By Adam Wadding
This May summer mini-term an Urban Sociology course will be hitting the streets on wheels. From May 10 to the 26th, students taking the course will be studying urban neighborhoods from the view of a bicycle seat.
Students will study urban neighborhoods and collect data about its surroundings. By the end of the term any clean up or rebuilding that students find necessary for neighborhoods will be turned over to the Metro street department in hopes that they can make these changes.
Don Kintner, Professor of Psychology and Management, and Human Relations, proposed the course after visiting a similar course at De Paul University in Chicago, Illinois. The political science course had students ride through the city and study the streets of Chicago.
“After visiting their University I looked online at the course and decided to adopt their ideas into a sociology class,” said Kintner.
Kintner, an avid biker, tries to ride his bicycle as much as he can back and forth to work and running daily errands. He jumped at the chance to mix one of his passions along with his teaching.
“I try to incorporate biking into my daily routine, and it excited me that I could create a course to take students out on a bike to get 3 hour credits,” said Kintner. “I hope to help them become an avid biker and see the city from a different perspective.”
This is the first time that the three hour credit Sociology course will be offered at Trevecca. If the course turns out successful, it will be offered more than just in the summer mini-term and will be on course listings during either the fall or spring semesters next year.
Students are required to provide their own bicycle, helmet, lock, and be familiar with riding a bike for long periods of time. They must be able to ride from five to fifteen miles a day. After students visit the surrounding neighborhoods by bike, they are to adopt one of their choosing and visit back daily to interview the people, study the surroundings, and conduct a neighborhood health analysis.
A backup van will be ready for the days with bad weather, but Kintner hopes to have clear skies for the two weeks that the class will be in session.
The current limit for the mini-term is around 11 students because it is the first time doing a class like this. Some students have already registered and expressed interest for the summer mini-term.
“I will be happy with five or six students” said Kintner.
Chaperone volunteers have been asked to help guide the group safely while traveling.
Kintner hopes that the class will end up a success, and the size can be expanded for future semesters.
For more information about the course or to register email Kitner at: Dkintner@trevecca.edu
