Students engage with James Street community in meaningful way
Students visit the Hamilton Store and learn that everything sold in the shop has a Hamilton connection.
What assumptions do you make about a community as you walk down a street? What do you observe? Who do you observe? What do you think they observe about you?
These are some of the questions that students in Sheila Sammon’s course are asked as part of an assignment.
The assignment, within the Foundations of Community Engagement course, takes students on a tour James Street North to note observations about the community and how they engage with it. They wander the Farmers’ Market on York, walk into the Hamilton Store on James, pick up a warm drink at Mulberry Street Coffeehouse and talk with the shop owners they meet along the way.
They are better informing themselves of the complex issues involved in community change. James Street in particular is an example of community revitalization and gentrification.
The goal is to discuss the benefits and difficulties with changes that occur in a community. This assignment not only gets students out into the community, but informs them in a meaningful way to actively engage with their city.
