
Events

Encounter•KW lets students engage with experts, practitioners, community outreach programs, and locals focused around the specific theme chosen for the current year. By the end of the experience, participants will have had the opportunity to take a more in-depth look into the complex issues that exist in our own backyard.
Program Structure:
Encounter•KW includes a special topics course for credit and a 5 day reading week experience in the community.
Successful applicants will be enrolled in the Encounter•KW course in the Fall term. The initial weeks of the course will focus on introducing the social justice issues relevant to the program theme. Coursework following the reading week experience will provide additional content and opportunities for further research and reflection on the experience. Students will receive more detailed information about the course content through the syllabus on their first day of class.
The reading week experience will involve day-trips to a variety of local community partners. Students will have the opportunity to engage in community service while also learning directly from local leaders who are actively seeking solutions to social justice issues in our own community.
Program Outcomes:
- Build the capacity to create relationships across differences (ie. social status, diverse backgrounds, programs, etc.)
- Develop relationships with leaders and staff members of local organizations through networking opportunities
- Develop team-work and collaboration skills
- Discover the historical and current context of each issue
- Identify key populations affected by each issue, and develop insight into the key community members and organizations involved in addressing the issue
- Identify and articulate the aspects of the issue that are still not being addressed
- Develop critical thinking and reflective thinking skills through practice
- Understand personal relationship with the issue and articulate pre-existing biases and assumptions
- Draw connections between the issue and personal areas of study
- Develop attainable goals for future action in relation to the issue
- Participants must be undergraduate students (but do not have to be SJU enrolled).
- Participants must maintain a minimum of good academic standing