DukeEngage has added four new programs, bumping the number of group programs up to 40.
The new programs are located in Detroit, Mich.; Miami, Fla.; Belgrade, Serbia; and Seoul, South Korea. Each program provides an opportunity for students to explore culturally relevant issues for each of the areas through service with DukeEngage.
In South Korea students will assist North Korean settlers with their studies at Kumkang School in Seoul, said program leader Nayoung Aimee Kwon, Andrew W. Mellon Assistant Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern studies. The DukeEngage participants will contribute to the English language classes as well as help teachers with math, sports, art and computer education. Each of the participants will also design their own extracurricular programs for the Korean students.
The program participants will both teach and learn while in Seoul, Kwon said, adding that it is important for the Duke students to learn about the cultural context of the country.
“We want students to intellectually engage in the history, political economy and culture of the two Koreas,” Kwon said.
The program plans to target two groups of Duke students: bilingual speakers with previous knowledge of Korean culture and non-bilingual students who have less firsthand experience with Korean culture, Kwon said. She added that she hopes taking a diverse group of students will allow each of them to leave the program with a meaningful takeaway.
DukeEngage in Miami will focus on working with members of the Latino population. Program leader Jenny Snead Williams—executive director of the Latino/a Studies in the Global South certificate program-—said she realized the importance of assisting the growing Hispanic population in the United States after working with DukeEngage in Tucson, Az. Williams will continue as one of the leaders of the Tucson program for her third year.
“I chose Miami for its unique identity as the ‘capital of Latin America’ positioned within the southeastern U.S.,” Williams said.
Participants will work with UNIDAD of Miami Beach, an organization dedicated to advocacy and leadership development for residents of Miami Beach with an emphasis on the Hispanic population. Students will serve as mentors to high school students, facilitate health care and English as a Second Language workshops and assist senior citizens in the area.
Williams referred to this as vertical integration because it provides students with both a learning and teaching experience with different groups of people within the Latino community.
As part of the new DukeEngage program in Serbia, students will be placed with different organizations working on social change efforts in the country, which has seen a number of conflicts in wake of the Breakup of Yugoslavia, said program leader Lauren Clarke, dean for custom and comparative programs at the SIT Study Abroad/World Learning.
“We felt that a program on post-conflict social transformation would provide a fascinating opportunity for students,” Clarke said. “The development of civil society in Serbia in the past two decades offers many meaningful placements with NGOs and advocacy groups.”
Participants in the DukeEngage in Detroit program will be placed into teams and matched with local community partners. The students will collaborate with the organizations to create and implement projects beneficial to the area in a variety of possible ways, including economic development, environmental sustainability and health innovation.
Each of the new programs plans to accept up to eight students.
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