TIDES Class Syllabus—TIDE-1395-01
CATHOLIC NEW ORLEANS
Wednesdays 4:00am-5:15pm
INSTRUCTORS:
Jimmy Huck – [email protected]
Phone: 504-862-3148
Department: Latin American Studies
Office: 100 Jones Hall
Office Hours: Tuesdays, 10:00-11:00am; Wednesdays 2:00-3:00pm; or by appointment
SERVICE-LEARNING COMMUNITY PARTNER:
The Good Shepherd School (http://www.thegoodshepherdschool.org/)
Sean Alphonso – [email protected]
Coach Glenn Ferrand – [email protected]
COURSE DESCRIPTION, LEARNING OUTCOMES, AND OBJECTIVES:
New Orleans has a rich Catholic tradition that has its own unique flavor among the larger
global Catholic community. The purpose of this course is to explore this rich tradition and to
delve more deeply into the socio-cultural nuances of Catholic life in this city that was founded
largely by Catholic missionaries and Catholic French/Spanish colonial empires. Students
should know that the course is not a theology course, and the purpose is neither to proselytize
nor to evangelize. It is really a course about the history, society, and culture of New Orleans as
viewed through its Catholic foundations, such as they are.
The course will also be a mandatory Service-Learning course with a community partnership
collaboration with the Good Shepherd School, founded by the Jesuits and whose mission is “to
help low-income, urban youth in order to realize their fullest potential as productive members
of society by providing them with an extended-day, year-round, quality education, integrated
with personal, moral and spiritual development, and continued guidance during the students'
further education.” (http://www.thegoodshepherdschool.org/).
At the end of the course, students should be able to identify the major Catholic institutions and
actors in the city of New Orleans, some important historical events in New Orleans connected
to the Catholic Community (i.e. the Papal visit in 1987, the controversial shuttering of Catholic
Parishes and Churches after Hurricane Katrina, the role of the Catholic Church in New Orleans
during the Civil Rights era and in the process of desegregation, etc.), Catholic cultural holidays
(Day of the Dead/All Saints Day; St. Joseph Day Altars; etc.), the nature and variety of the
Greater New Orleans Catholic parochial education system, and the New Orleans Catholic
Community’s role in fostering inter-faith dialogue.
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In addition to the Service-Learning collaboration with the Good Shepherd School, special
events scheduled outside of class time are central to this course’s objective of exposing students
to various elements of the New Orleans Catholic experience. Therefore, students will be asked
to attend and participate in several activities that take place at non-class times.
Attendance at some of these events is required and such required events are noted in the Class
& Assignment Schedule portion of the syllabus. Other optional events are also listed on the
schedule below to give you plenty of time to schedule to attend. Some of these events will
hopefully include a visit to St. Louis Cathedral, St. Augustine Church in the Treme, the Jesuit
Church of the Immaculate Conception on Baronne Street, the Sisters of the Holy Family
Community in New Orleans East, the Notre Dame Seminary and the Archbishop’s Residence
on Carrollton Ave., etc.)
SERVICE-LEARNING
This course is a mandatory Service-Learning course. As such, it requires that all students put
in at least 20 hours in Service at the Good Shepherd School of New Orleans. Our community
partner contacts are Mr. Sean Alphonso, who is an administrator at the Good Shepherd School
and who also serves as the School’s Enrichment Program co-coordinator along with Coach
Glenn Ferrand, which makes them the de-facto supervisors of volunteers and Service-Learners.
Also potentially helping with the course is a current Tulane student, Michael Rizzo, who has
been a regular volunteer at the Good Shepherd School.
The Service-Learning activity at the Good Shepherd School will include helping out at their
after-school enrichment program and planning, coordinating, and implementing a Saturday
enrichment activity for the Good Shepherd School students at Tulane University. The
enrichment program takes place from 3:45-5:00pm four days a week from Monday through
Thursdays. You will have the opportunity to volunteer one day of the week on Monday,
Tuesday, or Thursday afternoons. You will also have the opportunity to serve as a volunteer for
one of the Saturday enrichment activities.
In the process of this Service-Learning assignment, you will get to know the social justice
educational mission in the context of one Catholic institution and program, and you will also
hopefully learn about the role of the Catholic Church in the complex and controversial
educational context of New Orleans.
Information about transportation and scheduling of Service-Learning hours will be provided at
the Service-Learning orientation during our third class meeting on Wednesday, Sep. 10, which
will take place on-site at the Good Shepherd School.
Please note that your service will take place over the course of the full semester so as to
maintain as much continuity with the Good Shepherd School and its students for as long as
possible. I consider Service-Learning to be an essential part of the course, much like a core
textbook would be to another course. As such, you cannot pass the class if you fail to meet your
Service-Learning obligations. Nor can you fulfill the Service-Learning requirement if you do
not pass the course, regardless of how many hours of service you put in.
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GRADING:
This class is a 1-credit course. As such we have tried to create a class based on experiential
learning and participation rather than a heavy reading load. The grade breakdown is as
follows:
30%: Service-Learning Reflection Essays
20%: Attendance
20% : Readings Response Assignments
20%: Excursion Event Reports
10%: Final TIDES Reflection Essay
ASSIGNEMENTS & GUIDELINES:
There is one required text for this class.
Earl J. Higgins, The Joy of Y’at Catholicism. Pelican Publishing Co., Gretna, LA, 2007.
All other readings and assignments will be posted on the course blackboard site. The reading
assignments are meant to prepare you for class activities and guest lecturers.
ATTENDANCE: Much of the learning from this course will come from experiencing the
richness and diversity of Catholic New Orleans, and this experience is processed primarily
through classroom discussion and conversation. Therefore, in order to really engage in this
part of the learning process, your presence in class is crucial.
For this reason, your attendance constitutes 20% of the final course grade. I expect you to be
in class every week and to attend as many of the off-campus excursions as possible.
READINGS RESPONSES: Readings Responses consist of your answering a series of short
questions about the assigned readings (usually between 3-5 questions), in an effort to ensure
that you keep up with the schedule. Those questions will be posted on Blackboard. There are
four readings response assignments throughout the semester.
Each assignment will constitute 5% of your final course grade, for a total of 20% for all four
assignments.
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SERVICE-LEARNING REFLECTION ESSAYS: Each student will write three (3) 4-5 page
reflection essays on the Service-Learning experience associated with the class.
The first reflection essay will follow the initial orientation and introduction to the Good
Shepherd School and the service project. The second reflection essay will be done at the midterm point of the course. The third reflection essay will be due towards the end of the course.
On the days that the written reflection assignments are due, we will also spend some time in
class reflecting orally through dialogue and conversation. For each written reflection essay,
you will be given a series of prompts that should help guide you in the reflection process and
help you to interpret your Service-Learning experience in light of our course reading materials
and classroom lectures/discussions.
This assignment is worth 30% of your final grade (10% for each of the written reflection
essays). The written essays will be graded on the basis of your engagement with the prompts,
coherent thematic/topical presentation, and proper grammatical expression and
organizational structure. Your participation in the classroom reflection discussion will also
factor into your reflection essay grades.
FINAL TIDES REFLECTION ESSAY: At the end of the Semester, students must post on
Blackboard a 4-5 page, typed, double-spaced evaluation essay on the Catholic New Orleans
TIDES course. This evaluation essay should discuss what you learned from the course, how
your understanding of Catholic New Orleans has evolved, and what particular parts of the
TIDES experience had the greatest impact on you and why.
This essay is worth 20% of your final grade, and will be graded on the basis of clarity of
thought, coherent essay organization, and proper grammar/spelling.
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CLASS & ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE
Class 1:
Wednesday, Aug. 27—Welcome and Introduction to Class
Class 2:
Wednesday, Sep. 3—Discussion of First Year Reading Book Project
Reading:
1. Sarah Carr, Hope Against Hope: Three Schools, One City, and the Struggle to
Educate America’s Children.
DUE: Readings Response Assignment #1
Class 3:
Wednesday, Sep. 10—Service-Learning Orientation (on-site at the Good
Shepherd School)
Guest Speakers: Br. Lawrence J. Huck, SJ, President of the Good Shepherd
School and Mr. Sean Alphonso, co-coordinator of the Enrichment Program.
Readings:
1. Andrew Furco, “Service Learning: A Balanced Approach to Experiential
Education”
2. Jeffrey Howard, “Service Learning: Four Myths and Three Necessary Criteria”
3. Review the Good Shepherd School’s Website:
http://www.thegoodshepherdschool.org/
Class 4:
Wednesday, Sept. 17—Y’at Catholicism
Readings:
1. Higgins, Chapters 1-2
DUE: Service-Learning Reflection Essay #1
Class 5:
Wednesday, Sept. 24—Catholics and the Founding of New Orleans
Readings:
1. Higgins, Chapters 3-4
DUE: Readings Response Assignment #2
Class 6:
Wednesday, Oct. 1—Catholic Education in New Orleans
Guest Speaker: Mr. Jack Truxillo, Associate Superintendent of Schools,
Archdiocese of New Orleans.
Readings:
1. Higgins, Chapter 8
Class 7:
Wednesday, October 8—Catholics, Race Relations, and Civil Rights in NOLA
Readings:
1. Higgins, Chapter 9
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EVENT:
Saturday, October 11—Field Trip to the St. Louis Cathedral and Old Ursuline
Convent in the French Quarter.
Class 8:
Wednesday, Oct. 15—“Friday Fish Fries”: Catholic Cultural Traditions
Readings:
1. Higgins, Chapters 6-7
DUE: Readings Response Assignment #3
Class 9:
Wednesday, Oct. 22—Catholic Charities, the Hispanic Apostolate, Call to Action,
Pax Christi: The Catholic Social Mission in NOLA
Guest Speakers: Mr. Matthew Rousso, Regional Director of the Maryknoll
Mission Education Office; Mr. Martin Gutierrez, Vice President of Community
Services for Catholic Charities of New Orleans; Fr. Louis Arceneaux, C.M—Call to
Action & Pax Christi.
DUE: Service-Learning Reflection Essay #2
Class 10:
Wednesday, Oct. 29—Parishes instead of Counties: Catholics and Politics in
NOLA
Readings: TBA
Class 11:
Wednesday, Nov. 5—Jobs, Minimum Wage, and Labor: Catholics and the local
economy of New Orleans.
Readings: TBA
DUE: Readings Response Assignment #4
Week 12:
Wednesday, Nov. 12—Lunch Excursion to Café Reconcile
NO ASSIGNMENTS
Saturday, Nov. 15:
SERVICE-LEARNING ENRICHMENT SATURDAY EXPERIENCE AT
TULANE FOR STUDENTS FROM THE GOOD SHEPHERD SCHOOL
Week 13:
Wednesday, Nov. 19—No Class Meeting
Week 14:
Wednesday, Nov. 26—No Class Meeting
DUE: Reflection on TIDES experience due to be posted on Blackboard.
Week 15:
Wednesday, Dec. 3—No Class Meeting
DUE: Service-Learning Reflection Essay #3
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