Journey to South Africa
Reflections on 20+ Years of International Service-Learning
What is Journey to South Africa (J2SA)?
In the summer of 2001, an amazing partnership blossomed between the people of South Africa and the West Chester University (WCU) Honors College. Led by a team of educators, 27 students participated in a two-week international program that conducted oral histories of current South African college students, men, and women once on the forefront of change from Apartheid to Democracy. Since then, the Honors College has forged a strong relationship between the country and WCU.
Journey to South Africa (J2SA) is an edited collection of community-partner interviews, student-written travel journal entries, and faculty-written contextualizing chapters that reflect on these 20+ years of international service-learning (ISL) in South Africa. The book is written and co-edited by both students and faculty.
The book examines:
Reciprocity between students and host communities
"Best practices" for designing ISL programs
South African history, landscapes, and activists
Community service by South Africans and WCU students
Student reflections in the form of journal entries
and more!
The book is in the process of being edited and published. More information to come!
About our Blog
The J2SA blog highlights some of the amazing people, places, history, and service discussed in J2SA. Follow along for features such as:
Sneak-peeks of chapters
Access to original interview recordings
Examples of student journal entries
New writing that reflects on the South Africa ISL program
The J2SA blog is written and edited by WCU Honors students and is maintained by Dr. Victoria M. Tischio.
