OACS Update

Posted by Eileen Remley on Friday, April 14, 2017 in News Blurbs.

The Office of Active Citizenship and Service invites interested undergraduate students to apply to be part of Local OACS DIVE cohorts launching Fall 2017. DIVE (Design as an Immersive Vanderbilt Experience) is a new, innovative university program with both curricular and co-curricular components that expands access to design thinking methodologies to students, faculty and staff. DIVE participants will learn human-centered design skills in order to solve complex, real-world problems, working in multidisciplinary teams on immersive, mentored projects. Local OACS DIVE cohorts will include direct service with local community partners and the opportunity to apply the human-centered design process to support community-identified challenges, all through the lens of critical service-learning

The Local OACS Dive Experience will include:

• DIVE Boot Camp ideally before, but possibly during, their co-curricular project
• Opportunity to partner with a variety of campus offices, including OACS, the Wond’ry, the Curb Center, and the Jean and Alexander Heard Library (depending on the available projects)
• Multidisciplinary project teams working with local community organizations and members to solve real-world challenges over the course of a semester around themes similar to the ones below:
  • The experience of displaced persons living in Nashville
  • Food waste
  • Affordable housing
• Participation in an end-of-the-year showcase to share findings

Applications are now open for the Local OACS DIVE programs that will begin Fall 2017. Local OACS DIVE programs provide students a unique opportunity to work together with local non-profit organizations to address community-identified challenges in innovative ways using the processes of Human-Centered Design. Throughout the semester-long experience, Local OACS DIVE programs will include a theme-focused seminar series, service with a non-profit organization addressing the cohort theme, and hands-on experience applying human-centered design to address community-identified need. Applicants accepted to a Local OACS DIVE program will be invited to join a specific theme-based cohort. Selection will be based on a review of applicant theme interest, major, and skills to strengthen cohort diversity and the learning experience. To learn more about the DIVE program, visit the website.

Redefine Concludes

Redefine 2016/17 has concluded and OACS/ISSS thank all the campus and community partners who made the program a resounding success. Our final activity was led by Lindsey Krinks from Open Table Nashville, and involved OTN’s Urban Immersion walking tour. Students were led across downtown Nashville to points of importance in the Civil Rights Movement, and discussed contemporary issues facing people experiencing homelessness. This year, Redefine involved 16 students in 4 seminars and 5 days of service across the spring semester. Please visit the website for more information.

Annual Service & Civic Engagement Lecture

More than 65 students attended the first annual OACS Service and Civic Engagement Lecture with keynote speaker Donovan Livingston on April 10^th. Donovan Livingston is an award-winning educator, spoken word poet, and public speaker. In 2016, his Harvard Graduate School of Education convocation address “Lift Off” went viral, reaching over thirteen million views and prompting Hillary Clinton to praise, “It’s young graduates like [Livingston] who make it clear that America’s best days are still ahead.” Since his pivotal speech, Livingston has been featured on CNN, NPR, BBC, Good Morning America, and in news outlets across Europe, Australia, India, and South Africa. OACS extends a warm thank you to Mr. Livingston and all who were in attendance.

Global Service Programs

OACS Global Service Programs to Ecuador, South Africa, Morocco, and London are midway through our seminar series. On April 11^th Greg Fontus from IICC facilitated a seminar focusing on Power, Privilege, and Service. OACS thanks Greg for his contributions, as he has now led this seminar for the past three years. Other Global Service seminar topics have included Critical Analysis of the Connections between Core Values, Identity and Empathy; Ethical Community Engagement & Critical Service-Learning Theory; International Development & Social Change; and service with the Nashville Food Project & Feed the Children. Cohort members also met with the Islamic Center of Nashville, attending their Islam 101 presentation. This summer will see 55 students participating in the 6-week service immersion experiences between May and August. For more information about Global OACS, please visit the webpage.

VIEW

Students in the 2017 Vanderbilt Internship Experience in Washington, D.C. cohort learned from two guest speakers during the April 11 seminar. Cynthia Washington, Assistant Director with the Vanderbilt University Career Center shared a presentation titled “Developing Your Professional Identity” during which students reflected on their personal values and considered action steps that they can take to cultivate a professional identity that reflects their values and goals. The VIEW students also heard from T.W. Shannon, a Fellow with the Harvard Institute of Politics who made history by becoming the youngest Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, as well as being the first Chickasaw and first African American to hold the post.