Justice Brandeis Semester

Last updated: June 28, 2012 at 4:09 p.m.

Objectives

In the summer of 2010 and in semesters thereafter, the university will offer the Justice Brandeis Semester (JBS), an intensive, immersive experiential learning option through which small groups of up to 12-15 students may earn credits while focusing on such varied topics as Environmental Health and Justice, Web Services and Mobile Applications, or Civil Rights and Racial Justice in Mississippi. The linked courses of these programs (for example, “Environment, Social Justice and Empowerment” and “Environmental Health”) will also include experiential learning components, such as fieldwork, internships, or research.

JBS internships, field-based research, creative work or community-engaged learning allow students to:

    * gain real-world experience through experiential learning.
    * build close relationships with professors and small groups of students.
    * acquire skills that will make them stand apart from their peers after Brandeis.

The distinctive elements of a Brandeis education include the intense intellectual engagement students share with our cutting-edge faculty; the rich experiential learning opportunities students encounter in studios, archives, research labs, work settings and the community; and the university’s longstanding commitment to global engagement and social justice. All of these elements are embodied in the new Justice Brandeis Semester.

Extended JBS Program

The Extended JBS program allows students to expand upon the summer JBS program through an internship placement in the fall semester. Students would be considered a full-time student from the start of the summer program through the end of the fall semester.

Students enrolled in an Extended JBS program can earn a total of 16 to 20 credits and will pay tuition for the equivalent of the fall semester.

Programs Offered

Current JBS Offerings

Environmental Field Semester
Ethnographic Fieldwork
Web Services and Social Networks

Past JBS Offerings

Civil Rights and Racial Justice
Mobile Applications and Game Development
Environmental Health and Justice

Courses of Instruction

Environmental Field Semester

AMST 104bj Boston and Its Suburbs: Environment and History
[ ss ]
Advanced seminar follows the development of the cultural landscape of Boston, Waltham and the western suburbs from glacial retreat to urban sprawl. Employs ecology and history to better understand and address contemporary environmental issues. Offered as part of JBS program.
Mr. Donahue

BIOL 32aj Field Biology
[ sn ]
Introduces students to the biodiversity of southern New England, emphasizing woody plants. Course work primarily takes place on field trips to various terrestrial and aquatic habitats. Offered as part of JBS program.
Staff

ENVS 100ej GIS and Field Methods: The New England Landscape
[ ss ]
This is an experiential learning course. Open to students in the JBS Environmental Field Semester program only.
The skills, methods, and fieldwork component of the Environmental Field Semester. Trains students in geographic information systems (GIS), ecology, farm and forest work, and research into the ecology, history and stewardship of conservation land in New England. Offered as part of JBS program.
Mr. Donahue and Mr. D. L. Perlman

ENVS 104aj Sustainability in the Suburbs
[ ss ]
Explores Weston and Waltham as case studies in exploring challenges suburbs face in becoming sustainable communities and ecosystems. Conflicts of private rights and economic vitality versus public interests and the environment will be discussed around issues including transportation, water use, waste and land use. Offered as part of JBS program.
Mr. Harrity

Ethnographic Fieldwork

ANTH 98aj Individual Readings and Research in Anthropology
Students will be required to do 15-20 hours per week field research, following the research design developed in session one. This class will be run as a workshop for students to discuss and present their field projects and common challenges and strategies with each other. During the second session students will prepare a final project, developed by the student in consultation with the instructor and field research partners, if applicable. The project can take a variety of forms, including a final paper, outline and writing sample or chapter for senior thesis, short video, Web site design, PowerPoint, podcast, brochure, etc. Offered as part of JBS program.
Ms. Ferry

ANTH 99aj Senior Research
Students will be required to do 15-20 hours per week field research, following the research design developed in session one. This class will be run as a workshop for students to discuss and present their field projects and common challenges and strategies with each other. During the second session students will prepare a final project, developed by the student in consultation with the instructor and field research partners, if applicable. The project can take a variety of forms, including a final paper, outline and writing sample or chapter for senior thesis, short video, Web site design, PowerPoint, podcast, brochure, etc. Offered as part of JBS program.
Ms. Ferry

ANTH 181aj Designing and Conducting Ethnographic Research
[ ss ]
Examines principal issues in ethnographic fieldwork and analysis, including research design, data collection, and ethnographic representation. Students will learn how to develop a focused research question, design field research, and build skills for independent social science research. Offered as part of JBS program.
Ms. Ferry

ANTH 183aj Anthropological Inquiry
[ ss wi ]
Studies how anthropologists have conducted fieldwork and turned it into different kinds of products—especially ethnographic writing, but also films, museum exhibits, Web sites, teaching curricula, etc. Looks at classic and contemporary ethnographic work in the context of the field research conducted. Explores collaborative and public anthropology approaches and the role of new media in the field. Students will write weekly reflective summaries of the material read and will develop an independent project examining how questions related to their particular project have been researched and written about. Offered as part of JBS program.
Ms. Ferry

Web Services and Social Networks

COSI 89aj Research Internship
Full-time internship with at least 300 hours from August to December. Students blog about their internship, comment on classmates blog entries and write papers about their internship and its role in the world. Offered as part of JBS program.
Staff

COSI 98aj Independent Study
Read scholarly articles related to web services, mobile applications, and cloud computing. Requires a final paper ideally related to student's internship. Offered as part of JBS program.
Staff

COSI 152aj Web Application Programming
[ sn ]
Prerequisites: COSI 11a, 12b, and 21a.
An introduction to web programming that covers the fundamental languages and tools, including HTML/CSS for page layout, javascript/ajax for client-side integration, and server-side programming in Java, Ruby, and SQL. The course also discusses security, scaling/optimization, and multi-tier architectures. Offered as part of JBS program.
Mr. Hickey

COSI 152bj Web App Development for Social Networks
[ sn ]
Prerequisites: COSI 11a and 12b.
Covers advanced topics in web architecture, such as system security, scaling and deployment, advanced REST concepts and others. We will also create a taxonomy of social networking systems to determine the role of each facet of such systems in their design and operation. Usually offered every second year. Offered as part of JBS program.
Mr. Hickey

COSI 154aj The JBS Incubator
[ sn ]
Prerequisite: COSI 11a.
An introduction to software engineering for web and mobile applications. Covers agile programming techniques, rapid prototyping, source control paradigms, effective software documentation, design of effective APIs, software testing and analysis, software licensing, with an introduction to business plans for software entrepreneurs. Offered as part of JBS program.
Mr. Hickey

COSI 210aj Independent Study
May be repeated once for credit.
Read scholarly articles related to web services, mobile applications, and cloud computing. Requires a final paper ideally related to student's internship.
Staff

COSI 293aj Research Internship
Full-time internship with at least 300 hours from August to December. Students blog about their internship, comment on classmates blog entries and write papers about their internship and its role in the world.
Staff