What is a Mosaic?
Professor
Susan Rose, Director
239 West
Louther Street, Carlisle, PA 17013
rose@dickinson.edu(717) 245-1185
http://www.dickinson.edu/centers/community_studies/
What is a Mosaic?
The
American and Global Mosaics are
intensive, interdisciplinary, semester-long research programs designed around
ethnographic fieldwork and immersion in domestic and global communities. Their
objective is to encourage students to think reflexively about the diverse world
in which they live as they engage in collaborative work with local,
transnational, and international communities. The Mosaics provide opportunities
for students to meaningfully apply what they are learning in the classroom,
both theoretically and methodologically, to the world beyond – and to bring
their experiences in the world back into the classroom. The Mosaics challenge
students to ask significant and relevant questions of the people and
communities with which they are working; to actively listen to what others say
about their lives and realities; to reflect on their own lives, worlds, and
perspectives; to design research that addresses the needs and interests of
their partner communities; and finally to present what they have discovered in
thoughtful, effective, and ethical ways to multiple audiences. Students learn
not only how to design and conduct research but also how to produce their
findings and analyses in various forms: written research papers and reports;
conference presentations, video documentaries, audio podcasts, and multi-media
websites.
The design of a specific Mosaic program is driven by
pedagogical and research concerns, and faculty interest and availability. A
number of different models have emerged, from a full semester of coursework
taken by students with 2-3 faculty from different disciplines- to cluster
courses-to a one credit course that integrates a winterim research trip.
Examples of various models are outlined below.
Mosaic Models
Full-Semester Mosaics: Students take all of their coursework (at Dickinson 4 credits) with 2-3 faculty*:
American Mosaic 
During
the 1996 Steelton Mosaic, 23 students and three faculty members met with
workers, teachers, local business people, and residents of the multi-ethnic
community of Steelton, Pennsylvania to explore questions of mutual interest:
how to raise a family, earn a living, and sustain faith in a community hit hard
by deindustrialization. This research later continued in the 2001 SteeltonMosaic with 18 students who focused on work, family, and migration narratives
with members of the African-American community, and mentored young people in
the elementary and secondary schools to conduct their own video-taped oral
histories. (1996, Faculty:
American Studies, Economics, and Sociology; 2001, Faculty: English, History,
and Sociology – in both cases, the 3rd faculty member teaching literature contributed
only one course to the Mosaic that was open to all students).
The Global Climate Change Africa Mosaic (2011-2012) Climate change is one of the most serious
challenges to human progress and sustainable development today. The Global
Climate Change Africa Mosaic offered students from all disciplines the chance to
participate in, and critically examine, the process of international climate
negotiations and science to prepare tomorrow's leaders for the challenges of
the future. Students studied climate science, policy, and progress, South
African history, politics, culture and environmental issues. The Mosaic explored the science, human and ecological
consequences, policy options and international negotiations surrounding global
climate change, with focused study of sub-Saharan Africa and especially South
Africa. Students studied climate science, policy, and progress, South
African history, politics, culture and environmental issues. The team
investigated the roles, motivations, positions and effectiveness of different
delegations and constituencies in the negotiations by conducting and
videotaping interviews with conference delegates; observing conference
proceedings; attending science and policy briefings, panels and events; and
following real-time media coverage of the conference. Bringing their expertise
and knowledge into practice, the course also allowed for media outreach and
creation via blogging, interview techniques, social media outreach, and
educational design to a variety of audiences.
Program
Dates: Fall 2011 on campus (3 1/2 credits), January 2012 ••• credit
COP17
Study Abroad: UN Climate Change Conference, Durban, South Africa (Dec)
Program
Sites: Dickinson College Campus and Durban, South Africa.
The Mexican Migration Mosaics (1998, 2003, 2011) The 1998 Mexican Mosaic focused on migrant labor in Adams County,
Pennsylvania, just South of Carlisle. The 2003 Mexican Migration Mosaic worked
with communities in Adams County, Pennsylvania and Peribán in Michoacán,
Mexico-communities which lie on opposite ends of the continent, but stand
closely connected through family, work and circular migration. Through
intensive fieldwork and internships, students came to better understand the
economy and culture, living and labor conditions, and lives of people in both
regions. Students had the opportunity to
pick apples in the Adams County orchards, visit migrant worker camps, teach ESL
in school classes and after-school programs, intern in migrant Head start
programs and day care centers, work with health clinics, and interview growers
and advocacy groups in Adams County. In Peribán, students were involved in
ethnographic fieldwork and interviewing families of migrant workers and people
who have settled in Adams County. Both were full-semester Mosaics involving 18
and 23 students respectively taking 4 courses with either 2 - 3 faculty.
(Faculty 1998, Anthropology and American Studies; 2001, Anthropology, History,
and Sociology; coursework counted in Latin American Studies, Spanish, History,
Anthropology, Sociology, and American Studies)
Comparative Black Liberation Movements (2008) Mosaic examined two of the most
internationally significant Black Liberation Movements of the 20th century: the
anti-apartheid movement in South Africa from the 1950s through the 1990s, and
the African-American civil rights movement of the 1950s-1980s. Mosaic
participants conducted field research in South Africa and Coahoma County,
Mississippi with their local counterparts. Their research, primarily conducted
through the collection of oral histories, explored how African and
African-American people in small communities responded to and eventually
defeated white supremacy in two of its most infamous manifestations: apartheid
South Africa and Jim Crow Mississippi. Students took all of their coursework
with 2 core faculty (one a South African historian and the other an
African-American historian) and a third who taught a course on Protest and
Liberation Music. The Mosaic started at the end of July-August in South Africa;
the 8 students then returned to campus for the fall and spent 3 weeks in
Mississippi in November. (Faculty represented History and Music; coursework
counted in History, Music, Africana Studies, Sociology, Anthropology, American
Studies).
The Natural History Mosaic (2012) This Mosaic exposed students to the wide range of ways to study the natural world. From in-class lectures and labs, through extensive field work, to careful museum visits and study, students were exposed to a multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary set of questions and provisional answers. The Mosaic included trips to several Pennsylvania museums and to the Smithsonian
Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. In the field, there were an array of outings in and around Pennsylvania, such as observing the management of the state's elk herd at close range, participating in the North American saw-whet owl-banding project and trapping turtles to study populations. (Faculty represented in Earth Sciences, Biology, and English; coursework counted in Biology/Environmental Science, Earth Science, a "W" for the writing course, and an independent study/research).
The Mediterranean Migration Mosaic (2013) This Mosaic focused on migrations between Morocco, France and Spain, exploring the multiple and interacting identities embodied by individuals, communities, regions, and the nation-state. We examined the creation of transnational communities, ethnic and religious tensions and cooperation, philosophical orientations to diversity, and social policy. Through oral histories, ethnographic, and survey research, multi-lingual research teams explored these dynamic interactions with a focus on labor and family migrations.
(Faculty represented in History and Sociology; coursework counted in History, Sociology, and an independent study/research).
One-Course, Globally
Integrated Mosaics with Winterim Research Trip (students pay a comprehensive
program fee that covers expenses, eligible for financial aid):
From Kyoto to Copenhagen, Negotiating the Future of the
Planet dickinsoncop15.weebly.com 16
Days in Copenhagen + 15 Students
=1 Big Impact A
Unique Integration of Theory and Practice
National governments that are parties to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are engaged in intensive
negotiations leading up to the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP-15) to the
UNFCCC, which will be held in Copenhagen in December 2009. The intended outcome
of COP-15 is a new climate change treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which
would represent a key turning point for global environmental governance.
Students in the course will function as a research team, the Dickinson K2C
Research Team, to investigate the objectives of selected parties in the
negotiations, the positions of these parties on key issues, and factors that
shape their objectives and positions.
The Patagonia Mosaics (2001, 2003, 2005) examined trans-Atlantic migration,
ethnic and labor relations, and
community development among various ethnic groups in Comodoro Rivadavia,
Argentina and the oil company towns surrounding it. Twelve students and two
core faculty worked in multi-lingual research teams to examine and archive
documents and photos, and conduct video-taped oral history interviews with
people who lived and worked in the oil company towns owned and managed by the
German, British, Dutch, and later Argentine State. The project also focused on
more recent (im)migration to the area, and from neighboring countries and the
NW of Argentina. One course Mosaic starting at the beginning of January and
running though the spring semester (Faculty: History, Sociology; coursework
counted in Latin American Studies, History, Sociology, Spanish, Anthropology,
American Studies).
The Venezuelan Mosaic (2007, 2009) provided a group of 19 Dickinson
students both the historical background
and a hands-on exposure to the new model of participatory democracy, endogenous
development, and 
regional integration that is developing in Venezuela today. The course, “Venezuela:
Democracy, Development, and the Bolivarian Revolution” focused on social
issues, including poverty, education, health care, and empowerment. Readings,
lectures, and films during a 1/2 credit course in the fall semester 2006
prepared students to do their own research projects in Venezuela during January
2007. In Venezuela, the students engaged in field work, oral history, and video
documentary projects. To complete the second 1/2 credit course in the spring
2007, students returned to campus to integrate, analyze, and present their
research (co-taught by an economist and sociologist; coursework counted in
Economics, International Studies, International Business and Management, Latin
American Studies, Spanish, Sociology, and Anthropology).
In 2008-2009, using a similar model, the course focused on
“Sustainable Agro-Ecosystems and Cooperative Movements in both Venezuela and
the United States.” Thirteen students conducted comparative research that linked
Dickinson College’s Organic Farm with La Alianza, a 30-year-old organic farm
and food cooperative in Monte Carmelo, Venezuela. The intercambio
included seed exchanges, and sharing of solar water heating installations and
vermiculture techniques. (Co-taught by the Director of the Organic Farm who
teaches Sustainable Agriculture and a sociologist; coursework counted in
Environmental Studies, Sociology, Anthropology, and Latin American Studies).
Total of one course credit with ½ credit in fall and ½ credit for winterim into
spring course.
The Cuba Mini-Mosaic (2012) At the beginning of the 21st century, Cuba, a small island nation
(however the biggest) in the Caribbean, with a population of 11 million,
is facing major challenges as it attempts to carry on and further
develop its unique brand of “Third World” socialism. The course, with an
integrated 10-day research trip to Cuba, examined contemporary economic
and social conditions and policies, international relations, and the
ramifications of the Cuban revolution of 1959. With a focus on political, economic, environmental and social sustainability, special
attention was given to urban agriculture as well as to social policy
related to health, education, family, youth, gender and sexuality.
Two Course Clusters and globally integrated winterim trip:
The Montserrat Mosaic (2005) focused
on individual and collective trauma and the geology of cataclysmic events.
Volcanic activity has devastated parts of the island and dislocated one-third
of the island’s population. This Mosaic involved a (two-course cluster that
began with a globally integrated research field study on the island of
Montserrat in January. The 16 students and
two faculty then returned to campus to complete coursework in Geology (a
lab science) and sociology (for a total of 30 course credits). (Faculty:
Geology and Sociology).
The South Asian Diaspora Mini-Mosaic (2009) This Mosaic combined
fieldwork and oral history research with the SouthAsian communities in
Central Pennsylvania. The research focused on religion, family, work
and migration narratives.
Upcoming Mosaics:
Trinidad:
Carnival - Race and Ethnic Diversity, Art, Music and Representation Spring 2015
Jerry Philogene (American Studies) & Patricia van Leeuwaarde Moonsammy
(Africana Studies)
The Eco-Entrepreneurship Path Mosaic, Spring 2014
Helen Takacs (International Business and Management) and Emily Pawley (History)
Ghana & Sea Islands of SC: Transatlantic
Slave Trade/Middle Passage, Fall 2013
Lynn Johnson (African Studies), Jeremy Ball (History) & Joyce Bylander
Mediterranean (Im)migration Mosaic
Spring 2013
Marcelo Borges (History), Sylvie Toux (French & Toulouse) & Susan Rose
Natural History Mosaic Fall 2012
Marcus Key (Earth Sciences), Gene Wingert (Biology) & Ash Nichols (English)
List of faculty who
have been involved in teaching the Mosaics:
David
Ball (English)
Jeremy
Ball (History)
Chuck
Barone (Economics)
John
Bloom (American Studies)
Marcelo
Borges (History 4)
Sarah
Brylinsky (CSE)
Ben
Edwards (Geology)
James
Ellison (Anthropology 3)
Kjell
Enge (Anthropology 3)
Jennifer
Halpin (Organic Farm & Environmental Science)
Mike
Heiman (Environmental Science – Luce Watershed 3)
Lynn
Johnson (African Studies)
Marcus Key
(Earth Sciences)
Sinan
Koont (Economics 3)
Neil
Leary (Center for Sustainability Education 2 –CSE)
Elizabeth
Lee (Art History)
Kate
McGurn (Anthropology)
Patricia van Leeuwaarde Moonsammy (Africana Studies)
Jeff
Neimitz (Earth Sciences)
Ash
Nichols (English)
Sharon
O’Brien (American Studies and English, 2)
Jerry
Philogene (American Studies)
Kim
Rogers (History 2)
John
Osborne (History 2)
Susan
Rose (Sociology 10)
Dan
Schubert (Sociology)
Tyra
Seldon (English)
Sylvie
Toux (French & Toulouse)
Karen
Weinstein (Anthropolgy 3)
Candi
Wilderman (Environmental Science – Luce Watershed 3)
Gene Wingert
(Biology)
Amy
Wlordarski (Music)