How To Get Started in Service-Learning at Duke

Your entry point for becoming engaged with service-learning courses at Duke may occur in a variety of places. Some faculty offer service-learning as either an option or a requirement in their classes, and you are given specific placements in which you can examine the course content in “real world” settings—for example, you might register for Bio 46, AIDS and Other Emerging Diseases, and be given the chance to work with AIDS patients at AIDS Community Residence Association. See the website at http://www.duke.edu/web/sl/.

Or, if you are not currently taking a course which offers service-learning, you can enroll in the House Course “Service-Learning: Expanding your Duke Education Beyond the Classroom,” (beginning this fall on Wednesday, September 3, 7-8:30). Students who take the House Course may also become facilitators for LEAPS, Learning through Experience, Action, Partnership, and Service, which is the student-run organization which supports service-learning courses by providing facilitators to lead small group reflection sessions related to the service experience. See their website at http://www.duke.edu/web/LEAPS/.

And if you are simply intrigued with the idea of service-learning, please come by the Kenan Institute for Ethics (102 West Duke) and pick up a copy of The Source, which contains, each semester, articles by students, faculty, and community partners who have been part of our service-learning program. You may also want to talk with Dr. Betsy Alden, Service-Learning Coordinator, (alden@duke.edu) about how you can link your personal academic interests with service-learning opportunities!