Community Service and Service Learning: Working for Democracy,
Diversity and Citizenship
May 29?31, 1997, Waltham, MA
In cooperation with Campus Compact
and the National Society for Experiential Education
This conference is designed to help faculty, students, administrators and
community members to develop powerful linkages to foster better teaching
and learning, to empower local communities, and to develop intercultural
citizenship.
Many students and faculty are transformed by working directly with
individuals different from themselves, as they encounter practical issues of
democracy, diversity, community development and empowerment, social
justice, and personal responsibility. This conference will highlight the
distinctive intellectual bases of community service, service learning and
other forms of civic learning. We will offer examples of different types
programs, including structures, practices, awarding of credit, assessments,
and administrative supports. In addition, we will examine the pedagogical
and experiential basis of community service, service learning, community
based learning and its relationship to civic participation, diversity and
community. Finally, we will discuss the impacts of community-based
learning on both student learning and community development and will
analyze how to make mutually beneficial college and community
partnerships.
The notion of collaboration between student, faculty, community
organization and the larger college community is informed by the
practical questions of:
* How does one create collaborative relationships with people of diverse
backgrounds?
* What affect does community and student involvement in curriculum,
teaching and learning have on service learning?
* How do various disciplines connect service and learning?
* How does one learn the skills required to build effective and caring
communities?
After colleges and universities incorporate community service and service
learning into their curricular and student programs large numbers of students
and professors are finding these experiential approaches are powerful
avenues for examining the practical issues of community development,
empowerment, social justice, and personal responsibility.
We will:
*explore the role of education in preparing students for an increasingly
diverse and complex world;
*discuss the impact of service learning and diversity on student learning;
*examine the role of faculty and staff as citizens and researchers;
*consider the value service learning in empowering communities;
*analyze the tensions of class, race and gender in service learning initiatives.
Thursday, May 29
Registration from 10:30 am to 1:00 pm
Service Case Studies 1:00 - 5:00 pm
The first session will begin with area colleges providing an opportunity to
create common service experiences that will act as a learning framework for
the remainder of the conference. Both reflection and framing questions will
present key questions leading to discussion.
Film: "Skin Deep: College Students Confronting Racism." Discussion will
follow. 7:00-9:00 pm
Featured Sessions on Friday, May 30
PLENARY: J. Herman Blake, Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education,
Indiana University Purdue University- "A National Perspective: Service
Learning and Community Empowerment in a Diverse Society"
SESSIONS:
Strategies for Engaging Diversity, Democracy and Learning in Service
Learning
Assessing the Impact of Service Learning on Student Development
Understanding Diversity
Community & Students as Researchers and Teachers
PLENARY: Hope and Justice: Community Development and Campus
Responsibility
Curriculum & Course Development: Community Empowerment and Civic
Responsibility. Engaging and Rewarding Faculty
Negotiating Partnerships with Communities
Justice-Seeking: Organizing and Activism in Service Learning
Saturday, May 31
Students, Community & Faculty Integrate the Learning. (proposals are
invited)
Institutional Change: Impact of Service and Diversity on
Campus/Community Relations
Perspectives on Applied Research in Service Learning
Where do we go from here? (Small group discussion and report)
Conference will end at 12:00 noon on Saturday, May 31.
Request for Proposals
Teams (and individuals) comprised of faculty, students, and local
community members are encouraged to propose sessions and to
facilitate the discussion groups. We invite various types of proposals
(model programs & initiatives, perspectives on effective reflection, faculty
rewards & incentives, uses of reflection, community in the classroom,
incorporating service learning into courses and departments, uses of
technology in service learning) to address the constituencies (students,
faculty, community persons) attending the conference. Proposals should be
no more than two pages and include the following: name(s) of presenters
and coordinator of the group, institution or community affiliation, address,
telephone number(s), fax number, E-mail, title of the session, goal of the
session, critical questions to be addressed, format of presentation, target
audience(s), and how you will engage the participants. Each session will be
90 minutes. Presentation proposals should be no more than two pages.
Please send your proposal to: Parker Johnson, AAC&U, 1818 R St. NW,
Washington, D.C. 20009 or fax (202) 265-9532 or E-mail:
johnson@aacu.nw.dc.us. If you have questions please call Parker Johnson at
(202) 884-7423. Please submit your proposal by February 3, 1997.
Selected Conference Leaders:
Bernice Bass deMartinez, Provost, Indiana State University
Sharon Bassett, Executive Director, Massachusetts Campus Compact
Rick Battistoni, Professor of Political Science and Director, Feinstein
Institute for Public Service, Providence College
J. Herman Blake, Vice Chancellor, Indiana University/Purdue University
Nadinne Cruz, Associate Director, Hass Center for Service Learning,
Stanford University Donna Duffy, Professor of Psychology, Middlesex
Community College
Richard Guarasci, Dean and Professor of Political Science, Hobart and
William Smith Colleges
Diane J. Johnson, Manager Of Programs and Training, Lincoln Filenes
Center, Tufts University
Peter Kiang, Associate Professor of Education, University of Massachusetts
- Boston
Edward Zlotkowski, Professor of English and Director of Service Learning,
Bentley College
For more information and a complete brochure contact:
AAC&U Network for Academic Renewal, 1818 R St., NW,
Washington, D.C. 20009. Tel. (202) 387-3760; fax (202) 265-9532;
E-mail: meetings@aacu.nw.dc.us