COURSES OF STUDY
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SERVICE-LEARNING
Kristin Harper, Director, Bunting Center for Engaged Study
and Community Action
Jackie Walker, Coordinator, Bunting Center for Engaged Study
and Community Action
The Bunting Center for Engaged Study and Community Action promotes
active civic engagement by encouraging participation in service-learning
projects with local, national, and international communities. Service-
learning combines academic study, community work, and intentional
reflection. This is the essential question posed by the Bunting Center:
how
do we develop the best combination of knowledge, skills, and values that will make
a positive difference in our communities?
The Bunting Center provides opportunities for the Birmingham-
Southern community to
•
engage in the community beyond the gate,
•
recognize and challenge assumptions,
•
practice interacting across cultures,
•
reconsider ways of knowing and sources of knowledge,
•
understand and practice civic involvement,
•
channel personal and academic interests to address community-
identified needs,
•
act to recognize and correct injustice,
•
prepare for lives of active citizenship.
Opportunities for service learning include the following:
Community Partnerships
are student-initiated and facilitated activities
available throughout the school year. Students develop ongoing
relationships with area agencies as they engage in service work. Current
partnerships include First Light Women’s Shelter, International Tutoring
(
ESL), Piper Place Day Program, Urban Kids, Hispanic Interest Coalition
of Alabama (HICA), Oak Knoll Skilled Health and Rehabilitation, Desert
Island Supply Company, NorthStar Youth Ministries, Blueprints, Habitat for
Humanity, and Bush Hills Academy.
Alternative Spring Break
offers an opportunity for students to develop
their understanding of themselves and of another culture or place while
engaged in service. Participants prepare as a team prior to travel. For past
spring breaks, teams have worked in Puerto Rico, San Francisco, Boston,
Appalachia, the Mississippi gulf coast, Washington, DC, as well as right
here in Birmingham.
