Global Service-Learning Institute and Retreat

Posted by on January 12, 2008

Amizade is pleased to announce – after several years of requests – that it is opening its annual Global Service-Learning Institute and Retreat to the broader community. The 5th Annual Amizade Global Service-Learning Institute will take place at Carlow University on February 14 and 15 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Registration and location information appears below.

Overview:

The Amizade Institute offers specific theoretical constructs and practical tools for implementing a systematic, academically-rigorous, reciprocal and reflective approach to global service-learning and the development of global citizenship. The Amizade Global Service-Learning model has been developed, honed, and evaluated through cooperation with faculty and staff members at several Research 1 Institutions and Liberal Arts Universities. The Institute and Retreat is unique for its clear and specific approach to global service-learning and global citizenship development in the context of liberal education, as well as its deliberate focus on discursive space, dialogue, and course and pedagogical development among Institute participants.

Outcomes:

Participants will:
* Gain exposure to a curricular approach adaptable to any course or discipline;
* Gain exposure to a deliberately reflective yet rooted and applicable construct of global citizenship;
* Receive a specific related set of reflective readings one month in advance of the institute and retreat;
* Have opportunity to dialogue with colleagues about successes, challenges, and best practices;
* Gain information on opportunities to connect with Amizade’s established set of community-driven service partnerships in 14 communities around the world;
* Have clear and structured opportunity to integrate global citizenship, specific intercultural learning goals, and critical reflection on service into an existing course syllabus.

Expectations of Institute Participants:

Participants should:

* Read materials provided (less than 50 total pages) prior to Institute;
* Participate and engage actively throughout Institute weekend;
* Arrive with a course initiative, campus initiative, or syllabus with the intent of integrating lessons learned and considering institute applications within that framework.

Presenters and Session Facilitators:

Presenters and Session Facilitators bring a combined 50+ years of deep involvement in global service-learning, intercultural exchange, university teaching, and community-driven development. Presenters include:

·         Christopher Boettcher, Ph.D., Associate Professor of English, Castleton College, with expertise developing curriculum, leading courses, employing journaling and composition as deliberate reflective methodologies, and overseeing curricular objectives relating to cooperation with community partners in Brazil, Ghana, Jamaica, rural Montana, Northern Ireland, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

·         Jen Saffron, MFA, Film Studies Faculty, University of Pittsburgh, with expertise leading courses on photography and film in social and political organizing, conducting ethnography, and producing award-winning films and arts-based learning in cooperation with community partners in Jamaica, the Navajo Nation, Northern Ireland, and the US South.

·         Jessica Friedrichs, MPA/MSW, Faculty Member, School for Social Change, Director, Center for Service-Learning, Carlow College, with expertise producing transferable models for course development and curricular integration, training faculty members on global service-learning methodology, and facilitating courses in Bolivia, the Navajo Nation, Northern Ireland, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Tanzania .

·         Eric Hartman, Ph.D., Executive Director, Amizade Global Service-Learning and Instructor, Public Administration and Political Science Programs, West Virginia University, with expertise cooperating with diverse institutions and programs to develop co-curricular and academic service-learning programs, as well as community-based research and teaching connected to global service-learning in Bolivia, Jamaica, Ghana, Peru, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Tanzania.

·         Richard Kiely, Ph.D., Center for Teaching Excellence, Cornell University, with expertise developing theoretical models and producing and publishing research relating to program design and student outcomes in cooperation with programs in Bolivia, Nicaragua, and Tanzania, as well as several years of experience co-leading global service-learning experiences in rural Nicaragua.

·         Monica Frolander-Ulf, Ph.D., Professor of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh – Johnstown, with experiences conducting and developing research in cooperation with community members, developing community member course participation, ensuring full community voice and participation in course syllabi and instruction, and leading courses in Jamaica and the Navajo Nation.

Registration will open December 1. The registration fee is $180 for both days. Lunches are included. Dress is casual. Participants will receive an electronic reading set (of less than 50 pages) one month in advance of the Institute.  Lodging is available nearby in Pittsburgh’s neighborhood of universities – Oakland. Lodging details will follow.

Amizade would like to thank West Virginia University’s Office of International Programs and Center for Civic Engagement for their cooperation in developing and advancing global service-learning and systematic and rigorous global citizenship education over the past four years.

Amizade would also like to thank Carlow University for its cooperation in providing a convenient and accessible meeting space, while also commending Carlow for its “Expanding Worldview” theme this year.

Of course and additionally, Amizade would very much like to thank its numerous community partners, along with the many universities, high schools, community groups and civic associations with which it works to connect people across cultures through service.