As we begin spring semester: updates from the director

First, welcome back all of you who traveled during January term. Snowpocalypse 2016 was a minor inconvenience back here at Elon but I know many of you had major delays in your return to the US, and I am glad to hear that everyone is home safely.

Back on campus and near campus there was a great deal going on, so here are some quick updates:

The Class of 2016 set a new mark for our program by being the first cohort to take advantage of COR 445 “Global Partnership thru Service.” All Elon students are required to take a COR capstone class and from now forward that university requirement can be filled through Periclean. Click here to see a late draft of the syllabus. The entire cohort was active and enrolled in this capstone class, with three of their members traveling to Honduras for a good portion of the term then reporting back to the class on campus in the last week.
You will be hearing more about this is the coming weeks and months, but ’16’s are putting together a book that will provide a detailed description of their three-year journey and provide useful and critical advice for all future Classes as well as non-Periclans that want to know more about the many complexities of international partnering and development work.
Using as a guide the work the ’16s did, associate director Mat Gendle has developed a template syllabus for COR 445 that can be used next year and beyond.
Registration for “People, Planet, Profit,” another initiative of the ’16’s is in full swing right now. In partnership with the Love School of Business the ’16’s have organized a on day summit focusing on the question “We believe that making ethical decisions and making a profit are not mutually exclusive. Do you agree?” Go here or here to learn more and to register.
The Mentor’s for both the ’17’s and ’18’s were leading study abroad classes, Steve Braye to Ireland and Carol Smith to New Zealand. I did work with Professor Moore and Susan Reynolds from the ’17’s and we did move forward with contacts in Namibia in the American Cultural Center, the Ministries of Education and Agriculture and administration and faculty from the University of Namibia and the Polytechnic of Namibia. The ’17’s will have much on which to work preparing for travel to Namibia this June and again in January 2017.
Plans for travel to Zambia will begin to ramp up just after the start of the semester. Braye, Gendle and a good number of the ’18s will spend time in Zambia in May-June building with Habitat for Humanity-International and laying the groundwork for future partnerships there.
In addition to spending a good deal of time visiting the ’16’s classroom (conveniently in Global Commons 200) I continued work on my research on the humanitarian aid and development world. Look here for some blog posts that will be helpful to you as you explore questions about the “humanitarian aid system.” As part of my research I have become more familiar with the aid work nomenclature and methodology. I encourage all Classes to read about and perhaps begin using the “log frame” technique that has been the sector standard for decades.
On January 25th I did a presentation to the Elon admissions staff about Periclean Scholars and how to communicate this opportunity to prospective students. They has many great questions, but summarizing this remains a challenge.
Megan, ’16 and Chase, ’18 continued work on the Periclean Foundation and on getting alumni updates. Check on this post by Chase featuring Kelly Parshall from the Class of 2010. This work will continue throughout the spring as well.