Forum to discuss community-based learning

Author: Paul Horn

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Staff and faculty members from 15 colleges and universities will take part in the Center for Social Concernsfifth annual Andrews/McMeel Summer Service-Learning Forum from Oct. 24 to 26 at the University of Notre Dame.

Representatives from Duke, Georgetown, Loyola-Maryland, Stanford and other universities will gather to engage in discussion about challenges in summer service-learning courses and programs.

Andrea Smith Shappell, director of the Summer Service Learning Program (SSLP) at the Center for Social Concerns, said,This is a tremendous opportunity to learn from others who are committed to the integration of experiential learning with classroom learning.The forum sessions will provide models for increased involvement of faculty and students in a variety of disciplines.

Previous conferences have been held onModels of Summer Service-Learning,Focus on Youth,Discipleship and CitizenshipandCatholic Social Thought and Community-based Learning.

Since 1980, the Center for Social Concerns has sponsored more than 4,000 students in community service projects in 250 sites nationwide. In 2008, 222 students took part in three domestic opportunities, the Summer Service Learning Program, the Latino Leadership Internship Program, and ACCION.These opportunities include three credit courses in theology with classroom sessions in the spring and fall semesters as well as reading and writing assignments in the summer.

In the SSLP, more than 100 Notre Dame alumni clubs and 175 sites host the students for eight weeks in the summer, providing room, board and mentoring.The Notre Dame alumni clubs and James F. Andrews Memorial Scholarship Fund provide a $2,300 scholarship for students at the completion of the course.

_ Contact: Andrea Smith Shappell at_ " Shappell.1@nd.edu ":mailto:Shappell.1@nd.edu

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