In this issue
	Amizade: The Gift that Gives all World Round Where will you serve in 2004? Student Perspective: Northern Ireland Pitt Research on International Service-Learning Students are Enrolling NOW for Summer 2004 Courses!

Where will you serve in 2004?

It is time to start thinking about next year. Any New Years resolutions? How about participating in an Amizade program? This year Amizade is happy to offer more volunteer and service-learning opportunities than ever before. Applications, dates and details for all of our 2004 programs are presently available on our website linked below. We hope you will be able to join us to serve, explore and understand the global community in 2004. More than 12 courses have been announced thus far through the University of Pittsburgh. Details on these courses, including dates, costs, and course syllabi are available. Announced courses include: Research Writing in Australia * Global Citizenship in Bolivia * International Development in Bolivia * Engineering Technology in Brazil * Travel Writing in Ghana * Poetry Writing in Northern Ireland * Literature in Northern Ireland * Community Health in Tanzania * Research on Health Issues in Tanzania * Service- Learning Leadership in Peru * Globalization in the Navajo Nation * Service-Learning in Pittsburgh. Happy Holidays and thank you for all of your continuing support! In addition to University of Pittsburgh service- learning courses we are also offering an abundance of volunteer programs for 2004. Programs can be arranged for both individuals and groups of six or more, so grab your family and friends and bring them along for an amazing journey! More information... »

Student Perspective: Northern Ireland

I was living in my Pennsylvania bubble of college parties and text books when I decided to take the Contemporary Irish Literature service-learning course. I thought it was a perfect excuse to go back to Ireland and expand my knowledge of Irish history and literature. I didn't even think about the service component. To tell you the truth, I honestly think I looked over the whole service part. It was when class began that I found out what I was truly in for. I think it hit me when the whole class dove into deep discussions about humanity, community, global participation and service. I became exposed to a whole new horizon of higher thinking and the possibility that I can participate in more than the campus normality. I became part of a group of students who came together and went on a trip of a lifetime. But we didn't just travel and sight see, we joined forces and helped out. We went to Belfast and spent time in a community that I already felt part of. But this time I became even closer to this community because our class showed up on a dirt work site and donned hard hats and picked up hammers. My knowledge and understanding of Northern Ireland had already expanded with the class time and work, but my heart and mind expanded when I nailed that first board onto the fence. I worked along side people from Belfast and helped build a home that would become a shelter for a family who also happened to be Protestant. Being an Irish Catholic, I had to leave behind any pre-conceived judgments and understand that everyone needs a house and that it was a step toward harmony and peace. When we returned home, I helped out with Habitat for Humanity in my own area. I felt the same surge of pride and happiness as I nailed shingles to a roof in the Gettysburg area knowing that once again I was helping out. I am only 19 and now a college sophomore, but I've already experienced so much and it all came from one class. I'm not saying that I feel like a super hero or feel that I was put on this earth to help the human race. I just feel privileged to have realized that I am part of this "real world" and that I am part of this thing we call the human race. Imagine if more college classes had service incorporated with them. Imagine if people were exposed to service as children. This course was not just a quick trip to Ireland or a couple good novels, but a time when I had a growth spurt of knowledge, understanding, and self worth. By Katie Kurtzman, who took Literature and the Contemporary in Northern Ireland during the Spring of 2003. Course Information »

Pitt Research on International Service-Learning

Amizade is proud to be part of a community of researchers and practitioners of international service- learning at the University of Pittsburgh. In recent months, Amizade staff members and University faculty have presented at several conferences. Dr. Maureen Porter, Assistant Professor in the School of Education, played an essential catalytic role in opening the university community's eyes to international service- learning as scholarship over the last few years. Porter contributed to this scholarship yet again in the Fall 2003 edition of "Teacher Education Quarterly" with her article "Pedagogy and Community: Understanding Situated Contexts in Learning to Teach." In addition to the recent article, Porter also led a delegation to the International Conference on Service- Learning Research to present "Fostering an (International) Service-Learning Community of Practice at a Research I Institution." The panel presentation made such an impression that a representative of Clemson University, next year's conference host, explicitly asked the team to prepare a presentation for that conference. In addition to Porter, the panel included Dr. Christopher Boettcher, Dr. Monica Pagano, Dr. Sekai Turner and Eric Hartman. Eric Hartman also presented a paper he co-authored with Dr. Reinhard Heinisch entitled "Fostering Civic Attitudes and an Appreciation for Diversity through International Service-Learning: A Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis." Hartman and Heinisch, both political scientists, presented that paper at the American Political Science Association conference in August and Hartman presented it at the International Civic Education Research Conference in November. After returning from the Civic Education conference, Hartman was pleased to report that a three-person panel he attended on international service-learning included two former Amizade volunteers! More About Dr. Porter's Research and Teaching! »

Students are Enrolling NOW for Summer 2004 Courses!

Applications are steadily coming into the Amizade Center office even though courses were officially posted less than a month ago! The Amizade Center's rolling admissions process creates an incentive to apply early. Students interested in a summer 2004 course should apply soon! Summer 2004 Courses! »