Community Based Learning:
Conflict & Social Justice
February 28, March 8,
March 12-14, and March 21-22
The West Virginia Service Learning Intensive (SLI) offers students an opportunity to engage in conflict analysis and resolution practice in a community setting as they work with and learn from community leaders. As students and faculty engage with and learn from community members and leaders, the SLI team will be able to explore conflict and resolution theories and dynamics in the lives of the people of the Charleston area. Over the course of the time spent in Charleston, students will collaborate with community leaders and organizations in and around the capital city of Charleston exploring conflicts related to coal, gentrification, and youth employment. Building upon work completed in the summer of 2013, students will continue to work with Job Corps personnel and students to develop conflict resolution approaches within the Charleston Job Corps Center.
Charleston, West Virginia is a vibrant community and the capital of the state. Like many other communities in the state, it is shaped by the coal and natural gas extraction industries. In particular, conflicts related to the practice of mountaintop mining are evident as one walks through the downtown streets. Additionally, tensions between black and white residents (the black population is 12 percent) occasionally surface as residents address sensitive issues. As city leaders work toward community reconciliation, students participating in this SLI will have the opportunity to work with organizations that are addressing citizens' concerns and developing transformative processes that might focus on:
· - Gentrification of older parts of city
· - Civil rights issues inherent in demographics, history
· - Environmental realities related to the coal and natural gas industries
· - Economic concerns of local residents
Another purpose of the trip will be to embed students within a particular landscape where the team will have time to enjoy the beautiful scenery as well as learn about the culture of West Virginia through museum and site visits..