Practicum

This practicum-based course is offered in collaboration with SLC Career Services. Second-, third-, and fourth-year students who will be completing an internship placement in fall 2022 are eligible to take this course. The aim of this course is to help support students in making the transition from college life to work experience in their chosen field, bridging the space between academic learning and engagement in a work setting. Over the semester, students will develop an academic understanding of relevant concepts based in industrial-organizational and positive psychology. Students will be invited to integrate their internship experiences through class discussion, experiential activities, collaborative group work, and observation journals. The goal is for students to gain an academic and experiential understanding of key concepts, which students may apply to help promote a successful work-life balance this semester and beyond. Topics that are generally applicable to workplace culture and work-life balance will be addressed. Class reading assignments will include academic literature in industrial-organizational psychology, positive psychology, and related fields, as well as relevant popular media. Topics will include workplace communication, diversity and inclusion, professional networking, job crafting, stress management, work-life balance, and ways of supporting well-being. Classes will include discussions based on assigned reading and internship observations, experiential activities related to class topics (e.g., communication, networking, meditation), workshops, and a recent-alumni panel. Students who have already completed Foundations in Workplace Culture and Well-being (for three or five credits) and are completing a new internship may enroll in this course for a second time (for three or five credits), with an emphasis on further developing leadership and mentorship skills. Returning students will attend the same class meetings as first-time students; however, reading and class assignments will focus on early career supervision, mentorship, and leadership roles. Internships may be in any field and must be approved by SLC Career Services prior to registering for this course. An offer letter for your placement must be secured and submitted to Career Services prior to registering for this course, and your placement should begin no later than the end of the add/drop period. This class meets once weekly in the evening and may include periodic conference meetings and/or Career Services consultations. Students are expected to attend weekly class meetings in addition to regularly attending their internship placements.

This practicum-based course is offered to second-, third-, and fourth-year students who will be completing an internship placement during the spring 2023 semester. The aim of this course is to help support students in making the transition from college life to work experience in their chosen field. This course is offered in collaboration with Sarah Lawrence College Career Services and will include mid-semester workshops on communication and networking, plus an end-of-semester alumni panel based on students’ interests. Over the semester, students will explore the process of building a professional identity during a time of remote work and uncertainty. Weekly reading will include topics in psychology and related fields. Topics will include building a professional identity, early supervisory skills, diversity equity and inclusion, workplace communication, imposter syndrome, professional networking, stress management, work-life balance, and ways of supporting well-being. Classes will include discussions based on assigned reading and internship observations and on experiential activities related to class topics (e.g., communication, networking, meditation). Students will be invited to integrate their internship experiences through class discussion, experiential activities, collaborative group work, and observation journals. The goal is for students to gain an academic and experiential understanding of key concepts, which students may apply this semester and beyond. Students who have already completed Building a Professional Identity (for three or five credits) and are completing a new internship may enroll in this course for a second time (for three or five credits), with an emphasis on further developing leadership and mentorship skills. Returning students will attend the same class meetings as first-time students; however, reading and class assignments will focus on early career supervision, mentorship, and leadership roles. Internships may be in any field and must be approved by SLC Career Services prior to registering for this course. An offer letter for your internship must be secured prior to registering for this course, and your placement should begin no later than the end of the add/drop period. This class meets once weekly in the evening and may include periodic conference meetings and/or Career Services consultations. Students are expected to attend weekly class meetings in addition to regularly attending their internship placements.

This course begins with a question: What is nature? Over the course of one semester, we will answer this question—drawing on insight from science and technology studies and the tools of ethnographic methods. Lectures will explore key concepts in the sociology of nature—including Karl Marx’s reproduction, Michael Bell’s natural conscience, and William Cronon’s second nature—in addition to substantive topics like the human ability to act on nature, the politics of land ownership, the relationship between humans and animals, and the conception of humans and cities as natural spaces. Group conferences will be devoted to training in ethnographic methods and peer review of ongoing ethnographic work. For their final conference work, students will craft an ethnographic portfolio of weekly ethnographic fieldnotes, memos reflecting on connections to course concepts, and a final analysis that summarizes key findings.

Visual artists have used social media since its inception, creating time-based works specifically for the format while blurring the boundaries between art and popular culture. We will explore ways in which these platforms allow for a unique collaborative experience between image makers and their followers—with participants lifting and borrowing from each other, commenting in real time, all while extending past the confines of the commercial art gallery and/or art museums. The course will be taught in conjunction with contemporary artists who use some of these platforms to circumvent and amplify both their work and their discourse.