Dr. Laura Gray is an assistant professor at the Department of English, University of Arkansas. She is teaching Introduction to Literature: Community Engagement as well as Community Development Program in […]
Dr. Laura Gray is an assistant professor at the Department of English, University of Arkansas. She is teaching Introduction to Literature: Community Engagement as well as Community Development Program in Vietnam. For her, service learning is impactful for both community and students involved.
Community Impact: “Besides the intangible benefits of personal and intellectual growth, these opportunities demonstrate how capable our students are of negotiating the world to future graduate programs, internships and employers. And, the bonds these students make with each other, their community partners and faculty are meaningful and lasting.
Student Impact: “International Service-Learning experiences immediately challenge students into transformative shifts because everything about the ways we safely navigate the world of intellectualizing and the ways we view ourselves is displaced–my role and self included. We fly together, eat, work, study, talk, and explore a culture different from our own. The boundaries of a traditional classroom with its set days/time limit evaporates in the Me Kong Delta heat and long work days. Often, as much as we plan ahead of time, some things do not happen the way we expect, or they even fall apart. The “control” portion in this lab are mostly ideas we leave behind when we leave home. These experiences unfold and are both uniquely shared and individual in dynamic ways that are just not possible inside Old Main.
Role as a Faculty Leader: “I recruit students with the potential to create and be successful in amazing projects, communicate with our non-profit field support and Can Tho University partners to design the schedules and logistics, develop curriculum to provide the platform for meaningful growth and intellectual exchanges and support students through the process of the entire experience from pre-trip preparation meetings and assignments, through course work and service work, to the return trip flights home.