Global Service-Learning

The University of Georgia Office of Service-Learning

THE OFFICE OF SERVICE-LEARNING The Office of Service-Learning (OSL) was established in 2005 to support and expand academic service-learning experiences in both residential academic courses and study abroad. The OSL is jointly supported by the Office of the Vice President for Instruction and the Office of the Vice President for Public Service & Outreach in order to forge stronger connections between the public service and instructional missions of the University of Georgia.

2008 GLOBAL SERVICE-LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

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THAILAND: Rural and Urban Sustainability Issues

Preparing Students to

Leadership and support for global service-learning is provided by the OSL’s 2008-09 Senior Scholar for Global Initiatives, Pratt Cassity, pcassity@uga.edu.

In 2008, UGA students have more opportunities than ever to participate in a wide variety of study abroad programs incorporating global service-learning. Programs include:

Summer 2008 – Bangkok and Chiang Mai

Program Director: Prof. Pratt Cassity, College of Environment and Design

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Service-Learning

Engage the World

VIETNAM: Supporting Children and Families with Disabilities Maymester 2008 - Hanoi, Vietnam

Program Director: Dr. Jenny Manders, Institute on Human Development and Disability

CAMBODIA: Intergenerational Studies in Cambodia Summer 2008 – Phnom Pehn, Cambodia

Dr. Denise Lewis, Child and Family Development

TANZANIA: Sustainable Service-Learning in Tanzania Maymester 2008

Dr. Lioba Moshi, African Studies Institute

GHANA: Community Design Service-Learning Summer 2008

Program Co-Directors: Prof. Pratt Cassity, College of Environment and Design and Dr. Alex Kojo Anderson, Foods and Nutrition

ARMENIA: International Business and Relations Maymester 2008

Program Director: Dr. Glenn Ames, International Public Service and Outreach

For a complete listing of program offerings, see the www.servicelearning.uga.edu

MORE info about the OSL?

Dr. Shannon O. Wilder, Director 706-542-8924 osl@uga.edu Instructional Plaza North www.servicelearning.uga.edu

Development of global service-learning programs at UGA focuses on providing students experience living and working in emerging economies throughout the world.

The University of Georgia Office of Service-Learning

ACADEMIC SERVICE-LEARNING

The University of Georgia

Gl bal Service-Learning Programs

is an experiential education method that integrates academic instruction and relevant service aimed at addressing community needs to enhance learning of academic content and an understanding of personal and civic responsibilities.

Ultimately students involved in global service-learning projects must realize they cannot “save the world” but possess the knowledge and individual power to engage with complex global issues and make a social contribution as a global citizen.

At the University of Georgia, study abroad and service-learning are increasingly intertwined in a growing list of locales that span the globe as well as a vast array of disciplines. This commingling of different areas of expertise with complex problems has proven invaluable to students, but it is what the students bring back to Georgia with them which gives substance to service-learning abroad.

“As much as we are able to assist local communities, other international students and to make a difference, it’s what we bring back with us that’s at the heart of what we’re doing,” says Pratt Cassity, a public service faculty member in Landscape Architecture at UGA and the director of the Thailand and Ghana Study Abroad Programs.

Developing heart and soul while feeding the mind

In study abroad programs incorporating service-learning, UGA students have the opportunity to address global issues on a community level through academically rigorous service projects in partnership with local communities.

Global Service-Learning experiences must be something more than academic or educational tourism. How can we prepare students to engage more fully in an international community rather than being interested observers?

Through global servicelearning, students learn by: - confronting culture and language barriers - working directly with local communities - applying course content to community development - engaging in continual critical reflection - listening and responding to community needs - collaborating with cross-cultural partners - accepting local knowledge and technological innovation - creating sustainable solutions - developing a concept of global citizenship - connecting global to local issues

Global Service-Learning: Increasing academic Rigor through engagement with global issues

UGA students studying in Southeast Asia, for example, have the opportunity to study and work on significant cultural, social, and economic issues facing local peoples in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. UGA students must apply academic content from disparate disciplines like landscape architecture, child and family development, and engineering to projects addressing real world issues, such as: As much as we are able to assist local communities, other international students and to make a difference, it’s what we bring back with us that’s at the heart of what we’re doing.”

- developing comprehensive urban revitalization plans in partnership with a traditional Thai community in Bangkok at risk of losing local history to development - supporting Vietnamese children with disabilities and their families in a culture grappling with unexploded ordinance, Agent Orange exposure, and the continuing legacy of war.

- working with Cambodian NGOs assisting grandmothers raising orphaned grandchildren whose mothers died of AIDS and connecting experiences to grandparents raising grandchildren in the United States.

By working with international partners and through constant written and group reflection, the students, faculty, and international partners gain new perspectives, engage in problem-solving, and analyze their own culture, values, and assumptions.

Through global service-learning, students are challenged to leave cultural comfort zones in order to see local issues in a new, unfamiliar contexts. Global service-learning prepares students to engage the world upon return to their own communities.