Author Archives: Luis Marentes

Reflections of a student in Barcelona

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Today one of my friends shared this blog post from one of his students: “My Semester in Barcelona: Live, Laugh, Learn”. He is about to finish a semester in Barcelona and I thought you might find his post interesting. It might serve as an inspiration to those of you who are about to embark in a study abroad experience (as an example of what awaits you) or for those of you who are abroad or have just returned (as an example of reflection upon the experience). Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Paid summer internships with Associated Press

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I have just received this post about paid internships with Associated Press for the summer of 2014. They are in several cities, including Mexico. This sounds like a great opportunity, but you also have to be a journalism major. I’m not certain whether we have any double majors in this group, but thought that it would be good to share anyway.

Volunteer opportunities with Holyoke Health Center

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Last week I was contacted by the Director of Development for Holyoke Health Center with a very interesting request. The organization is a community health center that endeavors to provide health services to people in the region regardless of income. They are in the process of updating their web page and one of their goals is to make it bilingual (English-Spanish). In order to achieve this they need volunteers, and having heard about our class (!) they thought that perhaps some of us could help them in the process. I hope that early in the spring semester we can identify a group of students interested in helping. I could certainly work with you in the editing and sponsor the project for you to earn Independent Studies credits for your work.  As we begin working on the project I would also like for us to visit the facility and meet the personnel in order to get a better understanding of their needs and goals.

Volunteer opportunities with Amherst Public Schools

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Today I received an email from UCAN “a student-run community service network that matches UMass students with volunteer positions in the Amherst public schools.” For the spring semester they are particularly interested in recruiting students who speak Spanish, Cape Verdean, Portuguese, Mandarin and Farsi. We certainly have students in our class who speak Spanish and Portuguese, and maybe you know friends who speak any of the other languages. The email I received states that

Volunteers submit an application with interests, availability, and skills and are placed into programs at the elementary, middle, and secondary school levels. These programs include after-school programs, lunch programs, and in-class or individual tutoring. UCAN requires no regular meetings or coursework, so volunteer placements are flexible and fit to students’ availability. Tutoring can be for 1hr/week or more.

Please follow this link to get more information. I do hope that we can get some volunteers from this class. It would be great to engage in a service-learning project within our own community.

Harvard student questions Teach for America

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I just ran into this article in the Huffington Post’s College Blog, “Why I Said No to Teach for America and Why You Should Too”. I have always liked this program’s basic premise, but Sandra Korn raises some interesting questions here, questions that are related to some of the issues we have discussed in class – “charity” vs. “social justice”. The article also questions the ways in which we measure student success and reminds us of the importance of long term engagement. I leave it here as food for thought and look forward to your reaction to the ideas presented.

NBC’s interest in paid internships

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Throughout the summer I have posted several articles about a recent court ruling regarding unpaid internships and some of the consequences of this ruling. Today I ran into this story which emphasizes the importance of paid internships, in this case particularly as an instrument to promote diversity in the media. Beyond the focus on internships, I find the argumentation around questions of diversity quite relevant.

“Tracking Charity” on PRI’s The World

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Today I ran into this very interesting project. Amy Costello will follow what The World identifies as “the multibillion-dollar international aid industry”. It will certainly look at “charity” from a critical perspective. At this point the site has posted four stories: on Malaria in Africa, medical volunteers in Haiti, international adoptions, and the TOMS shoe company. I think it is a very valuable resource for those of you interesting in continuing on the track of community engagement and service-learning.

eInternships with the State Department

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Today I received this link from the State Department about something I didn’t know existed: eInternships as part of what is called Virtual Student Foreign Service! As you can imagine, I immediately became interested in this peculiar opportunity as it combines foreign service and electronic communications. Looking at the project listing link I realize that there are a whole series of opportunities – in sectors ranging from education to economic development and public health – that certainly fit the interests and skills of many of you. The application period ends July 20, so you should move soon if you are interested in this. You can also follow this initiative on Twitter @vsfsAtState.