Public Service Studies Minor Course Plan

General Requirements for the Public Service Studies Minor:

Five courses plus at least 160 hours of engaged/service learning experience that is set within a pre-agreed framework for reporting, reflection, and assessment. A faculty supervisor and fieldwork supervisor are required.

I. Coursework:;

• ANTHR 1900: Global Engagements: Living & Working in a Diverse World (4 credits)
• ANTHR 4100: Public Service Capstone (1 credit). OR, if course is not offered, students may substitute an independent study (1 credit) with their faculty supervisor. The course or independent study should provide support for developing a culminating experience that is a critical reflection on your work with community partners, community-based project(s), and course work.
• One anthropology course at the 2000 level or above of at least 3 credits relevant to a student’s interests in advocacy, activism, and social justice. Faculty supervisors may recommend specific courses focused on development, humanitarianism, migration, minority-majority relations, environmental activism, education, race and racism, or structural/global inequality, among other topics.
• Two elective courses of at least 3 credits each drawn from the interdisciplinary list of approved courses. This roster will be regularly updated with courses that feature public service/community engagement components and courses that provide skills, concepts, and knowledge critical to understanding public service, engagement, and social justice.
• No S/U classes will be accepted; all classes must be taken for a letter grade.
• Students must achieve a C- or better in all courses taken to fulfill the minor.
• One of the courses for the minor may be taken as transfer credit and one may be taken through study abroad. A minimum of three of the five required courses must be taken at Cornell.

II. Fieldwork: Engaged/Service Learning Experiences

Engaged/Service fieldwork (a minimum of 160 hours) must be undertaken in consultation with a supervising faculty member and a fieldwork supervisor from the off-campus organization.  Cornell’s Einhorn Center for Community Engagement is a valuable resource for linking students to community engagement opportunities in the Ithaca area and around the globe. 

Student fieldwork is expected to reflect a coherent and sustained commitment to a community partner.  It may not be assembled piecemeal from multiple unrelated experiences. Students may count hours of service experience obtained in the course of regular coursework as long as they are part of the same sustained service experience that will be the basis for the fieldwork component of the minor.

Please download the Community Engagement Framework document that includes the 1) Fieldwork Contract and 2) Supervisor Evaluation of Public Service Studies Fieldwork.