Community Service Learning Projects
To fulfill the community service learning requirement for this class you have the choice to participate in one of the three following projects. You should devote about 12 hours to the project you select.Project 1: International Womyn's Day Celebration
Here is the Vision statement from the organizers of the International Womyn's Day celebration:
Womyn and girls living in San Jose feel safe, empowered, and free to make their own choices. They are united with a strong base of local community organizations. This coalition of orgs is supportive and dedicated to eradicating hate and violence by promoting peace, respect, and creativity. Each March, an event is held on International Womyn’s Day, and each month, the coalition hosts Womyn Warrior Potlucks, to learn about, celebrate, and honor womyn leaders.
On Saturday, March 5th the 2nd annual International Womyn's Day Celebration in San Jose will take place. If you select this community service learning project you will help to provide security for a march through downtown San Jose. This is a very important part of the celebration, since one of the goals of the International Womyn's Day celebration is to promote the safety and well-being of womyn and girls in San Jose.
Hours breakdown:
25% Participating in the sign-making party a week before the march
50% Providing security for the march through downtown San Jose
25% Attendance at the festival
In addition to your participation on the day of the event and at the sign-making party you will also be required to write two reflection papers (1-2 pages apiece). The first reflection, due the week before the march, will concern the needs of immigrant and migrant womyn in Santa Clara county, needs that many who are not immigrants and migrants or even womyn will share. The second reflection will be due via e-mail the week after the event, and it will be shared with the other organizers of the International Womyn's Day celebration.
Project 2: Immigration Reform
Participants in this community service learning project will become involved in a
reading and discussion group on the US immigration system and current efforts to reform
the immigration system. Members of the reading and discussion group will meet once
a week for thirty minutes outside of the regularly-scheduled class time. Through the
quarter we will consider the following three questions:
1. What makes it difficult to immigrate legally? What are the barriers for legal immigration,
and when were these put into place?
2. Why do people immigrate?
3. What are people doing to reform the immigration system?
The first meeting of this group will occur during the third week of the quarter. I
will distribute readings, and as the quarter progresses I will encourage members of
this group to also provide readings. We will begin by discussing the current efforts
to prevent the deportation of Steve Li, Elizabeth Lee and Mark Farrales, and we will
also touch on topics such as the Dream Act and AB 540. As the reading group continues
I hope that we will be able to integrate our own experiences into the discussion.
At the beginning of Week 8 (February 28) a 1-2 page reflection on the three questions
will be due, and this reflection will be the reading material for the following week's
discussion. In Week 10 you will present our answers to the three questions to the
rest of the class.
Here is the hours breakdown:
50% Attendance and participation in reading group discussions (8 meetings, 30 minutes
apiece)
50% Presentation
Project 3: VOICES
Here are the three basic goals of the VOICES project:1) Educate the community on the history, experiences, barriers to success, and community contributions of Asian American immigrants in Silicon Valley.
2) Identify key policy issues and encourage action steps that facilitate the integration of Asian American immigrant communities.
3) Foster cross-cultural understanding among various ethnic communities.
If you select this project you will work with staff of Asian American Community Involvement as well as Helen Pong, a graduate student of Social Work at SJSU. AACI and Helen will hold a multi-media event and community discussion at a Campbell middle school in early-March to mid-March. The community discussion will include small-group discussions so that everyone will be able to speak. You can be involved in this project either by facilitating a small-group discussion or by helping to set up before the event or helping to clean up after the event. Here is the hours break-down:
Facilitation:
25% Training (mandatory)
25% Attendance at the event
50% Facilitation of a small-group discussion
Set-up/Clean up:
50% Set-up or clean-up
25% Attendance at the VOICES event
25% Attendance at another event on campus related to issues important to the Asian American community at De Anza and Santa Clara County (see me for an ok)
In addition to your participation on the day of the event you will also be required to write two reflection papers (1-2 pages apiece) that will be shared with Helen and AACI staff. The first reflection will be due via e-mail the week before the VOICES event, and you will answer this question: Why is it important to listen the voices of low-income immigrants and new immigrants? The second reflection will be due via e-mail the week after the VOICES event.