For those who stigmatize universities as towers of ivory, Xavier University (XU) is now offering a challenging counterpoint.
With the launch of the Academy for Community-Engaged Faculty (ACEF), eight XU professors are about to get involved.
XU's Eigel Center for Community-Engaged Learning is coordinating, and the Center for Teaching Excellence and the President’s Office are supporting this effort to plug in to the community and engage.
The faculty and students involved, and the community they work within, all stand to benefit from this effort, which seeks to fulfill three aims: develop a critical mass of community-engaged scholars, offer students an applied, real world educational experience; and improve the relationships between faculty members and community leaders.
During the spring 2009 semester a team of eight faculty members will lead a pilot of this program to see where it leads.
The professorial line-up includes Gillian Ahlgren, PhD, theology; Christine Anderson, PhD, history; Diane Ceo-DiFrancesco, PhD, modern languages; Elizabeth Groppe, PhD, theology; Margo Heydt, MSW, EdD, social work; Tom Kessinger, PhD, special education; Danielle Parker, PhD, communication arts; and Karim Tiro, PhD, history.
Community-based organizations and leaders will partner with the faculty involved to create courses that uniquely engage the community in a way relevant to each course's focus.
The ACEF's inaugural workshop will be held on January 26, with a keynote address by Dr. Robert Bringle, internationally recognized expert on community-engaged scholarship and director of the Center for Service and Learning at Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis.
Writer: Jonathan DeHart
Source: Xavier University
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