Frequently Asked Questions
What does an average day look like?
See A Typical Day.
Can we have visitors?
Since creating community is an essential part of the course, it is important to spend time with other course participants. We discourage visitors at the beginning and end of the course becasue our schedule allows little time to provide hospitality for them. The instructors will look to the community to develop a policy on visitors for the middle part of the course. If problems or special concerns arise, we will look to the community to offer suggestions and problem-solve together.
Will we be able to leave the course for a couple of days?
Will we be able to leave the course to return to the Twin Cities for the day?
Since participation (including being there on weekends) is key to individual success in this course, leaving during the course is discouraged and is permitted only in special situations. Contact the instructor as soon as possible if you have a concern.
Will we be able to receive and make phone calls?
Phone and Internet access are available, and some cell phone systems work in the Windom area — check with your provider to determine whether it covers this area. Community members are not to make long distance calls from Shalom Hill Farm phones unless they use a phone card.
Is there a computer available for email?
At least two iMac G5 computers will be available to students for their use. Access to e-mail and the Internet will be available but somewhat limited. Students are encouraged to bring laptop computers if they have them.
What are the sleeping and bathroom arrangements?
The rooms are simple and clean with large windows. Each student will have a single room unless enrollments rquire double occupancy. Student room preferences will be handled on a first come first served basis. Rooms share bathroom facilities across the hallway— roughly one bathroom for every two rooms.
What kind of food will we eat? Are there vegetarian options?
Together, we share the cooking and cleaning duties. We provide vegetarian options at all meals. The participants in the course determine the exact menu and shop for the meals.
Is there any financial aid available?
Is there any way to decrease the cost of Family Lives Worth Living 2006?
Summer session courses and living expenses are eligible for the usual forms of student financial aid. Check with your financial aid adviser to see how these might be available to you. Some course-specific financial aid may be available. Check with Lynn Englund for details.
What can I do to prepare for the course?
Check back with the Family Lives Worth Living Web site from time to time. It will be updated as we get closer to the beginning of the course. Lynn Englund is available to answer particular questions: (612) 624-1055 and engl8813@umn.edu.
What qualities are you looking for in applicants?
We are looking for people interested in sharing the experience of forming community and reflecting together on the topic of family life. Students will be expected to participate in the group and not hang back as spectators. They are expected to engage in the challenge of creating community with others, to give honest and respectful feedback on their experience throughout the session, and to help the community find ways to elicit, accept, and honor the unique gifts and contributions of each member.
How will we be evaluated/graded?
Twenty men crossing a bridge,
Into a village,
Are twenty men crossing twenty bridges,
Into twenty villages,
Or one man
Crossing a single bridge into a village.
Wallace Stevens
From "Metaphors of a Magnifico"
Grading in Family Lives Worth Living is not competitive. It is possible for every student in Family Lives Worth Living to get an "A." Family Lives Worth Living's approach to grading recognizes:
- growth in understanding and knowledge occurs along many dimensions;
- each person has his or her own authentic path to growth; and
- growth can be nurtured in community.
You will use Family Lives Worth Living to find and nurture your growth and development in two areas: (1) grasping what "family life worth living" means for you; and (2) seeing possibilities for your engagement in and contribution to building stronger families, communities, and a more decent world. Like the image in Wallace Stevens' poem, your growth will be completely individual — you will follow your own path to its conclusion — and this will happen by participating with the other students and instructors in the discussions, activities, and shared work of Family Lives Worth Living. The team of instructors is aware that because there are many roads to growth in Family Lives Worth Living — that in a sense you will be living out the adage "we make the road by walking" — grading and evaluation may become a source of anxiety. It is important to emphasize that the instructors and other students will be on the path alongside you. In addition, you will meet every week for half an hour with two instructor "coaches" to help assure that your overall experience is successful, satisfying and of value to you. Participation in the dail life of the community and daily course activities will account for 80% of your grade. A final paper that reflects on your experience of the course to develop your insights and new understandings or hypotheses for what family life worth living means for you will comprise the final 20% of your grade. This paper will not be due until arrpoximately three weeks AFTER the residential portion of the course is completed.