LJWorld.com

When Natalie Uhart arrived for the first of her Introduction to Leadership Studies classes, she was surprised to find out she'd be meeting at the Dole Institute of Politics.

"I had no idea what I was getting into," said Uhart, a Lansing senior. "Not that it's a bad thing."

It's not that Kansas University had run out of classrooms; it's just that Uhart was enrolled in a class that was trying something new. Mary Banwart, assistant professor of communication studies, and Jennifer Schmidt, Dole fellow, agreed to team-teach the one-credit class and integrate it with Schmidt's Dole study groups.

The study groups were started several years ago as a way to bring political practitioners to Lawrence where they would meet with students and the public and talk about their experiences.

They've always been popular with the public, but with students?

Not so much.

Schmidt, who was also a fellow last year, wanted to change that, but do so without discouraging members of the public, loyal attendees, from coming to the study groups as well.

So the study groups changed very little, but the class syllabus was adjusted.

"The actual course material, instead of Jennifer and I lecturing, the students listen to the people Jennifer has brought in," Banwart said. The study group topic is "Gender, Race and Religion in Politics."

Eventually, the students will take what they've learned and turn it into a final project. At the moment the plan is for the projects to involve students preparing a campaign memo for one of the presidential candidates and then presenting it to a political operative.

Of course, that work will be separate from the study group, which started Feb. 19 and meets for six of the following eight Tuesdays.

"Jonathan Earle (the institute's interim director) gave us a lot of freedom to develop something we think would work," Schmidt said. "We want to help the university take better advantage of what is offered here at the institute."

At the semester's end, Schmidt and Banwart will examine the successes and failures of the pilot project and report back to Earle and Dole director Bill Lacy when he returns to work.

The program could be continued, changed or ended altogether. One idea would have the study groups be a part of a learning community.

But that's for the future. For now, 15 communications studies students are enjoying a class that is a little different than their others.

"I think this is better than just listening to a lecture," said Felicia DiPede, a Lenexa senior. "I think this is much more beneficial to the (leadership studies) minor."