Going Global: Re-Framing Service-Learning in an Interconnected World

Abstract

This essay argues for the importance of re-framing international service-learning as global service-learning. This includes recognizing the entire “ecology of education,” the interconnected web of relationships in which learning can occur at home and abroad. It draws upon the experiences of developing a new program in global studies at Providence College that focuses on civic engagement with global and local communities, along with interviews and a focus group with majors in the program. The essay concludes with a call for using service-learning as a vehicle to educate global citizens not merely as a one-time experience, but rather as part of an integrated curricular process.