USD Magazine Fall 2016

SHARED V I S I O N

GLOBAL CHANGEMAKERS

[ c o l l a b o r a t i v e ] IMMERSION EXCURSION One might not think of an

academic journal as the place to find compelling personal stories, but that’s exactly what emerged from a yearlong Schol- arship of Teaching and Learning writing group at USD, the results of which made up the entirety of the most recent issue of Engag- ing Pedagogies in Catholic Higher Education, edited by the Catholic Institute for Lasallian Social Action at Saint Mary’s College. The contributors invested a year reflecting on their lived experiences of immerson. In the journal, community activist Rigoberto Reyes offers advice to university faculty and admin- istrators on how best to imple- ment community engagement and partnerships. USD Sociology Professor Judith Liu, PhD, revisits the expe- rience of teaching community engagement courses over the course of 30 years. Assistant Vice President for University Ministry Michael Lovette-Colyer ‘13, PhD, provides a personal narrative of his experi- ences in immersion; that piece is excerpted in this issue. Associate Languages and Liter- ature Professor Kevin Guerrieri and Psychology Professor and Center for Educational Excellence Director Sandra Sgoutas-Emch coauthored a piece which poses questions around global equity and social justice, coupled with a proposed model of change. And Associate Political Science Professor Mike Williams and Associate Sociology Professor Lisa M. Nunn explore the para- doxical challenge of power that is manifested in study abroad immersion experiences.

Sou t h A f r i c a s umme r s o j ou r n s c on t i nue

USD’S FIRST GROUP OF STUDENTS JOURNEYED TO THE VILLAGE OF MAKULEKE IN SOUTH AFRICA IN 2012. Accompanied by Changemaker Hub Director/Political Science Professor Mike Williams and Sociology Professor Lisa Nunn, the goal was to collaborate with the non-profit group Sharing to Learn, and spend two to three weeks getting to know the community and, in particular, a group of young local education advocates/activists known as the Equalizers. “A strategy for mitigating the unequal power dynamics between ourselves and the Equalizers in 2012 was to simply show up without an agenda,” explains Williams. “We came with no preconceived notions of what we would be ‘doing.’ Instead, we wanted to just immerse ourselves as much as possible in the everyday rhythms of the village and to see what would emerge from our visit.” Williams and Nunn see unequal power relations as an “enduring dilemma” of immersive study abroad experiences. He is ever mindful of the importance of recasting the notion of service to “emphasize the importance of relationship building, dialogue, shared learning and mutual empowerment.”

Find these articles at http://jour- nals.stmarys-ca.edu/epiche/.

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USD MAGAZINE