Service-Learning

Experiential learning is an essential part of the sociology major at Mizzou. It offers the opportunity to gain professional skills, puts the academic material from your classwork into context, and builds a professional profile as you prepare for graduation.

Service-Learning courses at MU combine academic coursework with relevant and impactful service in the community. The goal of service-learning is simple-what students learn in the classroom is applied in the community to create engaged and effective servers, and, conversely, student activities in the community are integrated into the classroom to transform and enrich learning. There are several service-learning courses at MU that span many departments. If you are interested in a taking a service-learning course to meet a general education requirement or as an elective, we recommend searching for the “service-learning attribute” in MyZou as you build your semester schedule.

Service-Learning courses in Sociology:

Sociology 4450/7450, Research Practicum in Health, Place, and Community

This is a service-learning course where the service component consists of conducting research for community partners. Organizations will specify their needs, but the most likely scenario is that students will develop and field a survey and write a report for the organization based on their specific questions/evaluation needs. Students will work in small groups to accomplish the task. Fulfills senior capstone requirement. Available during registration through MyZou. No consent required.

Sociology 3942, Independent Study in Service Learning

Service learning in Sociology is an independent study that offers a student the opportunity to gain volunteer experience (3-4 hours/week), and start building a professional profile in preparation for post-graduate studies or professional life. You must identify a faculty mentor for your independent study and get their approval for your application. Students Apply here and you will be linked to the MU Office of Service Learning for help in finding a placement. You will go through a placement process at the start of the term you are enrolled. The MU Office of Service-Learning will reach out to you, but if you have any questions you are welcome to reach out at servicelearning@missouri.edu.

If you are interested in service-learning or community service in general, we strongly recommend that you take a look at the community partners connected with the MU Office of Service-Learning. Navigate to this page, no need to log in, scroll down and click on “Community Partners”. Here you can look at all their partnerships and get an idea of the types of agencies they work with. Each page will have a direct link to the community partner’s website. If you want to simply volunteer on your own time, we recommend that you navigate to their website and fill out a volunteer application.