Service Learning
Integral to the Seminar – Impacts of Globalization and Community Responses in Patagonia, students engage directly with local communities in a service learning project as a practical, hands-on component of the course. Each service learning project will be developed to support a student’s academic interests.
Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the Core Seminar, areas for service learning may include, but are not limited to: community health; education and youth outreach; micro-enterprise and social entrepreneurship; environmental conservation and education; preservation of First Nations’ cultural heritages; or community arts.
Possible service learning placements include:
- Pro-Niño is a child and youth (ages 7-13 and 13-16) outreach program of Asociación Conciencia in a marginalized neighborhood in Bariloche to keep students engaged in school, build self-esteem, and skills for their future. Activities include: homework support; sports; the arts; and providing snacks, among others.
- Fundación Gente Nueva is a prestigious foundation of Bariloche that conducts research and a number of extensive social and economic projects throughout the city working to end child labor, and provide support to marginalized communities in Bariloche.
- Ramon Carrillo Public Hospital – volunteer groups provide resources and activities to hospital patients and their families. Some activities include: reading stories to child patients; assisting at mealtime; and “Damas de Rosa” (Women in Pink) who organize clothing and donation drives for patients and their families.
- Assist a Mapuche education or social entrepreneurship project, which, depending on a student’s skills and interests, might include website development for a Mapuche cooperative, or an education project in a local school or community center on Mapuche culture and identity
- Parques Nacionales de Argentina – a volunteer program engaging in environmental conservation and education by supporting the efforts of the National Parks Service. Bariloche is located within Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi, one of the largest national parks in all of Latin America. One possible service learning site is Isla Victoria, a protected, forested island on Lake Nahuel Huapi.
- Cre-Arte is a cultural center providing educational workshops, and a soup kitchen for people with disabilities. Some workshops include: painting; sewing; mural art; percussion and puppetry for local “murgas” (street carnivals); gardening.
