beyond Tuscany, Rome, Venice and Milan? Follow your language learning beneath the surface and see the good and the bad of Italy.

Accelerated sections of Italian 002 and 003, as an alternative to regular sections of the same courses, allows motivated students to share their passion for Italian language and culture with their instructor and peers and creates the possibility to cover more material in greater depth.  This select group of students benefits from greater instructor/student interaction and develops a valuable rapport with their instructor. Lessons are enriched with varied media and authentic cultural materials (such as music, films, readings, Italian websites, TV commercials, and Italian newspapers) to further the study and application of grammar concepts, as well as enhance writing, comprehension, and speaking abilities. Accelerated Italian strongly facilitates a livelier exploration and discussion of Italy’s language and traditions. It focuses on elaborating students’ knowledge of Italian history, culture, and customs, as well as offering a glimpse into contemporary Italian life.

For Spring semester 2011, the accelerated sections will be Section 002 of Italian 002 and Section 006 of Italian 003, both meeting 10:10-11:00am MT RF. Students completing this course are ideal candidates for 300 and 400 level coursework in Italian.  Moreover, the coursework provides excellent preparation for students planning on studying abroad, wanting to solidify their language skills, and/or considering an Italian minor. SHC students and Paterno Fellows are eligible to pursue an Honors option in the accelerated Italian courses.

If you have questions about the courses, please contact Jason Laine at jcl20@psu.edu.  If you are ready to sign up for the course, send an email to Rebecca Cross at rlc21@psu.edu and make sure to cc Jason Laine (jcl20@psu.edu) on this email as well.

Skip to toolbar