Program Description
The Department offers a Minor in Public Service Studies to undergraduate students in any college at Cornell. The Public Service Studies Minor provides students with intellectual frameworks for developing and sustaining commitments to community engagement and global citizenship. Students gain critical thinking tools for reflecting about and promoting social change. No specific advisor is required; all departmental faculty are available to discuss students' plans for completing the Minor. Students are required to complete 160 hours of an engaged/service learning experience set within a pre-agreed framework for reporting, reflection, and assessment. For this reason, students are advised to begin planning for the minor with a faculty member no later than the end of Fall semester of their junior year. Students are also required to take the Capstone Course for Public Service Studies in the spring semester before their graduation. It is recommended that students apply for the minor before they take the capstone course but no later than March 31st prior to their graduation. To be certified for the Minor, a student must submit a completed Minor Form and transcript to the Director of Undergraduate Studies by this date.
Minor Requirements
Specific criteria for the minor are:
- Five courses plus 160 hours of engaged/service learning experience that is set within a pre-agreed framework for reporting, reflection, and assessment. Contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies for the framework document.
- ANTHR 1900 Global Engagements: Living and Working in a Diverse World (3 credits)
- Capstone course for Public Service Studies. (1 credit)
- One Anthropology course at the 2000 level or above of at least 3 credits in an area relevant to your focus (development, migration, cultural diversity, etc.).
- Three electives of at least 3 credits each drawn from the interdisciplinary list of approved courses that feature public service/community engagement components and courses that provide skills, concepts, and knowledge critical to understanding public service, engagement, and social justice. Students may also use one area studies course relevant to their engaged/service learning experience to contribute to the elective credit requirement. (6-7 credits)
- No S/U classes will be accepted; all classes must be taken for a letter grade.
- Students must achieve a C- or better in all courses taken to fulfill the minor.
- One of the courses for the minor may be taken as transfer credit and one may be taken through study abroad. A minimum of three of the five required courses must be taken at Cornell.
