Affiliation:
1. New York City College of Technology, City University of New York, USA
Abstract
This chapter discusses the development and implementation of an interdisciplinary learning community between the departments of Dental Hygiene and Biological Sciences, correlating nutrition with oral health and oral cancer and its prevention by early screening. The goal of the project was to engage underrepresented, urban undergraduate students in civic learning, with an eye toward expanding learning capacities and civic responsibilities beyond the classroom. The project followed participation in the 2010 Summer Institute offered by the National Science Foundation’s Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities (SENCER). Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology integrates basic science curriculum and applies this unified foundation knowledge to the clinical evaluation of disease, thereby closing the gap between didactic and applied material. Dental Hygiene students enrolled in Nutrition and Anatomy and Physiology will learn to connect this knowledge gained with practical application outside the natural sciences, which in turn will make these courses more interesting and relevant.