Six students from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFS-Q) visited the US recently as part of the University’s Community Engagement Programme (CEP).
Students from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar during their visit to the US
The theme of this year’s CEP was international disaster management, as students spent hours in workshops, lectures and discussions learning about issues affecting populations around the world, during visits to Georgetown’s main campus in Washington, DC, the 2012 Jesuit Universities Humanitarian Action Network (JUHAN) Conference in Fairfield, Connecticut as well as a Habitat for Humanity project in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
“The CEP is unique to our campus in Qatar, as participants take real-world lessons and apply them to their student life at SFS-Q. After participating in the CEP, previous students have engaged in meaningful initiatives related to migration and labour laws,” said Alex Silberman, a Student Development Officer at SFS-Q, and one of the trip organisers.
Community-based learning is one of the cornerstones of the Georgetown University experience. The Qatar campus has continued its commitment to extending this ethos of the main campus by building a community-based learning component into the academic years. Service projects remain based on informing, involving, and empowering the students to develop stronger notions of social responsibility, and to wrestle with questions of social justice.
“The trip was a wonderful opportunity for participants to form new partnerships, forge new friendships, foster multi-cultural understanding, and learn about ways to meaningfully contribute at home and abroad,” added Silberman.
Past CEP trips have taken SFS-Q students to Sri Lanka, South Africa, Bangladesh, and Tanzania to name a few.