Jamaica

International Service Learning

Program

St. Thomas Parish

Courses

Faculty

Field Trips

Accommodation

Cost

Calendar

Eligibility

Application Deadline

PROGRAM

Located in the Parish of St. Thomas, the program focuses on international service learning and pro-poor development. Students take two integrated courses that teach them theories and practices of service learning and community development and involve them in service projects designed in partnership with community-based organizations.

All students explore the history, culture, and socio-economic development of Jamaica, and each student then engages in more focused study of an area that links her/his interests with issues identified in the field. Students provide service two to three days a week at community-based sites, supporting projects in the following areas: computers/information technology in basic schools; alternative schooling for pregnant teens; early intervention and therapeutic recreation for children with disabilities; sustainable agriculture; and public health/sanitation. Whenever possible, efforts are made to connect students to projects that fit their interests and majors. By integrating academic readings and field experiences, students develop a deep understanding of complex issues and empathy for the people with whom they work.

The courses are taught by Drs. Novella Keith and Michael Dorn, who are both faculty members in the Urban Education Program at Temple University, and include field trips and lectures, as well as discussions led by local academics and others involved in local cultural, educational, youth, and development issues.

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ST. THOMAS PARISH

The program is based in the Parish of St. Thomas, an administrative division (much like a county in the U.S.) located at the southeastern tip of Jamaica and adjacent to Kingston, the Jamaican capital. The Parish has many natural resources: the high mountains from which Blue Mountain coffee originates; rivers, fertile plains and hillsides that are still cultivated in bananas, sugar, and ginger; and many beaches. It is also rich in local history and culture. Two of the national heroes of Jamaica, Paul Bogle and George William Gordon, are from St. Thomas. Both were leaders in the Morant Bay rebellion of 1865, which led to the beginning of constitutional government in Jamaica. St. Thomas Parish has kept close to its indigenous roots, which include local cultural celebrations such as kumina and crop-over festivals. This is not a Jamaican tourist destination, and thus offers the opportunity to experience Jamaica as a country and not only as a beach resort.

COURSES

Undergraduate and graduate students can receive credit through the program. Undergraduate students enroll in two courses: Urban Education 2320: Special Seminar - Independent Project (3 cr.) and Urban Education 1006: Schooling and Development in Third World Societies (3 cr.).

The first is a special topics course through which students integrate academic and experiential learning related to their field/service learning placement. The second course focuses on Jamaica as a case study of the role of formal and non-formal (i.e. community-based) education in socio-cultural and economic development. For Temple students, the latter is a core curriculum course that fulfills requirements in the International/Third World area. Temple students who have already taken Urban Education 1006 may enroll in Education 2082, which is taught as an advanced level of Urban Education 1006.

Graduate students enroll in Urban Education 5630: Special Seminar - Independent Project (3 cr.) and Urban Education 9982: Independent Research (3 cr.). Urban Education 5630 is a graduate-level special topics course through which students integrate academic and experiential learning related to their field/service learning placement.  Urban Education 9982 is a graduate-level course that allows students to design and conduct an independent research project.

At both the undergraduate and graduate levels, the two courses include readings and community-based learning/field projects and are designed to provide students with an integrated learning experience. In addition to learning common materials, students select an area of interest that is related to their field placement. All efforts are made to connect students to field placements and projects that fit their interests and majors. Visiting faculty and faculty and professionals at the University of the West Indies provide support in the students’ areas of interest, with particular emphasis on education, public health, disabilities, gender studies, and the social sciences.

Intensive pre-departure activities prepare students to begin integrating academics and fieldwork upon arrival in Jamaica. Introductory meetings are held on Temple’s main campus and/or via Internet during the latter part of the spring semester and the first week of summer session I. During this phase, students fine tune the focus of the service-learning/field project with which they will be associated while in Jamaica and begin to do related background reading and research.

During the first week in Jamaica, students are introduced to service learning partners and sites and begin their field placements. During the second or third week, students will spend some time in university housing (University of the West Indies) and attend lectures in Kingston. A major requirement on which assessment is based is a portfolio or a final paper that integrates materials from both courses and from readings, reflections, and field observations. This is due at the end of the stay in Jamaica. Students also do a formal presentation/discussion of their service/field projects for the community partners and stakeholders. The service learning experiences are arranged by Edu-Tourism (St. Thomas, Jamaica), Inc., a non-government organization that supports community-based organizations in Jamaica by providing human and financial resources to support community and educational development projects.

The service learning experiences are arranged by Edu-Tourism (St. Thomas), Inc., a non-government organization that supports community-based organizations in Jamaica by providing human and financial resources to realize community and educational development projects.

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PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Novella Keith, PhD, is a faculty member in the Urban Education Program with extensive experience in Jamaica. A sociologist, she is interested in connecting issues that face urban students and communities in the United States and poor people in Third World countries. She has lived, taught, and done research in Jamaica over many years. Her main research and practice interests include community partnerships, social justice pedagogies, and service learning as an approach to student engagement and community change. This work is centered on issues of race, class, difference, and democratic participation.

Program Faculty

Courses are co-taught by Dr. Novella Keith and Dr. Michael L. Dorn. Dr. Dorn (of the Urban Education Program and Disabilities Studies, Temple University) has a doctorate in geography with a focus on social and cultural geography and disability studies. Support for student projects is also provided by Dr. Nelson W. Keith, Professor Emeritus, West Chester University; Dr. Dennis Edwards, Chair of the Psychology faculty at the University of the West Indies; and other local academics and professionals.

FIELD TRIPS

Weekends and some Fridays are devoted to educational travel/excursions. Field trips may include visits to sites for alternative tourism development (beaches, biodiversity reserves, an eco/heritage tourism village, a mineral waters spa, and mountain trail hiking); coffee growers cooperatives, banana and sugar plantations; and cultural/educational sites in St.Thomas and Kingston. Collectively, these experiences deepen students’ understanding of and commitment to addressing global issues. Program faculty members also facilitate students’ independent travel to a North Coast tourists resort.

ACCOMMODATION

For the majority of their stay, students are housed in double and triple rooms at the Center for Global Understanding, a residential educational facility located on an undeveloped beachfront in Yallahs, and at a nearby facility on the hillside.  With a population of 12,000, Yallahs is the second largest town in St. Thomas Parish and is approximately 30 kilometers east of Kingston.

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2008 COSTS

* Please note that this fee is based on last year's costs and will be updated

The Jamaica fee includes lodging in St. Thomas and lodging on campus while in residence at the University of the West Indies, Kingston; breakfast, dinner, and local transportation while in residence in St.Thomas, and NGO supported educational activities.

In addition, students must budget money for daily lunches; meals and in-town transportation while in residence at the University of the West Indies; meals and lodging on other “away” weekends; entrance fees for cultural events; tips; incidentals; round-trip airfare from the United States to Jamaica, estimated at $500-600; personal expenses, estimated at $600-800; health insurance; and the International Student Identity Card (currently $22).

2008 CALENDAR (SUMMER I)

Dates are tentative and subject to change                 

ELIGIBILITY

Please see General Summer Information for program eligibility and application requirements that apply to all programs. In addition, for the Jamaica program, the following is required:

Students are required to submit a one-to-two page typed statement describing their expectations, goals, and interests regarding the Jamaica program, and provisionally identifying a project area of interest. The statement should include how skills and knowledge that you have acquired in your academic studies and related experiences might be helpful to non-profit, community-based, and grass-roots organizations whose work involves education (early, primary, and alternative); addresses public health issues, including teen pregnancy; uses computers; supports/educates small farmers; and informs and reaches out to the community.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 15, 2008

For more information, please contact:

Novella Keith: 215-204-6940 novella.keith@temple.edu
Michael Dorn: 215-204-3373 mdorn@temple.edu
International Programs: 200 Tuttleman Learning Center, study.abroad@temple.edu 215-204-0720

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