Teaching Beyond the Curriculum

Abstract

The Rhizome Living-Learning Community, one of over twenty such programs at Virginia Tech, brings together global thought and local action. Students from a broad range of disciplines learn about sustainable development and systems thinking before embarking on a series of design-based projects for local clients, primarily nonprofits, local governments, and campus departments at VT. Many programs at the university engage in this sort of experiential learning, from extra-curricular alternative spring breaks to upper-level architecture and design studio courses. Virginia Tech is located in Blacksburg, Virginia, a small town in the southwest of the state whose permanent population is smaller than that of the university’s student body. This unbalanced ratio makes careful management of relationships with local partners especially important, as the Town government and local nonprofits can easily find themselves overwhelmed with requests for service-learning opportunities. Two unique aspects of Rhizome’s program are that it asks first-year students to undertake something approaching real-world design projects, and that Rhizome’s courses are required for students to live in their preferred dormitory. These facts heighten the need for careful outreach and engagement strategies to manage both partner and student expectations while providing a meaningful experience for all involved. This paper presents Rhizome as a case study for similar programs, presenting some of the lessons learned from the first three years of the program’s operation. Based on these lessons, I will present best practices to guide the development of similar partnerships.