Puerto Rico: Community Service Learning & Cultural Exchange
Program
The program will immerse and engage students in the history of Puerto Rican culture and the connection to the U.S. Students will apply language and culture skills as they interact with collaborative peers and communities. Students will engage in service-learning opportunities in collaboration with local university students and grassroots organizations.
Itinerary
- Engage in community service projects
- Collaborate with university students in San Juan
- Walk the streets of Old San Juan
- Hear the sounds of the coqui frog in El Yunque rainforest
- Visit a local beach
- Immerse in the Puerto Rican culture
Academics
Students will develop Spanish communication skills and gain knowledge of the culture in Puerto Rico. The development of these skills and knowledge will allow them to immerse in the culture and connect with peers and community partners during our program. The course will incorporate a virtual exchange with university students in Puerto Rico prior to the trip in March.
Faculty Leaders
Dr. Danielle Staten Lamb, Ed.D., M.A., has been the Director of TRIO-Student Support Services for nine years. Prior to becoming Director of the TRIO-SSS program, Dr. Lamb was an adjunct instructor in the English department. Her research interests include persistence factors and resiliency among first-generation college students from diverse backgrounds. As a first-generation college student herself, she is an advocate for providing transformative experiences to students, especially when it comes to domestic travel, increasing their knowledge and awareness of the variety and diversity of cultures and historical entities that shape America and its territories.
Laura Dunn Grodewald, M.A., is GCU’s Director of Global Education Programs. She has fifteen years of experience teaching Spanish and ESL to students of all ages both in the United States and in Hong Kong. She has also taught Spanish for Social Workers and Spanish for Healthcare Workers at several NJ colleges. Laura is currently in her eighth year working exclusively in university international programs. Laura has designed and led 16 service trips abroad to Philippines, Malaysia, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, and Nicaragua.
Program Costs
TBA
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