The Experience of Community Engagement: The Role of Culture in Border Crossing

• In Event: 33.078 - Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: 33.078-13 - Telling Our Own Stories: Counternarratives in and About Families, Communities, and Schools

Abstract

This research study aims to better understand the role that culture plays in an academically driven, undergraduate community engagement experience. The study explores the experiences of students from a residential liberal arts college within a Midwest research institution and students from a College Assistance Migrant Program participating in an academic course which collaborates with local 4th – 6th graders who self-identify as Latino. The study focuses on and explores the following questions: How do students identify culture in the community engagement experience? How do students perceive the role and influence of culture in their experience? What pedagogical practices effectively stimulate and engage reflection on or awareness of culture? What experiences or pedagogical practices stimulate the awareness or consciousness of border crossing?

Authors

• Karla Loebick, Michigan State University

• Estrella Torrez, Michigan State University