Tuesday, November 11, 2008

International Day for Tolerance

Beginning in 1995, the United Nations has declared November 16th as the International Day for Tolerance. This day is to serve as an annual occasion for discussion of tolerance issues and related activities in education institutions and in the wider public. Service-learning is a teaching method that can effectively teach tolerance and diversity to k-12 students, college and university students, and other youth.

Learn and Serve America’s National Service-Learning Clearinghouse has compiled a list of resources for teaching tolerance through service-learning. Consider using service-learning as a means to commemorate the International Day for Tolerance, or for teaching tolerance all throughout the year.

SLICE Resources:

S.T.A.R.T
Students Talking About Respect & Tolerance (START). High school students give presentations to elementary and junior high students on respect others and helping those that are being bullied.
http://servicelearning.org/slice/index.php?ep_action=view&ep_id=527

Multicultural Awareness Project
To raise awareness, promote tolerance, and to celebrate the many cultures that coexist in our community, juniors and senior English students at Humboldt Bay High School began to research their own cultures at the school library and on the Internet. Once research was completed, students returned to the classroom where they began organizing their notes in preparation for writing research papers. Additionally, students chose 5-10 facts from their research that translate well into art.
http://servicelearning.org/slice/index.php?ep_action=view&ep_id=150

Peace Project
High school students create a peace-themed bilingual project with elementary students to improve reading and promote cultural tolerance.
http://servicelearning.org/slice/index.php?ep_action=view&ep_id=108

NSLC Library Resources on Tolerance:

Effect of a Comprehensive Service Learning Program on College Students' Level of Modern Racism
The effect of a comprehensive 2 year service-learning program on students' level of modern racism was assessed. A nonequivalent control group experiment was conducted with students from a large, western state university. The results of the multivariate analysis generally supported the hypothesis that students who are involved in service-learning show larger reductions in modern racism than students involved in voluntarism or no service.
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/lib_cat/index.php?library_id=3167

Improving the Human Condition: Leadership for Justice-Oriented Service-Learning
In this article the authors describe and analyze collaborative leadership for a justice-oriented service-learning project. The Banneker History Project (BHP) reconstructed the history of the Benjamin Banneker School, which operated as a segregated school for African Americans from 1915 to 1951. It was a project in social justice education with community service as its base. The authors provide an insider perspective of group dynamics among core leaders for the BHP. Building relationships, working for social justice, and confronting racism are key themes for the group. The authors also offer suggestions for those who might do similar work.
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/lib_cat/index.php?library_id=7316

Unspoken Purposes of Service-Learning: Teaching the Holocaust
A class on the history on the Holocaust at Bates college is discussed here, as well as the notion that the unspoken purpose of service-learning is to teach morals and values.
http://www.servicelearning.org/library/lib_cat/index.php?library_id=4712

Additional online resources for teaching tolerance:

Teaching Tolerance
http://www.tolerance.org

Service-Learning and Prejudice Reduction
http://www.tolerance.org/teach/activities/activity.jsp?ar=735

Museum of Tolerance – Teachers’ Guide
http://teachers.museumoftolerance.com/

Lessons in Tolerance
http://www.ccsf.edu/Resources/Tolerance/

UNESCO – Promoting Tolerance
http://portal.unesco.org/shs/en/ev.php-URL_ID=6551&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

UN International Day for Tolerance
http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/tolerance/

International Network: Education for Democracy, Human Rights, and Tolerance
www.tolerance-net.org/

SHALOM COMMUNITY CENTER NEEDS YOUR HELP!!!

Each year, Shalom Community Center sponsors an Adopt-A-Family Holiday Wish Fulfillment Program, and this year we have more needy and deserving families than ever signed up to receive gifts for their children. We're asking you, as student organizations, students, and faculty members, to step up to the challenge and adopt a family to sponsor. We have all the wish forms
completed, the rest is up to you!

If you're interested in sponsoring a needy family either as an organization or as an individual, please complete the attached form or respond ASAP by contacting myself (information below) or Pam Kinnaman at (812) 334-5734 or pam@shalomcommunitycenter.org

Monday, November 10, 2008

Study Abroad in Germany

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY AT CARBONDALE
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK
STUDY ABROAD: HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL WORK
MUNICH, GERMANY
JANUARY 3 – 11, 2009
Socw 478 – 587
Graduate and Undergraduate Credit



The School of Social Work at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale will again offer a Study Abroad course based in Munich, Germany. This course will begin on January 3 and end on January 11, 2009.

This course examines human rights within a social work framework, from both European and US perspectives. Field visits and course instruction focuses on political and social human rights, with an emphasis on defining human rights principles as they apply to social work.

The location of Munich, Germany highlights the importance of human rights within our current environment, as contemporary human rights arose from the history of this part of the world. Participants in the course have the opportunity to explore concepts of human rights that apply to their own experiences, as well as historical events. This course is ideal for undergraduate or graduate students and professionals interested in learning about different approaches to social problems within a human rights context.

The estimated program fee is $ 2,000, not including airfare from the US to Germany. The program fee includes all necessary transportation relating to the course within Germany, accommodation, and some meals. Three hours of course credit is available from Southern Illinois University, with tuition charged in addition to the program fee. At current rates, three hours of tuition at SIU costs about $800. However, participants outside SIU are not required to take the course for credit.

Dr. Elisabeth Reichert, Professor of Social Work at SIUC and author of several books and articles on human rights, will conduct the course. For further details, please contact Dr. Reichert by email at reichert@siu.edu or contact her by telephone at 618 453-2243.
http://www.siuc.edu/~socwork/germany/new

Study Abroad in Russia

The Indiana University Bloomington Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures and the Indiana University/Purdue University Indianapolis School of Public and Environmental Affairs, in collaboration with Southern Federal University (SFU) in Rostov-on-Don, Russia present:

Spring - Summer 2009
U.S.-RUSSIA GLOBAL-HEALTH CARE COURSE STUDY PROGRAM
with 2-WEEK STUDY-ABROAD
All the program information (including the on-line application) can be found at

This program is open to undergraduate and graduate students.

Funding is available (on competitive basis) for students pursuing study abroad and/or language training under this program. Students applying for components #2 or #3 of the program will be automatically considered for language training stipend awards ($1,000, associated with component #2) and student mobility stipend awards ($4,000 associated with component #3) to
support their participation in the U.S.-Russia Global-Health Care Course with 2-Week Study-Abroad (it is a common application to be considered for all funding). While the program is open to all IU students, only U.S. citizens and permanent residents are eligible for stipend awards. Students who complete both components #2 and #3 may receive a maximum award of
$5,000.
Although we anticipate that many students will complete at least two, if not all three components of the program, in the interest of flexibility we are not making any component a co-requisite or pre-requisite of the other. Instead, we will give priority in funding decisions to those students who are able to commit to multiple components of the program.

#1) Spring 2009: REEI-R 300 / REEI-R 500 Global Public Health Dialogue - 1 Credit

#2) Spring 2009: SLAV-S 498 /SLAV-S 540 Survival Russian - 3 credits
OR SLAV-S 498 /SLAV-S 540(second 8 weeks): Specialized Russian: Public Health Care –
1.5 credits

#3) Summer 2009: course # TBA International Health Care Delivery: in-country Russian Field
Experience - 3 credit Study Abroad

REEI-R 300 / REEI-R 500 Global Public Health Dialogue:
Thursday 9:05a.m.-9:55a.m. (6 meetings total: 1/15/09 - 2/19/09)
This course will join students from Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis, and Southern Federal University (Russia) via video conferencing. Participation in this class will serve as a basis for building bridges of understanding between students at the two universities and will provide a basic knowledge of health care delivery in
the two countries. The course is taught in English.

Students will watch a popular health care related show, such as ER (USA) and/or "Vrachebnyie Tainy - Medical Secrets" (Russia), and contrast and compare them. Discussions will focus on aspects of American and Russian culture and health care delivery by examining patient-physician
relationships, medical ethics in the workplace, information sharing, the role of medical technology, and others. The format allows for cross-national discussions via e-mail, in-class
face-to-face dialogs, and small group exercises with faculty assistance.

IU students taking the course (which will be available at the same time in Bloomington and Indianapolis via distance-learning) are eligible for scholarships to be used towards the cost of a trip to Rostov-on-Don, Russia (International Health Care Delivery: in-country Russian Field Experience). This course is open to undergraduate and graduate students.

SLAV-S 498 /540 Survival Russian – 3 credits or SLAV-S 498 /540 Specialized Russian: Public Health Care - 1.5 credits:
The Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures in Bloomington is offering two courses (entry-level and advanced), based on the Russian language skills needed for the participation in
International Health Care Delivery: in-country Russian Field Experience course. The language support will enable students to function successfully in a foreign language and culture environment while doing the field work in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. Since participating students from IU Bloomington and IU Indianapolis campuses may have limited or various prior exposure to Russian, two levels of Russian training in the areas of language and culture are offered. Students who take either of these levels of Russian (which will be available both in Bloomington and Indianapolis via distance-learning) are eligible for scholarships towards the cost of the trip to Rostov-on-Don, Russia.

Survival Russian (entry-level):
MWF 50min each class time of class: 12:20 - 1:10p.m.
This course is open to undergraduate and graduate students. The goal of the intensive Russian survival course is to acquaint the students with the basic grammatical structures of Russian along with sufficient vocabulary for a working introduction to the language. The focus of the course will be on the development of oral skills, with written work used for reinforcement. Homework will be devoted largely to repetition and reinforcement while class time, even from the beginning, will be devoted almost entirely to active practice. Listening and reading comprehension will be addressed through special materials, which will also serve as a basis for discussion and oral practice. Readings will introduce aspects of everyday Russian life, figures,
events, and issues that are crucial to an understanding of Russian culture.

Specialized Russian: Public Health Care (advanced-level) (second 8 weeks):
T R 60min each class time of class: 2:30pm - 3:30pm
Prerequisites: SLAV-R 302 or the instructor's permission. This course is open to undergraduate and graduate students. The course will cover specific to health care technical terminology, language functionality in different professional environments (e.g., hospitals, insurance companies, university departments), and interview skills in Russian. Cultural training will
prepare the participants for successful interaction in social and academic situations in Russia.

Course # TBA International Health Care Delivery: in-country Russian Field Experience

* COST: $3,600 plus tuition.
* DATES: May 3rd to May 17th 2008 (subject to change: may be moved one week)
* APPLICATION DEADLINE: December 1st, 2008.
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:
* GPA 3.0 or with the instructor's permission. Please note that the submission of official transcripts is not required. Student transcripts will, however, be reviewed via OneStart.
* On-line application.
* The names and contact information (including e-mail and phone number) of three references (studen'ts advisor, IU faculty member, etc). Send to: nrekhter@iupui.edu,ochernis@indiana.edu.
* Russian language course work - SLAV-S 498/540 Survival Russian class or SLAV-S 498/540 Specialized Russian: Public Health Care class (is strongly recommended but not required).
* REEI-R 300/ REEI-R 500 Global Public Health Dialogue class (is strongly recommended but is not required).
* Valid PASSPORT for traveling abroad.
* Non-refundable deposit: $350 (upon acceptance in the International Health Care Delivery: in-country Russian Field Experience class).

This course is for undergraduate or graduate. Previous experience in health care is desirable but not necessary. Taking REEI-R 300/ REEI-R 500 Global Public Health Dialogue and either SLAV-S 498/540 Survival Russian or SLAV-S 498/540 Specialized Russian: Public Health Care is strongly recommended but is not required.

This course's focus is on institutional, economic, epidemiological, ideological, and political forces in the field of international health care. The emphasis will be on comparative analysis of countries with private health care delivery (USA), as compared to countries with social health care delivery and uniform access to health care (Russia). The range of issues examined includes, but is not limited to: demographic profiles and the distribution of diseases, the social determinants of health, cultural and political aspects of health care delivery, health care financing, and health reforms.

Students will spend two weeks (in the beginning of May 2008) in Rostov-on-Don, a city in the southern part of Russia. During their two weeks in Russia, the students will visit the Center for Social Services and Protection of Vulnerable Population, Socially Funded Camp/Resorts for
Disabled and Financially Disadvantaged Children (where children receive necessary preventive and other health services), different types of hospitals (tertiary, community, rehabilitation, sub-acute, rural, etc.), the Compulsory Health Care Insurance Fund, as well as a private clinic, a rural
clinic, a rural nursing station, the Center for Maternal and Child Health, Planned Parenthood, etc. Students will also interact with medical personnel, students, and faculty, spent a weekend with families, and take part in various cultural activities.