This week, the “Public Health in Practice” class concluded with a presentation and poster session highlighting the travels and projects undertaken by the students throughout the term.
Characteristic of a class with an Academic Civic Engagement (ACE) component coordinated by the CCCE, the class spent time both in the classroom and the community exploring public health at a local, state, and national level. Within this context, students were introduced to the guiding principles of community based work and research and had a chance to apply these lessons in the field. Students took part in hands-on projects with community partners including Northfield Public Schools and the Minnesota Department of Health, bringing informative films to Carleton and even expanding the national Green Dot Sexual Violence Prevention campaign to Carleton.
Complementing the lessons and work experience, students had a chance to visit a series of for-profit, non-profit, and government organizations working in the area of public health both in Minneapolis and in Washington D.C. including Planned Parenthood, the CDC, and the Minnesota AIDS Project. And of course, no Carleton trip to Washington D.C. is complete without a visit with Senator Al Franken who met with the students to discuss public health and inspire some laughter no doubt.