Academically-based civic engagement takes many forms. Among the opportunities offered at Drew are Community-Based Learning classes, internships and domestic or international service experiences linked to academic courses.
Community-Based Learning Classes
These classes, also sometimes called Service Learning Classes, foster the ability to connect academic learning with action in the world. At Drew, CBL classes contribute to a planned strategy for addressing a community need or strengthening a community capacity that serves the common good. These classes require students to work in a dynamic way with off-campus community organizations.
View the links below to see examples of two of our CBL Classes
Drew Theater students take their talents to Newark and learn how the Latino immigrant experience offers students the chance to give back.
Drew’s Acorn newspaper ran a compelling feature the week of February 22, 2012 on Prof. Sarah Wald’s Spring 2012 Latino/a Literature Class. The class draws connections between Latino literature and issues facing the Latino communities in New Jersey. Students put the knowledge they are gaining in class into action, by volunteering to teach english as a second language at Morristown Neighborhood House, a non-profit and Drew community partner dedicated to assisting Latino immigrants facing economic and social challenges. In the Acorn news piece, students discuss the powerful impact of this class on their education and those within the Latino community that they are teaching, as part of the service component of the class. As one student interviewed states: “It has been just rewarding overall. It’s an experience I’ll never forget.” Another student comments: “the most exciting and helpful aspect of this [class] is being able to go to Morristown to help teach. We see firsthand how much we’re helping and aiding these people in their own futures…It’s such a rewarding experience that everyone should partake in.”
Drew International Seminars
Some DIS programs have a service component as part of their curriculum.
Drew International Seminar: Service Learning with Sudanese Refugees in Cairo
Professor Chris Taylor
This is a one-month service learning program in Cairo, Egypt assisting refugees from Darfur and Southern Sudan in partnership with Refuge Egypt, a ministry of the Episcopal Church of Egypt and North Africa. Teams of Drew students spend a semester prior to their departure studying the plight of the Sudanese refugees and the role of faith-based NGOs in providing relief. After arriving in Cairo, the students are integrated into various relief programs run by Refuge Egypt in Cairo. These projects include medical clinics, an emergency food bank, a used clothing exchange, a pre-school and primary school, computer workshops and income generation projects. Working with a highly dedicated international staff, students gain insight into both the possibilities and the limitations of cross-cultural and interfaith cooperation through this invaluable hands-on experience.
Teaching and Learning in the Prisons
A Drew-based program, known as the College Bound Consortium, was founded in the fall of 2010 to provide inmates with the opportunity to achieve a college degree and begin a new life. The Consortium coordinates faculty from Drew, Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) and the Drew Theological School’s Partnership for Religion and Education in Prison (PREP) to teach nearly two-dozen courses to 170 inmates at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility, New Jersey’s only state prison for women. For more information, contact Dr. Bahiyyah Muhammad, Director of Drew’s College Bound Consortium (bmuhammad@drew.edu). Also, see this Drew Today piece that ran the week of March 6, 2012, about the Classrooms Behind Bars program.
Civic Leadership Certificate
This program will be open to all interested Drew students. By combining academic requirements with co-curricular activities, the Civic Engagement Certificate program is being designed to integrate traditional learning with skills that can only be gained outside the classroom. Students fulfilling Certificate requirements will graduate from Drew with documented experience in community service, leadership, and project management, as well as academically-based analytic and research skills crucial to effective community action. Check back for more information on this program.