Paulo Freire International Community Service Grant Info Session: Tues., Nov. 18 from 3:00-4:00 p.m. in 110 Heller Hall.  Learn more about the grant, ask questions, receive tips for applying, and hear from past recipients.

Statement of Purpose
The Learning Abroad Center, in partnership with the Career & Community Learning Center, sponsors several students annually to participate in community service projects abroad.  Grants of up to $2,000 are available to selected University of Minnesota-Twin Cities undergraduate students.

The grant program is named after Paulo Freire, an educator and leader who sought to empower the oppressed through literacy programs that encouraged social and political awareness. In this spirit, the grant emphasizes how human oppression and liberation overlap with community service and international work.

Program Description
The program includes unique opportunities for self-discovery, multicultural understanding, personal growth, and community service. Students are expected to participate in orientation meetings prior to the summer abroad, and to share their experiences through various Learning Abroad Center and Career & Community Learning Center events upon their return.

Part One:
Critical Perspectives on Community Involvement, late February, Spring Semester 2009
The session is recommended for students with significant past experience with community work and/or service-learning. This session will call upon participants to problematize "service" and think critically about their own service experiences both past and present.

This training will focus on the idea of "service" and what place service has in society and in our own lives. Students will participate in a variety of discussions and activities that explore notions of service. Some of the questions we ask in this session include: who deserves service, who benefits from service, and what place does service have in the quest for social change? A major component of the training is the analysis of a case study. Participants will apply this analysis
and discussion to their own work in the community and consider their future goals for community work.

For more information, contact the Career & Community Learning Center at 612.626.2044 or cclc@class.cla.umn.edu.

Part Two:
International Project, Summer 2009
Travel abroad for a minimum of nine weeks to participate in an international community service project. You will design or select your program, including the international site, project, living arrangements, and travel. Alternate timelines may be considered.

We invite proposals that create meaningful experiential learning opportunities around the themes of social justice, human rights, and community development. There are a wide variety of possible projects and organizations to work with. Past recipients have participated in a wide range of projects from human rights advocacy in Ethiopia to working with asylum seekers in the Netherlands. The Learning Abroad Center has excellent resources. Contact a Learning Abroad Center adviser or access the work, intern, and volunteer program search page to get started.

Part Three:
Connecting the Global and Local Communities, Fall 2009
Upon your return to campus, you will enroll in a course that supports intercultural understanding. The course must be approved by the grant sponsors; a listing of possible service-learning courses is available through the Career & Community Learning Center. The course will have a community work component that will involve 20-30 hours of community service. Students must be registered for the fall course before beginning the international project in the summer.

Eligibility
This program is available only to registered University of Minnesota-Twin Cities undergraduate students who will return to the University to continue their undergraduate course work. Grants will be given on a one-time basis only; grant recipients will be ineligible to apply for a future grant.

The grant may affect the total amount of funding students receive from financial aid sources. Contact the Office of Student Finance at 612.624.1111 to find out how this may affect your individual situations.

Application Process
The application deadline for this grant is 4:00 pm on Friday, January 30, 2009. Applications must be submitted to the Learning Abroad Center in 230 Heller Hall. Applications will not be considered after the due date. Faxed applications will not be accepted.

Selected candidates will be invited to individual interviews with a selection committee to discuss their proposals. Interviews will be scheduled in early February and grant recipients will be notified shortly thereafter.

The grant is awarded to students who demonstrate that they have reflected on the program's connection to their personal and academic goals; and who construct clear, well-developed links between the three different phases of the program. Although it is not required that students have their international project finalized in order to apply for the grant, students who have selected possible locations and projects, and have taken steps toward structuring their international project will be given priority.

To submit a competitve application, students will likely want to learn more about Paulo Freire and his philosophy.  Paulo Freire has written numerous books and articles, most of which are readily available. Much has also been written about Freire and students are encouraged to pursue their own research. Below are a couple of suggestions to get started:

Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York, Continuum.

Freire, P. (1970). Cultural Action for Freedom. [Cambridge], Harvard educational review.

Paulo Freire Institute at University of California, Los Angeles

Download your application or pick one up at the Learning Abroad Center in 230 Heller Hall (map) or at the Career & Community Learning Center in 345 Fraser Hall (map).

Contact Sarah Tschida with questions about the grant.

Last modified on November 20, 2008