The Global Village International Service Learning Fund
Students today live and study in a globalized world. Their futures are shaped by global interdependence in commerce, communications, legislation, and the movement of populations. The best education today prepares students to steward this new world order in ways that support women and others whose rights are not yet realized around the world. Douglass Residential College offers a series of programs designed to expose students to global challenges and prepare them to assume leadership positions to resolve them. The college also benefits from its close relationship with Rutgers’ highly regarded global programs. Douglass’ Global Village, a leading national program in higher education, is designed to educate and immerse students in focused study of global problems and solutions, particularly in regard to women’s lives. The Global Village is a unique collection of living-learning communities, or “residential houses,” for Douglass students, including commuters. “House” themes are tied to current global issues (such as human rights, women’s health, and ethnic conflict) and include special language houses in Spanish and French. The program is based in Jameson Residence Hall, with 15-20 students in each house. A new Living-Learning Building (slated to be open by 2017) will be the centerpiece of the Global Village and will feature state-of-the-art assembly and classroom space for high-level conferences and global communications. Features of the Global Village Program: All Global Village students take a year-long course on the theme of their house, which is taught inresidence on Monday evenings. Informal interactions, class projects, and collaborations with peers in other houses are central features of students’ learning experience. Each house has a Learning Community Instructor, who specializes in the house topic and serves as a professor and mentor to the students living in the community. The Global Village has become a signature part of Douglass since it was founded with the French House in the 1920s. In the last ten years alone, the Global Village has served over 2,000 students. Close to 200 students are enrolled for the upcoming academic year in the houses listed below: Africana House East Asian House French House Human Rights Leadership Education at Douglass (LEAD)
Spanish House Women and Business Women and Creativity (Woodbury Residence Hall) Women and Public Health
Over . . . .
The Global Village International Service Learning Fund provides financial support to send Douglass students each year from one or two Global Village houses overseas for service learning projects. The international trips take place over winter or spring break. What is distinctive about the Global Village’s service learning program is that prior to travel, the students immerse themselves in regional awareness, issues related to the service learning site, and the ethics of international volunteerism. Each house provides preparation and reflection on the international experience through its full-year course, with students working together to analyze the impact of their volunteer work. Philanthropic support has been critically important to funding the international service learning trips, which have included sending Douglass students to Romania, South Africa, and most recently to Thailand, where the students in the East Asian House taught English and helped build a playground at a refuge for girls who had escaped being placed into the sex trafficking trade. In the words of one of the Douglass students who participated in the Thailand trip: Personally, my gratitude for this experience is truly immense, as it affirmed my life’s passion for working as an international social worker on development initiatives in marginalized communities . . . This trip as a whole has created a wider world lens for me. For the 2014-15 academic year, the Spanish House will travel to the Yucatán, Mexico to focus on women’s issues in that region, drawing on the book Women of the Yucatán: Thirty Who Dare to Change Their World. The Africana House will travel to the Dominican Republic to study and serve women who face challenges related to transnational migration, poverty, and social justice. Rutgers faculty members are advising the program of study in each location. It is only through the financial support of donor gifts that the college has the capacity to develop and execute these international service learning experiences. The Douglass Residential College Advisory Board is leading a fundraising initiative for the Global Village International Service Learning Fund. With increased donor support, Douglass students will be able to travel abroad each year to volunteer in local communities, expanding their global understanding and preparing themselves for the international complexities of the 21st century. THE DOUGLASS RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE ADVISORY BOARD APPRECIATES YOUR SUPPORT. For questions: please contact Denise Wagner, Director of Development at Douglass Residential College: dwagner@echo.rutgers.edu or 848-932-3030. Douglass Residential College Advisory Board Members Dean Jacquelyn Litt (Dean of the College) Wendy Cai-Lee DC’96 (Board Chair) Angela Christiano DC’87 Portia Cohen DC’85 Julie Domonkos DC’83
Eileen Poiani DC’65 Barbara Rodkin DC’76 Freda Wolfson DC’76 Lavinia Boxill (ex-officio)
Denise Wagner (ex-officio)
Please visit the college’s website to learn more about its programs: douglass.rutgers.edu