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Learn more about the Paulo Freire International Community Service Grant at the information session on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2007 at 3:00 pm in 110 Heller Hall (map)!
Statement of Purpose
The Learning Abroad Center,
in partnership with the Career and Community Learning Center (CCLC),
sponsors several students annually through grants of up to $2,000.
The program is named after Paulo Freire, an educator and leader who sought to empower the oppressed through literacy programs that encouraged social and political awareness. In this spirit, the program emphasizes how human oppression and liberation overlap with community service and international work.
Program
Description
The program includes unique
opportunities for self-discovery, multicultural understanding, personal
growth, and community service. Students are expected to participate
in orientation meetings prior to the summer abroad, and to share
their experiences through Learning Abroad Center events upon their
return.
Part One:
Critical Perspectives on Community Involvement, Spring Semester 2008
The session is recommended for students with significant past
experience with community work and/or service-learning. This session
will call upon participants to problematize "service" and think
critically about their own service experiences both past and present.This training will focus on the idea of "service" and what place
service has in society and in our own lives. Students will participate
in a variety of discussions and activities that explore notions of
service. Some of the questions we ask in this session include: who
deserves service, who benefits from service, and what place does service
have in the quest for social change? A major component of the training
is the analysis of a case study. Participants will apply this analysis
and discussion to their own work in the community and consider their
future goals for community work.For more information, contact the Career and Community Learning Center at 612.626.2044 or cclc@class.cla.umn.edu.
Part Two:
International Project, Summer 2008
You will travel abroad a minimum of nine weeks of participation in an international community service project. You will design or select your program, including the international site, project, living arrangements, and travel. Alternate timelines may be considered.We invite proposals that create meaningful experiential learning opportunities around the themes of social justice, human rights, and community development. There are a wide variety of possible projects and organizations to work with. Past recipients have participated in a wide range of projects from human rights advocacy in Ethiopia to working with asylum seekers in the Netherlands. The Learning Abroad Center has excellent resources. Contact a Learning Abroad Center adviser or access the work, intern, and volunteer program search page.
Part Three:
Connecting the Global and Local Communities, Fall 2008
Upon your return to campus, you will enroll in a course that supports intercultural understanding. The course must be approved by the grant sponsors; a listing of possible service-learning courses is available through CCLC. The course will have a community work component that will involve 20-30 hours of community service. Students must be registered for the fall course before beginning the international project in the summer.
Eligibility
This program is available
only to registered University of Minnesota-Twin Cities undergraduate
students who will return to the University to continue their undergraduate
course work. Grants will be given on a one-time basis only; grant
recipients will be ineligible to apply for a future grant.
The grant may affect the total amount of funding students receive from financial aid sources. Contact the Office of Student Finance at 612.624.1111 to find out how this may affect your individual situations.
Application
Process
The application deadline
for this grant is 4:00 pm on Friday, November 30, 2007.
Applications must be submitted to the Learning Abroad Center in
230 Heller Hall. Applications will not be considered after the due
date. Faxed applications will not be accepted.
Selected candidates will be invited to individual interviews with a selection committee to discuss their proposals. Interviews will be scheduled in early December. Grant recipients will be notified after December 15.
The grant is awarded to students who demonstrate that they have reflected on the program's connection to their personal and academic goals; and who construct clear, well-developed links between the three different phases of the program. Although it is not required that students have their international project finalized in order to apply for the grant, students who have selected possible locations and projects, and taken steps toward structuring their international project will be given priority.
Download your application or pick one up at the Learning Abroad Center in 230 Heller Hall (map) or at CCLC in 345 Fraser Hall (map).
Contact Sarah Tschida with questions about the grant.
Last modified on May 13, 2008 |