Practicum group is like a Big Mac: an odd combination of elements that surprisingly work together. Unlike the Mac, practicum group is good for you. It is a required course that assists general students in integrating what they are experiencing in their internships, in the classroom, and in their living situations with the immediacy of the urban realities around them. At its best, the group helps you find connections between these topics. To do that, it combines academic work (writing and critical analysis), informal reflection, and communal support.

We meet weekly for an hour and a half in a group that brings together students from different colleges and varying backgrounds. We begin by sharing autobiographies and move into a series of writing assignments and conversations that explore the power of place in shaping human experience, including ours. All the while, we keep tabs on each other to make sure no one gets lost in the rush of a big town, 3 million strong.

You can't understand Chicago unless you see its neighborhoods. So, as part of the practicum course, we head out for a peek. Each practicum group is assigned a neighborhood and visits that area three times during the term. Students keep watch for what makes the community alive and what threatens it. Who lives there? What's life like? What issues are hot (maybe affordable housing, or relations with the cops, or availability of jobs, or quality of schools)? Who are the community leaders and what are they up to? What defines the area and its borders? All the groups later come together and offer a profile of their neighborhood during a festive evening of presentations. Note: If you are in the Nursing, Social Work or Student Teaching tracks, you will instead participate in a weekly seminar with other students in your professional area.