The Education and Social Justice Project: International Summer Research Fellowships 2015

Abstract

This report reflects on the sixth year of the Education and Social Justice Project, which provided four Georgetown University students with fellowships to travel to South Korea, Guatemala, Senegal, and Canada to conduct in-depth examinations of innovative educational initiatives, with a focus on the work of Jesuit institutions.

Project fellows spent three weeks with institutions engaged in efforts to promote social justice through education.

Caitlin Snell worked in Espanola, Ontario, Canada, with the Anishinabe Spiritual Centre to research how cultural education programs are being used by Canadian Indian and Catholic institutions to recover lost culture and foster student cultural engagement and identity formation. Dana Drecksel spent three weeks conducting research at the Republic of Korea’s Sogang University in Seoul and in Gangjeong Village on Jeju Island. There she interviewed members of the Sogang community, Gangjeong Village naval base protestors and Sewol Ferry activists as part of her investigation into how members of the Korean community respond to social injustices. In Dakar and Mbour, Senegal, Sabrina Khan researched the intersection of faith and education; particularly the role private Catholic schools play in the Muslim-majority country in developing concepts of pluralism and citizenship. In Guatemala, Nicolas “Nico” Lake worked with the Universidad Rafael Landívar to analyze the impact of the university’s “Development with Justice” scholarship program, which provides funds for indigenous and female Guatemalans, traditionally the most marginalized populations in Guatemalan society, to attend the university.