Call for Papers: International Partnership for Service-Learning and Leadership

Posted by on April 29, 2005

The International Partnership for Service-Learning and Leadership (IPSL) is seeking paper and poster session proposals for its 23rd International Conference. The conference will take place in Rapid City, South Dakota (USA) from October 16-22, 2005. It will be organized around the interrelated themes of listening and telling our stories through service-learning. The many nations and cultures in which the Partnership has worked are rich in stories and story-telling-from compelling stories about individual lives to the myths and fables that shape the culture and beliefs of an entire people. At its best, service-learning creates avenues for students to enter into and understand cultures and nations through their stories, both personal and collective-and allows students to reflect on their own stories, and (one hopes) to change the future life course of their stories, both personally and professionally.

Why this theme for this conference? We have chosen as our location the home of the Lakota Nation, one of the many tribes that compose the rich and complex world of American Indians, who live as sovereign nations within the larger nation of the United States and whose ways of knowing and acting are deeply entwined with the use of stories. The history and current situation of American Indian nations is replete with powerful stories told and powerful lessons of the need for more thoughtful listening on the part of others. Themes of story-telling and listening, and their lessons for service-learning in intercultural and international settings, will be featured in keynote presentations, concurrent sessions, poster sessions and discussion groups; in visits to service agencies in the Lakota Nation; and in field trips to geographic sites of particular importance to many American Indian nations of the North American Great Plains.

Paper and poster sessions will focus on three skills that are essential to and can be developed through service-learning:

1. eliciting from “others” their stories, ideas, and opinions

2. (truly)listening and (truly) hearing the stories of those whose beliefs, life experiences, assumptions, and epistemologies and values are different from one’s own.

3. reflecting upon and telling one’s own story and how it intersects with the stories of others

Each of these skills can be taught through service-learning. Paper and poster sessions will give concrete examples of specific techniques that have enhanced service-learning in these areas. The use of case studies, oral history, participant-observation, journal writing, and incorporating service agencies into the teaching are but a few of the means of eliciting, listening and reflective telling of stories that can enrich and deepen the service-learning experience for students and the community.

See http://www.ipsl.org/conferences for instructions on proposing a paper or poster session. The deadline date for submitting proposals is May 15, 2005.