Prairie Brown

Global Literature: A Gateway to Research

We’ll begin the quarter by reading short fictional stories from around the world, with overarching themes that remind us of our shared human experiences, both positive and negative, including poverty, romantic and platonic relationships, consumerism, isolation and connection, medical emergencies, racism, and teenage rebellion. Relating these themes to our own lives, we will develop research questions, and using primary and secondary research strategies, we will construct research-based arguments about sociopolitical topics of our own choosing.

Allison Green

Current Events

Students identify a current problem in their community, research possible solutions, and propose ways that people in the community could be involved in the solution. Research includes interviews as well as searches of the Internet and library resources.

Stephanie Ojeda Ponce

My English 102 course includes opportunities to learn about multiple types of research including document-based research, case studies, documentaries, and more. We’ll discuss media literacy, algorithmic bias, rhetoric and other concepts so each person can critically think about popular and academic information. Students can choose any research topic that they can directly link to something in their personal, academic, or professional (now or future) life. My English 102 YouTube playlist includes useful videos that can give people an idea of what the class is like. I integrate accessibility, community, culturally relevant instruction, and more research-based teaching practices that lead to student success. Course grades are based on student work so any student willing to continue trying and doing research and writing can succeed in the class. I identify as Salvadoreña, Mexicana, and American.

Aaron Ottinger

Decolonizing Research and Digital Technology

One of our major tasks in this class is to interrogate our research methods and make sure that we are not propelling colonialist habits in our own studies. And what is it that we are studying? Our main object of study is digital technology and infrastructure around the globe.

But what does digital tech have to do with colonialism? Turns out, a lot! Just think, most folks have mobile phones. And every one of those phones includes minerals sourced from places all around the world, especially countries in Africa, like the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). That means, everyone is walking around with little bits of Africa in their pocket.

Cool, right? Yes and no. It’s not so cool because usually these minerals are mined by exploited laborers. These laborers are paid poorly. Their work conditions can be toxic and deadly. What’s more, in many cases these countries do not even own their own mines. Instead, they are owned by companies in the US, China, the UK, and elsewhere. So poor countries prop up rich countries, the poor stay poor and suffer, and we get shiny new phones every year.

The above is just one example of what scholars are now calling, “digital colonialism,” and this will be our main object of study. Students will conduct research on this topic from a personal angle (e.g., environmental concerns, women’s rights, mental health, and so forth). In the end, students will produce a piece of original research that could one day be developed into a larger project.

During winter term, this class is linked with MATH 146. Please check CTClink for details.

Laura Soracco

Transfer Student Experiences

In this class, you’ll learn how to research issues that affect community college students like you. Step by step, you’ll learn valuable skills: how to read academic articles (and actually understand them!), find reliable sources, collect information from real students, and analyze what you find. Then you’ll get to share your own views on these important issues.
You choose what interests you: how BIPOC students experience college life, what support works best for neurodivergent students, how AI is affecting learning, financial support and issues for students, what it means to be the first in your family to go to college, what it’s like to use more than one language at school, challenges of student athletes, balancing work and school life, or experiences of adult learners returning to college.
This class teaches you essential research skills:

• Finding and reading academic articles
• Searching library databases effectively
• Collecting information through surveys or interviews
• Analyzing data and identifying patterns
• Supporting your opinions with evidence
• Using AI tools ethically for writing and research

Your research will help others understand what community college students really experience and need to succeed, while preparing you for your future university classes.