Family Oral History: A Sustainable Community-Based Learning Pedagogy for Family Communication

• In Event: Service Learning Discussion Circles Turns 10: Celebrate Service-Learning in Communication Classrooms

Abstract

For over 10 years I've sustained an innovative community-based learning project in my Family Communication course. Grown out of multiple of the course objectives, students interview elderly partners at a local assisted living facility and then transcribe/document their family/life history. All documents are returned to the individual/family. Students use the "data" and what they learned through the interviews to analyze and apply course concepts such as family narrative, family stories, intergenerational rituals, gender, nonverbal communication and the impact of technology on contemporary families. A complete syllabi including all course assignments and community-based learning contracts will be shared with participants.

Author

• Carol Bruess, University of St. Thomas