The Grand Valley State University Community Working Classics Program, winner of the American Philosophical Association’s national award for “Excellence and Innovation in Philosophy,” offers intensive, introductory-level college courses in the liberal arts free of charge at selected locations. Courses are taught by GVSU faculty and students.
Having developed a curriculum and logistical framework for the Working Classics program, GVSU students then become teachers and organizers in the field. They are responsible for recruiting students from the community, presenting the program to agency directors in the area, producing flyers, making the necessary phone calls, and, finally, facilitating a classroom of their own. This teaching, and the relationships that develop from it, comprise the “service” element of the course, which is the centerpiece of our work. Students have offered instruction in ethics, literature, philosophy, history, music, anatomy, math, and many other disciplines.