Students in the first-year proseminar College 130 (Coming of Age In America: Narratives of Difference) presented their final group projects at a luncheon on December 10. Their assignment was to design a plan for activism to address a problem they saw with American society. Groups created activism plans to address on-campus issues such as homophobia, hate crimes, race relations, and class issues, as well as plans to address larger issues such as education inequalities
in New York State public schools and the welfare system.
The students created detailed plans of action for all steps of their activism, right down to proposed budgets and sample flyers and t-shirts. The proposals were submitted to the Kirkland Project for the Study of Gender, Society and Culture. The Kirkland Project chose two projects addressing issues at Hamilton - hate crimes and class inequalities - to fund and support in the upcoming semester.
College 130 is a interdisciplinary proseminar course for first-year students, with sections taught by Professors Nancy Rabinowitz, Steve Orvis and Gillian Gane. The course focuses on what it means to grow up as an American, with particular focus on issues of culture, race, class, gender, disability and sexual orientation.
-- by Caroline O'Shea '07
