GENDER, RACE, AND CLASS in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands: SERVICE-LEARNING/TRAVEL-STUDY SEMINAR
May 9 - 25, 2008
This travel seminar must be taken for 6 credits (3 credits RESC150, Insights and Implications: Service-Learning in St. Croix; 3 credits WS348, Topics in Women’s and Gender Studies: Gender, Race, and Class in St. Croix)
This service-learning travel seminar will investigate the intersections of gender, race, and class on the island of St. Croix, USVI (WS348, Topics in Women’s and Gender Studies). Through visits with grassroots community organizations, social service providers, and members of the judicial and educational systems, participants will explore the relationship between the construction of gender, race and class in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.
Participants will learn about the interconnectedness of race, class, and gender; and they will learn first-hand from both men and women who are involved in struggles for social change. The style of this travel seminar is experiential. Each day will include field trips and other opportunities for interaction with people from a diverse cross-section of local Cruzan society. There will be guided sessions for analysis and reflection as well as study assignments that will be completed before and during the travel experience.
This travel seminar has a service-learning component (RESC150) that offers students a unique opportunity to explore the rich political, social, and cultural history of the U.S. Virgin Islands by combining traditional pedagogical methods with a service experience on the island of St. Croix. According to the National Commission on Service-Learning, service-learning is “a teaching and learning approach that integrates community service with academic study to enrich learning, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities.” On the island, students and faculty will participate in a service experience at one of several service-learning sites. Students will keep reflective journals while on the island, which will inform the final texts produced in fulfillment of the requirements of this course.
Last Modified: Wednesday, November 28, 2007 7:56 by Antoinette Drier
