This seminar seeks to foster collaboration among learners with different areas of expertise to produce a common end product. The seminar, interdisciplinary in approach, will culminate in the production and publication of a historical novel, including illustrations and cover design, for a Junior High audience. Each student will be involved in both individual and group research: for example, those students responsible for the illustrations and cover design will have to steep themselves in research of the dress, architecture, and modes of transportation of the particular time period.

In addition to my guidance in the project, the students will also receive guidance from guest speakers chosen from both the university and the community. Since Rutherford County is blessed with an active Historical Society, the students should be able to benefit from a more interactive learning experience than generally provided by book research only. This course will also provide the students with the experience of working cooperatively with members of the larger community, something that could encourage future community involvement. Since the community-university link is vital to the success of this project, the students will be encouraged to consider the town or the county as their classroom. The course will function as a workshop wherein learners can work together with peers who have different interests and expertise but who can share knowledge to achieve a common goal.

Planning and problem solving will be integral to the course. I will decide the time period to be researched (or perhaps give the class a choice of two or three periods), but the students will engage in the brainstorming to develop an imaginative, yet realistic plot. I will provide guidance, through both guest speakers and selected readings, that will help them focus their research and writing efforts to a specific age group. From the beginning of the term, we will have to steep ourselves in the time frame, moving from national happenings and the climate of the times (political, social, and economic) to the local. Again, guest speakers and supplementary information should be easy to supply.

The individual students will be responsible for achieving specific tasks assigned to them, as well as participating in group activities. For instance, each student may be asked to describe a day in the life of a particular character in an essay that will be workshopped in the class. We would then, as a class, determine the strengths and weaknesses of each daily account, and subsequently create the character from this collaborative effort. The students will be engaged not only with the writing process but also with research. The Albert Gore Center on campus will be an invaluable resource for such research materials as pictures, ephemera, and even verbal accounts pertaining to certain events or areas. Students can also access the records held at the county archives and will likely conduct interviews with people who have information or stories to share.

The students, no more than ten in number, will be the focus of the course; I will act as mentor and facilitator. They will develop their ideas as a group, share their research, read their writing aloud for discussion and evaluation, and set most deadlines. There will be a division of labor according to interest, talent, and expertise. Each student will be required to complete a questionnaire at the end of the course which will evaluate the collaborative experience; if a person is named on more than two forms as not contributing his/her fair share, his/her grade will be adversely affected. Many students will eventually encounter collaborative projects in the workplace; therefore, this course will provide them with firsthand experience with the joys and frustrations inherent in such situations.

Since this concept is being designed as an upper division Honors course, the students will have to be eligible for the Honors college. Beyond those qualifications, I plan on actively recruiting students who can bring a diverse conglomeration of talents. Since the basis of this course is to compose a novel-length work, strong writing skills will be a necessity for any student in this course. I think that some sort of screening or interview process should be in place. Ideally I would like to see a sample of each candidate's writing, and conduct an "interview" to ascertain whether this particular person would be an asset to a larger group, and also to definitively outline the requirements and expectations of the course. I think that if this course is publicized in a comprehensive manner, there will be a good number of students in the applicant pool.

Because of the huge time investment these students will have to make for this class, I have designed this as a four credit course. The students in this class will be spending an inordinate amount of time outside of the classroom doing research, conducting interviews, and planning and writing the work itself. The workload itself may amount to even double that of a typical upper division course. This extensive workload may scare off some students who feel that their schedules will not enable them to put forth such a commitment. But just the same, I think that it would be just to reward those students who do accomplish these tasks in a semester's time. Ideally students could plan for taking this class a semester or two in advance and adjust their schedules accordingly.

In closing, I believe that this concept encompasses many of the precepts the Honors College and the University as whole strives to achieve. The interdisciplinary nature of the project will enable the participating students to engage in a true WAC-based interactive learning process while fostering community-university relations.

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