Workshop at UF: Service-Learning in the Humanities: A Workshop for Interested Instructors and Community Partners 2 February 2015, Dauer Hall 215, 3:00-5:00 pm

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Please see and register to attend this exciting new workshop from UF’s Center for the Humanities & the Public Sphere.

Service-Learning in the Humanities: A Workshop for Interested Instructors and Community Partners

2 February 2015, Dauer Hall 215, 3:00-5:00 pm

Facilitated by Anita Anantharam (Center for Women’s Studies and Gender Research) and Angela Garcia (Center for Leadership and Service)

What does Feminist Theory have to do with Slow Food? The answer to this question is service-learning, a significant way for humanities scholars to connect theoretical ideas about the human condition to practical work in our communities. According to the National Service Learning Clearinghouse, service-learning is “a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities.” In other words, service-learning combines pedagogy and community involvement to bridge the gap between the academy and the community and bring service into the classroom where teachers can utilize resources in the community, students can gain valuable cultural and professional experience, and community organizations can benefit from increased awareness and volunteerism.
This hands-on workshop will introduce UF teachers and community partners to the growing field of service-learning with particular attention service-learning components and strategies for humanities courses. The first part of the workshop will discuss existing service-learning courses in the humanities at UF, illustrate relevant student learning objectives, and provide resources for developing mutually-beneficial and sustainable relationships with community partners involved in service-learning courses. The second part of the workshop gives participants time and assistance to develop service-learning components to their existing or future courses. There will be ample time for Q&A and interactive planning by all participants.

  • This workshop is open to all UF faculty, staff, and graduate instructors. UF participants are encouraged to invite current or potential community collaborators to join them in the workshop.
  • Refreshments will be served.
  • Workshop participants will be expected to bring a class syllabus or description of a class assignment. Short preparatory materials will be circulated in advance.

This event is made possible with support from the Rothman Endowment at the Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere, and the Center for Leadership and Service.
Anita Anantharam joined the University of Florida’s Center for Women’s Studies and Gender Research in 2006. Professor Anantharam received her Ph.D. in South and Southeast Asian Studies with a Designated Emphasis in Women, Gender, and Sexuality from the University of California, Berkeley. Her research interests are in the fields of nationalism and feminism in South Asia, women’s movements,  food and cultural studies. She has published two books:  Mahadevi Varma: Political Essays on Women,Culture, and Nation (2010), andBodies that Remember: Women’s Indigenous Knowledge and Cosmopolitanism in South Asia  (2012). She is currently working on a project on Domesticity and Food Politics–specifically, how women selectively participate in global politics through reinventing and reimagining the home as a space of resistance and revolution.
Angela Garcia earned her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology at University of Florida, and her Master of Science in Nonprofit Management from Northeastern University. Angela has been involved with the Center for Leadership and Service since 2006, and now serves as the Director of Community Engagement and Service-Learning. In this role she directly advises Florida Alternative Breaks and the 20+ service trips they send out each year, oversees service-learning initiatives across campus, coordinates nonprofit outreach efforts, and plans events and conferences surrounding social justice issues. Angela has a passion for engaging in all types of service; she previously served two years as an AmeriCorps VISTA, consults nonprofits on volunteer management and planning, and volunteers at local nonprofits.