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UW-Madison students help Wisconsin communities with an assist from MOOCs

Coming to a Wisconsin town near you this summer: Shakespeare workshops and sustainability initiatives, courtesy of University of Wisconsin-Madison undergraduates. These student projects are part of the second annual Wisconsin Open Education Community Fellowship, which connects the university and the state in the best tradition of the Wisconsin Idea.

Maria Castillo will work with the Monona Sustainability Committee.
Maria Castillo will work with the Monona Sustainability Committee. (Above: Katherine Piel and Natalie Hogan)

The fellowships encourage undergraduates to work with community partners, creating a project in a Wisconsin town they have a connection to. For summer 2016, Ethan Heyrman will expand climate change education at the Aldo Leopold Nature Center in Monona. Grace Subat will partner with the Oshkosh Community Players and the Oshkosh Area School District to encourage local students to read, discuss, and perform the works of William Shakespeare. Maria Castillo will work on sustainability transportation planning and development with the Monona Sustainability Committee. And Katherine Piel and Natalie Hogan will provide sustainable food activities for elementary school programs at Milwaukee’s Urban Ecology Center.

A unique challenge

Grace Subat will lead Shakespeare workshops for kids in Oshkosh.
Grace Subat will lead Shakespeare workshops for kids in Oshkosh.

Applicants for the fellowship faced a unique challenge: They had to tie their proposals to a topic covered in one of six massive open online courses (MOOCs) offered by UW-Madison’s Division of Continuing Studies during the 2015-16 academic year. The 2016 fellows were inspired by the MOOCs Shakespeare in Community, Changing Weather and Climate in the Great Lakes Region, Climate Change Policy and Public Health, and Energy and the Earth.

Ethan Heyrman will expand climate change education at the Aldo Leopold Nature Center in Monona.
Ethan Heyrman will expand climate change education at the Aldo Leopold Nature Center in Monona.

Each fellow will receive a $3,000 stipend and up to $1,000 for project expenses. Community partners and the students’ UW-Madison mentors will also receive $1,000 for their efforts.

The Wisconsin Open Education Community Fellowship is a collaboration of UW-Madison’s Division of Continuing Studies, Educational Innovation, and Morgridge Center for Public Service. For more information, contact Mark Bennett, mark.bennett@wisc.edu, 608-262-6066.