My Social Vision for Civic Engagement

Rammy Salem

Community Service for the Resume

The Roots

Participating in UNA-USA’s HERO Program

Transformative Experience

One woman dies in childbirth every minute.

50% of schools worldwide don’t have access to clean water. charitywater.org

100 people every minute pushed into poverty by economic crisis

One acre of tropical forest disappears every second

Maybe Life is More than Just Me?

Democratizing Research Davydd Greenwood Participatory Action

Research Cyclical Flips conventional

research on its head

Stakeholder Participation Pedagogy Forcefield Analysis

New Vocabulary

1. Select a discussion leader.2. Select a reporter to keep track of the discussion on a flipchart to report in the subsequent plenary.3. Select 2-3 items to work on by taking one full turn around the group with each person suggesting

which items they would prefer to work on and then debating briefly until you can agree on 2-3 to proceed with.

4. Develop a force-field analysis for each item.5. If you have time, look for common driving forces and restraining forces and make note of them for

the plenary discussion.

T

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IDEAL

FUTURE

Enrich: Project Kenya◦ The Problem

Majority of people live in extreme poverty in Western Kenya. Lack of basic nutrition education perpetuates deficiencies and diseases. People in the advanced stages of AIDS experience severe wasting. When left untreated, malnutrition contributes to accelerated disease

progression.◦ What We Did

Partnered with NGO called ICODEI Held three-day education seminars on HIV prevention, general nutrition,

as well as nutritional management for HIV/AIDS treatment. Conducted research on the food nutrition status and culture of local

residents

Public Service Center Scholars

The Millennium Development Goals

We cannot win overnight. Success will require sustained action across the entire decade between now and the deadline.

- Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan  

Connecting the Cornell experience and the study-abroad experience through service learning

Service-Learning Course aimed at Study Abroad students to apply skills learned from service done abroad to the local Ithaca Community

Evolution

Stage 1 ◦ Select study abroad students committed to service learning and

global justice◦ Selected participants attend workshop(s) in the semester before

they study abroad Stage 2

◦ Locate service-learning placement sites. ◦ Engage in service that will support their learning about the host

community and global issues. ◦ Reflect upon study abroad experience through online discussions

with fellow program participants. Stage 3

◦ Students enroll in a follow up course. ◦ Learn to link their service abroad experiences with issues

affecting the world today, ◦ Continued involvement in service in Ithaca

How This Would Work

TimeInvested FacultyStudent Outreach

Roadblocks

Service Culture in the University Civic Engagement Subject Position Service (-Learning) Social (In) Justice (Unearned) Privilege

Darlene Evans Richard Kiely

Cornell public service community is fractured

Minimal administrative support Competition for resources, funding, and

visibility Organizations that are involved in the

community may be misinformed about how to engage in effective and mutually beneficial service.

Looking Inward

Student Assembly Public Service Committee◦ open to any interested undergraduate◦ Bring together student service organizations,

Greek service projects and the Public ServiceCenter

◦ Networking between service groups through an online hub.

◦ Create a database of articles from service-learning groups

◦ Online donation center

Solution

Weekly Meetings Seven drafts before approval Contacted all identifiable campus service

organizations Over 60 Responses Town-Gown Community Award Creating:

◦ a guidebook to organizations on campus ◦ a website with up-to-date events and donation opportunities

Progress

Keith Morton’s Irony of Service Dunlap et al.’s White Students’

Experiences of Privilege and Socioeconomic Disparities

Harkavy et al.’s Challenges of Institutionalizing Service-Learning

Bell Hook’s Engaged Pedagogy Martin Luther King’s Letter from a

Birmingham Jail

Literary Inspiration

Playgrounds for Peace

Future

Thank You