Introduction:

This year’s OLIC students, from three OLIC sections, will "talk" to current students and next year’s freshmen on the topic of community—through a web site that you will create together on community, service and academic life.

Each group will be responsible for one page of the web site on one given topic. We will place the final results online through next year—selected work will remain on the web site for longer. You will have a broad audience for your thoughts and research—your group members and classmates, other Tusculum students, Tusculum faculty, friends and family, and people browsing the internet.

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Each group will work on one of these topics in relation to community life:

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The goals of this assignment are for you to:

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individual packets of notes and research (preparatory work on the project). 30%

Group presentations to classmates of the final product, at which time the group receives a grade on the content of the page (to a lesser extent, the grade includes the appearance of the page and the group’s public speaking skills). 70%

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Assignment description: Each page will explore one topic, synthesizing ideas from class and personal reflection. The page will probably include specialized definitions, written reflections (such as journal entries), links to important web sites, background material etc.

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1. Academic / College Community topics (web pages dealing with this topic are meant to be addressed to next year’s freshmen, to give them an introduction to this class and issues raised at Tusculum College).

How does ____________ affect your ability to be part of and contribute to a college/academic community?

Family heritage— How did your family heritage impact your college decision? How does your family define its heritage?

Religion— How do you work with others whose religion is different than your own? What components works together to form your view on religion? Why is it important to reflect on own beliefs and what shapes them?

Diversity— What are the different types of diversity that you as a student encounter on campus, and what are the ways to relate with these groups?

Individualism— How does one become isolated? How is solitude different, how can one be alone and still be active in a community?

[Definition] of Success—What does it take to be successful in life? Why do some people "fail"? What mistakes should one avoid? What does success "look like"?

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How does ________ affect your willingness and ability to serve the larger community?

Family heritage—What are services that families need from their communities? How does one’s upbringing affect one’s attitudes towards service?

Religion— How does religion support or not support a community? Does our culture encourage or discourage spirituality, to what affect?

Individualism— How does isolation affect one’s service to community? How can one be alone and still be active in a community?

NUTS AND BOLTS

The computer lab has been reserved during most afternoons this block for groups to work on creating web pages. We will use Netscape Composer, a simple "wysiwyg" program, for which we will give you a short tutorial.

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INDIVIDUAL WORK:

Each student should do his or her own preparation on the topic. When your group meets, this work should be done so that the group selects from each person’s work to put together the best and most coherent content.

Here is a checklist that you can use as a starting place for individual work. Collect a "packet" of notes and research to turn in to your instructor.