Impact: Self Awareness, Social Justice & Service RAP Fall 2019
Impact: Self Awareness, Social Justice & Service RAP is a year-long Service Learning RAP developed and coordinated through the UMass Amherst Office of Civic Engagement & Service Learning (CESL), which deeply integrates social justice theory, learning through community engagement, self-exploration, and self-awareness.
If you are familiar with social justice, service-learning, have participated in service events or even if you have no experience at all, this could be the program for you!
Living Together: Students live together on the same floor of a residence hall, creating a class community! Students develop lasting relationships with their classmates.
Learning Together:
Students enroll in a RAP course AND are connected with a service site (for 30 hours/semester) for both fall and spring semesters.
The fall semester required course delves into social justice theory and awareness building through readings, activities, written reflections, mindfulness practice and dialogues. By the end of the semester students will have a greater self awareness of how they fit into the diverse world community. Students explore the many ways that their service experience connects with their personal and academic lives.
The spring semester required course continues exploring themes of social justice but with a focus on elements of leadership in these issues. What is leadership? How do we lead? Students take action with their own organizing project this semester.
Making a Difference: Individual weekly service in the community outside of class is a requirement of Impact RAP. Partnering with community organizations gives students first-hand experiences in our core content areas. The program is connected with a handful of service sites in our surrounding community. Each student has an opportunity to choose one based on their areas of interest.
This RAP will have a close connection to the Common Read program...
Additional program and course details are available on the CESL website.
Sign up process is the same as for all RAPs.