In a Hartford Heritage course, you might visit the homes of famous authors like Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Wallace Stevens, conduct research at the Hartford History Center or the Connecticut Historical Society, learn about art at the nation's first public art gallery -- the Wadsworth Atheneum, investigate Prudence Crandall's story at the Old State House, gain insight into current immigrant communities at the Catholic Charities Refugee Center or the Caribbean education center (CURET), experience an 18th century home like the Butler McCook House, explore politics at the State Capitol, or learn about public health at the Hispanic Health Council.

Take a Hartford Heritage Learning Community (HHLC) and explore the city!

What is it?	Each HHLC combines several courses under an interesting theme that you will explore with the same classmates and the same professors.
Is it extra work?	Far from it! In fact, an HHLC makes learning easier because your professors collaborate on assignments and work closely with the students.
Will it help me?	Yes! An HHLC provides extra support through a one-credit IDS College Seminar course taught by your HHLC professors, where you will apply college success strategies to your courses and receive personalized advising.
Still not sure?	You have to take these courses anyway, so why not take them as an HHLC and go explore the city? In a Hartford Heritage course, you won’t sit in the classroom all semester. Depending on the theme of your HHLC, you might attend plays or concerts and visit historic landmarks, community organizations, museums, state government events, other college campuses, or the homes of famous authors.

Fall 2013 Hartford Heritage Course(s)

The Good Citizen, Speaking Well in Hartford: Classical Greco-Roman Thought and First Year Composition

Learning Community Schedule:

TR 10:05-11:26 ENG 101 Composition Daniela Ragusa
TR 11:40-1:01 PHL 101 Introduction to Philosophy Femi Bogle-Assegai
R 1:15-2:09 IDS 101 College Seminar Bogle-Assegai /Ragusa
Total Credits: 7

Synopsis

Students who enroll in this Learning Community learn how to think critically and speak and write effectively about issues important to people living, working, and studying in the city of Hartford through the disciplines of Philosophy and Rhetoric. Students in this "LC" will be enrolled in both an Introduction to Philosophy course and a Composition course (essentially an Introduction to Rhetoric.) While each course can operate as a "stand alone" class in which students learn specific course content, when paired together as an "LC", students taking both courses together will learn how to think, speak, and write as a group about issues related to Hartford from philosophical and rhetorical perspectives. At the same time, students will be introduced to "academic discourse" by engaging in college-level inquiry in the communities found within and around their city-campus.

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While Philosophy can be defined as a love of learning, according to Aristotle, Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. One's "philosophy" can refer to the beliefs a person holds, but more specifically, Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems in an attempt to answer questions about reality, human existence, knowledge, values, reason, the mind, and language. Philosophy attempts to answer such questions by its critical and systematic approach and its reliance on rational argument. In addition to rationality, a convincing argument depends upon what Aristotle calls "appeals," that is a person's credibility (ethos) and use of logic and emotion (logos and pathos) to successfully persuade others through argument in any debate related to matters of humankind. For Aristotle, Rhetoric requires "the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion," which means that a successful thinker, speaker, and writer is able to win intellectual arguments with whatever it takes to move an audience to "adherence." In other words, a successful rhetorician is the person who gets an audience to agree with one's personal philosophy by understanding how to use whatever beliefs the audience holds to convince them of new ideas. For example, a smart rhetorician knows how to find common ground with one's audience and use it to change people's minds and hearts for the better stance. Furthermore, Rhetoric is the art of language, the arrangement of ideas, writing for an audience, the ability to decipher another person's arguments and persuasive tactics and to engage in debate.

For the educator Quintilian, Rhetoric is "The art of a good citizen speaking well," whereas for the orator Cicero, successful Rhetoric depends on the Invention of ideas, the Arrangement of words, the Memory needed for thinking, speaking, and writing, the confidence for one's successful Delivery of ideas in a persuasive way, and the Style of language necessary for the successful use of words. In a world where in the events of humankind anything is possible, philosophers like Aristotle are not interested in "the Truth" with a capital "T" because they know all truth depends on context; instead they are interested in what is "the good" for the benefit of humankind. Therefore, Aristotle's brand of Rhetoric calls for critical thinkers, effective communicators, and secular humanists interested in engaging in debate to move audiences to change their minds and act on important issues for the good of all people.

Students in this Hartford Heritage Learning Community will learn how to use Philosophy and Rhetoric to think and write about issues important to the people in their city, their campus, and their world.

The Faces of Spiritualism – A Hartford Heritage Learning Community

Learning Community Schedule:

TR 10:05-11:26 am ESL 157A Oral Communication Peggy Schuyler
TR 11:40 am-01:01 pm ESL 153 Writing/Reading Peggy Schuyler
F 10:00 am-12:42 pm ESL 185 Fundamentals of Research Jennifer S Kriksciun

Synopsis

Students in the learning community combining ESL 157A, ESL 153, & ESL 185 will compare the concept of spiritualism between Western culture (in particular the ideas of Hartford luminaries) and their own cultures. As part of the Hartford Heritage Project, students will visit various landmarks in Hartford and explore the ideas of Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Elizabeth Colt.

Immigration-Hartford and the Nation

Schedule:

W 1:15 - 3:57 IDS 250 Liberal Arts Capstone Course Jeff Partridge

Synopsis:

Using Hartford as a case study, this course will investigate U.S. immigration-its history, laws, impact and trends. With the help of guest professors who are experts in their fields, visits to Hartford museums and other institutions, and readings that provide a multidisciplinary perspective, we will examine immigration throught the lenses of such academic disciplines as History, Literature, Math/Statistis, Music, Religious Studies, Film, Health Sciences and Philosophy.

Spring 2013 Hartford Heritage Course(s)

Immigration-Hartford and the Nation

Schedule:

W 1:15 - 3:57 IDS 250 Liberal Arts Capstone Course Jeff Partridge

Synopsis:

Fall 2012 Hartford Heritage Course(s)

American Literature II – A Hartford Heritage Course

Schedule:

W 1:15-3:57 ENG 222 American Literature II Jeffrey Partridge
Total Credits: 3

Synopsis

What is American about American literature? In what ways do American writers engage with the values and ideals of American culture? What does this literature say about our achievements and mistakes, our social relationships, our racial, gender, and ethnic diversity? What about this literature has changed since the Civil War era, and what has remained the same? These are some of the central questions we will investigate in this course. We will read a variety of American writers to identify and understand the literary movements and literary forms of this period and to develop a sense of how literature reflects and influences America’s perceptions of identity, race, gender, ethnicity, and societal values.

As a Hartford Heritage Course, we will make use of resources in our city that help to illuminate our study of American literature. Click here for specific examples of how this course makes Hartford an extension of our classroom.

ESL By Design Speak, Read, Write, Design!– A Hartford Heritage Learning Community

Schedule:

COM 105 Visual Communication Jennifer Thomassen
ESL 157 Oral Communication Peggy Schuyler
ESL 153 Writing/Reading Peggy Schuyler
ESL 185 Modes of Communication Jennifer Kriksciun

Synopsis

This Learning Community, as part of the Hartford Heritage Project, offers ESL students an alternative to traditional ESL classes by pairing ESL 157: Oral Communication and ESL 153: Reading/Writing with Communication 105: Visual Communication. The team-teaching approach offers students greater support while they earn credits toward a degree, gain marketable skills and complete ESL requirements. Students will explore the history of G.Fox and Capital Community College at 950 Main St. while they learn design skills and strengthen their command of the English language.

Fall 2011 Hartford Heritage Course(s)

American Literature II – A Hartford Heritage Course

Schedule:

W 1:15-3:57 ENG 222 American Literature II Jeffrey Partridge
Total Credits: 3