From: Linda Bendixen
Date: November 25, 2020
Subject: Steans Center Newsletter - November 2020


November 2020

News from the Steans Center, Egan Office, and ABCD Institute at DePaul University.

Table Of Contents

  1. How Libraries and Museums Can Catalyze Positive, Community-driven Change
  2. Community Service Scholar Spotlight: Violet Esho
  3. Join Collaboratory!
  4. Community Service Associations
  5. Upcoming Community Engagement Events

How can libraries and museums catalyze positive, community-driven change?

Through the Community Catalyst Initiative, the ABCD Institute and DePaul University have been working with libraries and museums across the country to explore this question in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Since the initiative launched in late 2017, ABCD consultants have supported and learned alongside 24 on-the-ground recipients of IMLS grant funding.  The initiative engaged with the unique opportunities and challenges facing libraries, museums, and their communities as they sought to mobilize local assets and resident-led solutions.

This initiative will continue into September of 2021. Click here to read the full story at the Steans Center website.  Click here to access learnings, materials and resources that have emerged from this collaboration.

CSS Spotlight -  Violet Esho

Meet Violet Esho, a DePaul junior, and refugee from Iraq.  Violet, a Political Science major with a minor in Community Service, is a Community Service Scholar (CSS) at the Steans Center, working with community partner Pangea, founded by former CSS Drew Edwards.

"My name is Violet and I am interning with Pangea Educational Development, a nonprofit whose mission is bringing more diversity in literature to help children reach their full potential.  This organization taught me the power of diversity in literature. Children pay attention to details that help them connect or get exposed to different cultures. When they see the same culture in movies, shows, and books, they will feel their culture is not important.

One of Pangea’s outstanding books is "Sheroes" which discusses women making a difference in this pandemic. This book is important for generations to come. When children learn about this pandemic, they will learn about women making a difference and not being limited by society’s expectations."

Congratulations, Violet, on all the work you've done with Pangea Education!

External Resources

The Steans Center and DePaul University are proud members of community-engagement and service-learning associations that span the globe.  Resources are available to DePaul faculty and staff at:

Campus Compact - Campus Compact advances the public purpose of over 1,000 colleges and universities by deepening their ability to improve community life and to education students for civic and social responsibility.

CUMU  - The Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU) is the longest-running and largest organization committed to serving and connecting the world’s urban and metropolitan universities and their partners. CUMU focuses on strengthening institutions that are developing new responses to the pressing educational, economic, and social issues of the day.

IARSLCE (International Association for Research on Service-Learning & Community Engagement) - The mission of IARSLCE is to promote the development and dissemination of research on service-learning and community engagement internationally and across all levels of the education system.

Uniservitate - Uniservitate is the global programme for the promotion of service-learning (SL) in Catholic Higher Education.  Its objective is to generate a systemic change through the institutionalization of SL as a tool to achieve its mission of offering an integral education to the new generations and involving them in an active commitment to the problems of our time.

  

Join Collaboratory!

Collaboratory now has more than 180 community engagement and public service activities and is expanding every day.  Add your service learning activities today!  Login to Collaboratory here and join the conversation.

Upcoming Events

Check out these upcoming events with some of our partners and associations:

Dec. 2, 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. The Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism: "Establishing A Human Rights Mechanism in Southeast Asia"
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/establishing-a-human-rights-mechanism-in-southeast-asia-tickets-128799586029

IUPUI Community Engagement 
Dec. 9, 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. Keeping Going in Times of Crisis: A Public Conversation about Albert Camus' The Plague

IARSLCE - International Association for Research on Service-Learning & Community Engagement

Thu., Dec. 17, Noon to 2 p.m. - Data Driven Decisions:  Understanding collective impact - locally, regionally and internationally

 

Campus Compact - These are free to DePaul faculty; we are members.  All events take place from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. CST.

Dec. 1 - Co-Producing Knowledge in Environmental Justice Research and Teaching 

Dec. 10 - The Arc of Citizenship Bends Toward Justice When We Work Alongside Communities

Jan. 14 - Honoring Ways of Knowing for Biocultural Restoration and Resilience in the Face of Climate Change

Jan. 21 - Innovations for Teaching the Deliberative Experience Online:  Our Experiences and Experiments Using Common Ground For Action and Online Conferencing Tools