University of Iowa - Hawkeye Yearbook (Iowa City, IA)

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212 Action Studies STUDIES

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Vernon 211

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Seven hundred students within this University are involved in classes meeting at unusual hours and dealing with such topics as Rigorous Analysis of Radical Theories of Political Economies or Sur- realism's Illegitimate Children. The classes are part of the University's Action Studies program, in which students and faculty members dream up ideas which they want to teachg then the ideas become courses. It's really as simple as that. Students and faculty members bring their ideas for classes to the Action Studies office, directed by graduate assistant Dale McCormick. If the idea sounds feasible it becomes a class taught by the originator or someone else who feels qualified. Many of the classes receive academic credit and some later become part of the University's regular schedule of courses. Faculty members' classes may be accredited under an independent study unit. Stu- dent-taught classes must either be approved by the University academic committee, or the student must find a faculty member who will support it as his own individual study class. There are twenty courses on campus, and the courses, known collectively as the Action Studies Program, involve some 700 students. The most popu- lar course is a new one: Drugs - Their Nature, Ac- tion and Use. Over 300 students registered for this course, and it had to be divided into sections to ac- commodate all those interested. This class introduces students to many concepts concerning drugs and their effects on individuals and society. One of the most unusual classes is one which in- volves the bringing together of history, politics, ecology, music, art and other fields into a general study of man. The class, known as Centering, is accredited by the Univesrsity. Other Action Studies classes include black his- tory, women's history and women's liberation. The latter is known as The Destruction of the Feminine Myth. A science fiction course is taught by a mem- ber of the English department staff, and courses in Changes Through Alternative Institutions and Radical Readings in Poetry are also available. The Action Studies program offers timely con- temporary courses that the University doesn't incor- porate into regular classes, according to McCormick. Since it is easy to teach the classes, a lot of new ideas get talked about. Many of the programs later move into the curriculum, such as last year's Black Literature, so that the program works as a proving ground for new types of classes. Q Action Studies 213