C-START Teaching Initiative Enters 2nd Year

Four courses offered for the spring 2002 semester will be taught by UNC undergraduate students as part of a program aiming to put students doing independent study projects at the head of the classroom.

The program -- Carolina Students Taking Academic Responsibility Through Teaching -- is now in its second year after being founded by a $5,000 grant from former provost Dick Richardson.

Officials with the program said the C-START courses, which will each be taken for one hour of pass/D/fail credit, cover topics not normally found in the undergraduate curriculum.

"We picked courses that are not already offered and are of interest to students," said Donna Lefebvre, a political science professor and co-adviser for C-START.

"Their topics are also things the student teachers are really passionate about."

The courses will be taught by UNC seniors Durba Chattaraj, Jeremy Hurtz, Eric Johnson and Jessica Tucker.

Students teaching the courses said they were attracted to the program because of their interest in the topics and the opportunity it provides to teach in a classroom setting.

"I'm really into independent learning, and one of the best ways to learn is to teach something," said Johnson, who is teaching a course on the purpose of public universities.

The courses will all be held in the James M. Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence in Graham Memorial, a facility student teachers praised for its capabilities to incorporate technology into the classroom.

"They wanted us to be in Graham, and that building is well set up to allow the use of PowerPoint and Internet," said Tucker, who is teaching a course that examines eating disorders.

"I like those types of things and am planning to use them in the class."

Hurtz is teaching a class about comic books, and Chattaraj is teaching a course about visual arts in Asia.

Lefebvre said the C-START program will be re-evaluated after this year because the $5,000 was given to fund the program for only two years.

But Lefebvre said she hopes to see C-START continue through the grass roots efforts of undergraduate students to raise money, organize the courses and coordinate the program. She compared C-START to APPLES, a student-run service-learning program now funded through student fees.

"If students don't support this, it will die," she said.

"The ball is really in the students' court this semester."

Tucker said she thinks students will be supportive of C-START because the program offers a unique opportunity to be educated by one of their peers.

"It's important to be taught by professors, but students teaching a course know what it feels like and can admit when they don't know something," she said.

"They can easily discuss topics on the class's level."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.