No Tours Beyond This Point: From Service to Civic Learning in Latin American Studies

Abstract

This article focuses on the design and implementation of a new course in Latin American Studies that sought to integrate traditional elements of undergraduate education with a more progressive pedagogical approach stressing experiential applications of classroom education. Civic engagement seemed particularly well suited to the course because of the growing local Latino populations. Although students read of the experiences of individuals depicted in a variety texts, including Héctor Tobar's The Tattooed Soldier and Sam Quinones's True Tales From Another Mexico, their engagement in surrounding neighborhoods helped to clarify and deepen their understanding through direct and regular contact with Latino/Hispanic communities.

Key words:

• civic engagement
• Latin American Studies
• Latino
• politics
• public work
• literature

Notes

¹ Brabant and Hochman (2004) identified this “single touch” as, yet again, the most common type of service-learning experience in which students rarely make the transition from “the charity perspective to the social change perspective” (Note 7) (p. 163).

²My definition of applied community research is based upon that of Nancy Kleniewski, which “includes projects initiated by a local need, … carried out with the cooperation and/or direct participation of community members, and resulting in an intervention for a positive change that is implemented at the grassroots level and consistent with community needs and wishes” (Kleniewski, 1999, as cited in Brabant & Hochman, 2004, p. 164).

³Living Water is a faith-based nonprofit that provides an after-school program for children living in the Fourth Ward of Hamilton, Ohio.

⁴Su Casa, under the direction of Catholic Social Services of Cincinnati, is the largest nonprofit providing a variety of services to the Latino/Hispanic communities of the area.

⁵Shared Harvest provides food for several area food banks

⁶At the end of each semester, I distributed a 2-page questionnaire to site supervisors that asked them to evaluate students on a variety of points as well as to comment on key observations.

⁷For students who qualify, Latin American Studies courses can be taken in place of the foreign language requirement.

⁸This student entered the Chicago Police Academy in Fall 2007.

⁹This student had done little of work for the course as a whole, and when it became apparent that his service was almost completely lacking, a Withdraw Pass seemed the most reasonable option.

¹⁰This discussion of ambiguous loss continued for the students throughout the semester (Jaes Falicov, 2002).