AGSLC helps students to study in Ghana, Bulgaria

While many students are gearing up for summer by looking for employment, Pitt’s Amizade Global… While many students are gearing up for summer by looking for employment, Pitt’s Amizade Global Service-Learning Center is still offering opportunities for students to simultaneously travel, take classes and do volunteer work. These three elements are combined in service-learning courses, where students will spend 2 to 4 weeks not only learning, but applying their coursework in the community in which they are studying for the benefit of its residents.

The AGSLC currently has four recently announced trips for which it is seeking applicants: political science in Bulgaria, travel writing in Ghana, economics in Ghana and art history in Northern Ireland.

Freshman Katie Kurtzman, a student intern with the AGSLC, participated in the service-learning trip to Northern Ireland during spring break. “It forces you to step out of the campus and engage in the world,” she said about her experience studying contemporary Irish literature, traveling and helping Habitat for Humanity in Belfast.

To further entice applicants, the AGSLC is offering scholarships of up to $500 for these four trips, which range in cost from $2,800 to $3,200. The scholarship deadline is April 18, and the fee includes the tuition for six credits, airfare, housing, meals and other excursions.

Three other trips are also accepting applications: anthropology/Africana Studies in Tanzania, community development in Peru, and film studies, which has been moved from Bolivia to Jamaica because of political unrest.

Applications for all seven trips are being accepted on a rolling basis at the AGSLC office, located in Room 920 of the William Pitt Union.

Jessica Friedrichs, AGSLC program coordinator, noted how the hands-on nature of the coursework allows the material to come alive for students.

“These are strong courses, and really well-designed,” she said, adding that participation in a service-learning course shows that a student is willing to take initiative and be adventurous.

Friedrichs also noted the relevance of these courses in light of our increasingly interconnected world. “In these times, it’s really important to increase our intercultural understanding,” she said.