Community Partnerships and Service Learning
x2573—Bates, third floor
Sarah Lawrence College has a rich history of education for social responsibility and a commitment to the integration of service with learning.Through community work, students deepen insights into their academic inquiry; develop relationships with role models working to better society; learn skills for community organizing, social service, and citizenship; and clarify personal career goals and values. The Anita L. Stafford Community Partnerships and Service Learning Program serves as adviser to and facilitator for students and faculty interested in working for social change in Yonkers, New York City, and other surrounding communities.
Community-Based Learning Courses
The focus of the program is on community-based learning that occurs as part of a course. Students receive individual assistance in finding placements related to the academic interests of their course or conference work.The College and community organizations collaborate to educate students about their placements and the social issues pertaining to them, before and during their service. College vehicles and stipends for public transportation are available to assist with transportation to and from community-based placements. Opportunities include teaching English as a second language; leading writing workshops with prison inmates; working with children of incarcerated parents; union organizing; political lobbying; promoting environmental sustainability; community organizing; working with mentoring programs; literacy programs; AIDS education projects; psychiatric hospitals; domestic violence programs; rape crisis centers; substance abuse treatment centers; and more.
Community-Based Learning Trips
Trips to communities working for social change are scheduled during school breaks. These trips are connected to a course or set of courses dealing with themes such as globalization, labor issues, environmental issues, sustainable development, and poverty.The trips focus on exposing students to organizations and communities working on creative and innovative responses to poverty, political or cultural oppression, and self-sufficiency. For several weeks prior to a trip, Community Partnerships and Service Learning staff and faculty members meet with students to prepare them for their venture, educating students through readings and discussions on the culture and history of the host community. Depending on the trip, students may take part in homestays, a community work project, and other community outreach activities as part of their experience. Past destinations include a traditional Native American Mohawk community in upstate New York; Nicaragua; the U.S.-Mexico border at El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico; the Kensington Welfare Rights Union in Philadelphia; and the coal mining regions of Appalachia.
Co-Curricular Projects
For students who wish to pursue volunteer work in their spare time that is not connected to a course or conference project, the Community Partnerships and Service Learning Office provides a database of community-based organizations that students may contact.Throughout each semester, there are also several opportunities for “do-it-in-a-day” activities advertised in the daily calendar, such as environmental cleanups at local sites, Habitat for Humanity projects, and working on an organic farm.