Study Abroad and Global Experiences

Course Description

SERVICE LEARNING Prerequisite: Minimum 2.0 institutional or overall GPA; or department approval This course gives the student the opportunity to grow academically, pre-professionally, personally and civically through participation in a service-learning experience. Students meet real needs in the community by applying knowledge from their courses. Students complete 20 hours of service per credit, complete written reflections, and meet regularly with assigned faculty member. Multiple credit course. May be repeated for a maximum of 4 credits, but grade forgiveness cannot be applied

Program Overview

Holistic Community Wellness: How do you create and sustain healthy, vibrant communities that prepare their citizens for the future while preserving, enriching, and celebrating their history and culture? This program will encourage students to explore the answer to this important question through the lens of holistic community wellness. We will focus on the pillars of housing, education, jobs, health, and safety.

Locally, students will explore the rich heritage of the Historic Parramore community within the context of the ever-changing landscape of Downtown Orlando. What is the heritage of the peoples and places rooted in Historic Parramore neighborhoods? What challenges do they face as the environment in which they exist continues to experience development and change? How do we listen with compassion and understanding to the community voice? How can we positively and responsibly contribute to revitalization and the improvement of community health? A visit to the Wells’Built Museum and authentic engagement with community partners will help us to explore these topics.

To further broaden perspective, students will travel to the tri-island state of Grenada, Carriacou, and Petite Martinique in the Caribbean. We will learn about their unique efforts to sustain their way of life in the face of economic and environmental challenges and political changes. On mainland Grenada, we will survey and observe sites such as the Victoria Nutmeg Museum, Grand Etang Lake & Rainforest, Annandale Falls, and St. George’s University Medical School. In Carriacou, we will experience the unique culture and traditions of the ancestors like ‘Big Drum’ dancing. We will visit the Carriacou Museum with historical artifacts from native inhabitants the Cibony, Arawaks, and Carib Indians. We will visit a desalination plant, High North the island’s highest peak, mangroves, and beach turtles. A stone’s throw across from Carriacou is Petite Martinique. We will view a hidden gem of the island, Darant Bay Cave. Mindful of our own footprint, we will do beach cleanups as we swim in the beautiful blue waters of Grenada’s Grand Anse beach and Paradise Beach on Carriacou.

You will complete 20 hours of service in this course. May this experience help you to cultivate compassion, shared understanding, and a deepened awareness of what communities need not just to survive but to thrive! May you be inspired to become an advocate for holistic community wellness and be determined to contribute in responsible, positive ways to the vitality of our local and global communities. 

Service Learning Project:

We will volunteer with community organizations, locally and globally, that address the needs of the community related to housing, education, jobs, health, and safety. You will have an opportunity to participate in a broad variety of exciting, educational, and fun service experiences.

At home and abroad, we will have an opportunity to learn about urban farming, cultivating kitchen gardens, and how these can help to address food insecurity and hunger in the community. We will participate in the planting, reaping, and cleaning of produce and learn about increasing education and access to locally grown and nutritious food sources. We will also learn about the importance of the “farm-to-table” experience, and how to encourage healthy eating in our homes and communities.

As part of our service, we will also provide needed support to some of the most vulnerable populations in our communities. We will volunteer with community organizations locally that support youths and provide access to safe recreation and education. We will also provide an invaluable service of just spending time with the elderly by engaging in music-centered activities at a senior home in Carriacou. 

In an effort to contribute to a clean, safe, and healthy community we will participate in a variety of community clean-up and conservation efforts. We will work with community partners in Historic Parramore to organize a street clean-up event. We will learn about conservation efforts to sustain Grenada’s Marine Ecosystem and participate in beach clean-up activities. On the sister isle, Carriacou, the focus on preserving the country’s ecosystem and biodiversity conservation will continue as we go to High North National Park to plant Keystone Tree saplings and install birdhouses in the forest. We will also visit the Petite Carenage Mangrove Restoration and Lilet Bird Sanctuary Wetland. Here we will plant Mangrove seeds and enjoy bird watching. During our daytrip to the other sister isle, Petite Martinique, we will participate in beach cleanup to help maintain the beautiful seaside