The Dominican Experience: Learning with Community
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IN THIS ISSUE
SERVICE-LEARNING HIGHLIGHTS
SL Community Partner Highlight: Florencia Parada (Health Hubs)
Florencia Parada, the supervisor at Health Hubs, has been an inspiration for the Dominican SL student! Health Hubs is a weekly event organized by Marin Community Clinics (MCC) that includes a farmers market style food pantry, nutritional education, health screening, information on community resources, and a zumba class.
SL Faculty Highlight: Cynthia Taylor
Professor Cynthia Taylor has been teaching Liberation Theology: Passion for Justice for 13 years. Each time she teaches the course, she learns more herself. This semester, Cynthia was inspired by participating in the SL Course Development Workshops, a learning cohort where veteran and new SL faculty explore best practices to fully integrated community engagement into their teaching. She was also grateful for the community partners matched with her course.
SL Course Highlight: Community Engaged Art
Community Engaged Art is a new course taught by Lynn Sondag and offered in the Honors Program. This fall, the class partnered with Marin Health and Human Services and Parent Services Project to boost outreach efforts for the Cal Fresh program (formerly known as food stamps) in Marin County. Students created ten public art pieces that support outreach efforts and promote community health and well-being through greater food access.
SL Course Highlight: Ethics in Healthcare, The "We" in Well-Being
Professors George Faithful and Lindsey Dean’s SL Ethics in Healthcare students, many of whom are future healthcare workers, serve with community partners that provide healthcare and food security programs. Working with these community partners, the students engage with and learn more about the larger contexts of people’s lives. They are also able to better understand the root causes of systemic issues that impact individual and community well-being.
SERVICE-LEARNING ACTIONS, CONNECTIONS, AND REFLECTIONS FROM THE COMMUNITY
SL Graduates in the World: Avni Gandhi ‘17
"The experience enhanced my ability to view and understand different perspectives. I was able to see the problem and trace it back to the cause. I learned how to think outside of stereotypes and norms created by society. There aren’t enough words to explain how service-learning changed me and my experience at Dominican. "
Cristina Cummings '18 Fly-kicks at Miss Marin County
On November 19, Cristina Cummings (Occupational Therapy ’18) won second-runner up of Miss Marin County! Cristina represented Asian American Alliance of Marin (AAAM), a connection that started with her first SL course in Spring '16, Power Structure of Forgiveness.
Introducing Students Declaring their Passion:
Community Action & Social Change Minors
CASC minors talk about how working with the community has affected their personal and educational journeys.
Reflections: The Power of Collaborative Learning and Action
Community Partners, SL Students, and SL Faculty reflect on their experiences of working together to connect, listen, and empower.
GET YOUR NON-DEGREE CERTIFICATE IN COMMUNITY ACTION AND SOCIAL CHANGE
Apply for Spring 2018!
Community partners and friends, who are not officially enrolled in Dominican but interested in obtaining a certificate in Community Action and Social Change, are encouraged to apply. Spring semester will start in mid-January. Some scholarships are available.
SERVICE-LEARNING COMMUNITY EVENTS
Theater of the Oppressed Workshop
On September 12, over 70 students and faculty participated in a Theatre of the Oppressed workshop. Led by Jiwon Chung, this workshop used art and theater as method for engaging with social justice issues, while developing creativity, insight, and critical intelligence to address these challenges.
Indivisible Penguins Launches Hidden Issues Series with Comfort Women Film
On October 19, Indivisible Penguins, the Service-Learning program and several community organizations co-sponsored a screening of Spirits’ Homecoming, a Korean film about World War II Comfort Women. Before the film, Dr. Jean Chan, a retired Math professor from Sonoma State University and a WWII survivor, gave a short talk about her experience. This was the first of Indivisible Penguin’s Hidden Issues series. These events aim to bring awareness to issues that are not well-known or have little media coverage.
Beauty in the Struggle T-shirt Exchange for a Pledge
On November 2, Lynn Sondag and Julia van der Ryn’s Beauty in the Struggle colloquiumstudents exchanged t-shirts they had created to advocate for educational equity for pledges from Dominican students. The event was held in Caleruega plaza, the t-shirts went fast and were replaced with passionate pledges to support education for all people.
Shakespeare and Justice: Theater Workshop inside Prison
"We began in a room with some interesting activities that made me nervous and it was apparent that I was shy. As the day went on I began to break out of my shell and with that I realized that my mind was opening up to something I knew could be a change." --Dominican student
Every week, Marin Shakespeare Company leads a group of men inside San Quentin prison in various acting exercises, reflection on Shakespeare’s words, and play rehearsal ((the men have acted in over 15 Shakespeare productions in San Quentin). On November 5, Dominican students, faculty, and the dean the school of Liberal Arts and Education joined the men for a transformative workshop facilitated by Lesley Currier, the managing director of Marin Shakespeare Company.
SPRING 2018 SL-DESIGNATED COURSES
CASC/HCS 3405: Community Engaged Research Methods
CLQ 3290/92: SL: Understanding the "Other": Shaping the Future in the Midst of Difference
ENGL 1004.2: SL: Expository Writing
ENGL 3200.3: SL: Advanced Writing & Research
PHIL 1109/3109: SL: Ethics in Healthcare (Hybrid)
PHIL 3520: SL: Self & Community, Service: Thinking & Action for Ethical Being (Hybrid)
RLGN 1086/3186: SL: Catholic Social Teaching
See course descriptions here