Instructor interview for Place-Based WAC/WID writing instruction in Food Sciences, Health, and Nutrition, clip 5 of 17

Abstract

Brief excerpt from interview: When I walk into the classroom, I will go to each student and call them by name because I've gotten to know them by following their journals, and I ask if everything is ok... In many of our classes we will go in a circle and ask the students to share where they are working, what are some of the projects they've been working on that particular week. We also have guest speakers come in and talk about what the expectations are. In the last part of the class, students do a formal presentation, and we actually invite the Dean, and we invite upper- and lower-classmen to come in... Folks from Japan, they have free medicine, basically, and here we don't. They see a difference in stark black and white, and they let us know. It embarrasses me to have this pointed out. We are supposed to be the gold standard of nutrition and we are in this medical community that is a mess. Some Pacific Island students, they come from islands where nobody lives to the age of 60 or so, because of complications of diabetes, and they're here to bring their expertise back to their communities.