HSSJ 4198: The Citizen Leader


This class has been closed and is no longer open.

About

Public discourse is teeming with advice about leadership, opinions about what citizenship is, and what service in the community should look like. Effectiveness as a citizen leader requires a more complex understanding of each of these constructs and their implications. In this course, we will explore several ways that leadership, citizenship, and service have been framed by scholars. Ultimately, you will arrive at your own informed and well-considered philosophy, which will guide you as a student leader at GW and a citizen-leader in the world.

This is a community-engaged scholarship course, and includes 30 hours of service with a local community organization addressing issues of poverty, affordable housing, food security, or youth development. This course is restricted to GW students in the Civic House Scholars Program. 

(Traditional)
Course
HSSJ
Semester:
Fall 2018
Stats
24 People | 147 Impacts | 404 Hours

Events


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I found very interesting and attractive that the current social issues are presented not by speech but artistic performance.
My favorite showcase presentation was the one about lack of mental health services in Ward 7. The presenter was very educated on the topic and I think it's important to find access to this because mental health is very overlooked and has negative impacts on many people who do not have resources. It was very sad to learn that there also is no hospitals in Ward 7, so not only are mental health services overlooked but also the physical health.
I enjoyed watching the theatre students perform, because I feel like it was easy for me to connect with some of their stories coming from immigrant parents. Just like the performers, I view our immigration to the U.S. as an opportunity. It has opened up more doors for me, such as education and growing in a more diverse environment.
My favourite presentation was the research done on gentrification in Ward 1 and how it impacts seniors living in the area. The group presented that most of the solution to address this issue is policy based, however it was interesting still to get to learn about how this is a prominent issue that drives seniors out of their homes because the houses rates are going up.
My favorite presentation was the one about self-care within service. It was something I could relate to, and it talked about how those who volunteer are generally more prone to long term burnouts from volunteering and they reach a point where they have no more to give. Because of that the volunteers won’t be able to make as much of an impact because they would take days off to recuperate and because if that they don’t get to make deep connections.
I liked the Babies Behind Bars presentation. The presenters were wellknowledged and passionate about the topic. Furthermore, they did a good job with their tri fold. It showcased how hard they worked on it. It was my favorite because it addresssed an issue that is interconnected with many other issues that affect communities in DC.
Showcase Session:
I had someone present to me on the organization from life pieces to masterpieces. She was very knowledgeable being that she has been serving for over a year and a half. She explained how the organization often faced bankruptcy because of lack of funding, but often used the art created by students to fund the program. She explained many different statistics including that around 40% of African American students at this school graduated because of lack of funding. She also displayed the art and gave us the resources to support this organization. She was very smart and clearly passionate about her topic.
My favorite presentation was the Babies Behind Bars because it addressed an issue that I didn’t know much about to begin with and felt was important to address in the DC community because it effects so many children
Each of the breakout presentations I visited were so cool! I learned about a lot of issues in the DC community, especially those in the outer Wards 5,7,8 that don’t get a lot of attention or resources. I learned about causes my peers were researching such as Job Training and Higher Education in Ward 8, Educational Inequality in Elementary Schools in DC, and Food Disparaties in the outer wards. These outer wards have a large minority population and lower socioeconomic wealth, and these factors correlate to a lack of investment and proper resource allocation to these areas.
Using art as a way to voice the untold story is a first step to bringing awareness to the current and past states of immigration. The stories, whether or not they were theirs, reincinuated that the most important factor when assessing this issue is the family dynamics. Understanding the personal aspects of what a family goes through during immigration is very important since many people separate the story from the action.