Through class readings, review of existing data and research; class discussions, journaling, individual and group learning exercises and assignments and site specific intentional and meaningful volunteering and community based interactions; as well as classroom based student experiential dialogic learning, students will explore and learn about the following topics:
Students will obtain a foundation understanding of origins, historical, political and social push factors that establish presence of Latinx communities in the United States
Students will gain general knowledge about Latinx communities contributions nationally
Students will explore issues that impact the Latinx communities in Philadelphia and nationally
Students will develop more-in-depth knowledge about one issue in particular that impacts a
local Latino community through the work of a Latino serving organization in the City of Philadelphia (addressing issues such as: immigration, health, education, employment, youth, violence and safety, rehabilitation, juvenile justice, housing security, economic development/businesses, elders’ services, disabilities, gender equity, the arts and culture, etc...)
Students in the class will work in cohorts of two or more. Learn from and provide support to one organization throughout the semester, learning about the issues the CBO is working on. Student cohorts will concentrate on one particular issue/project. The class as a whole will explore the issue/s and think about one possible actionable, tactical response that would support/enhance the existing CBO’s strategies already used to address that particular issue in
their community. Each Cohort will work with the CBO to achieve that goal through a project. Students will gain meaningful insight, and be able to facilitate an in-depth dialogue with their peers on the community and organization they worked with. They will be able to clearly describe the specific issue/program/project they explored and worked on throughout the semester and convincingly present to their peers or others (founders, donors, CBO Board of Directors and/or staff) at least one actionable, tactical response they recommend to the CBO to
enhance delivery, implementation and evaluation of that program.
There 12 papers required. There is two short writing assignments that describes the student's specific role in a cohort. There are 8 journal entries where the student will write, or at times produce artistic work, related to their service. There is one final paper that is longer (6 pages)