TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA IN a quest to reach new frontiers of knowledge of social justice, six students of Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar (SFSQ) recently visited the US as part of the university’s Community Engagement Programme (CEP).

The theme of this year’s CEP was on international disaster management.

The students spent hours in workshops, lectures and discussions to learn about issues affecting populations around the world, during visits to Georgetown’s main campus in Washington the 2012 Jesuit Universities Humanitarian Action Network (JUHAN) Conference in Fairfield, Connecticut as well as a Habitat for Humanity project in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

“The CEP is unique to our campus in Qatar, as participants take real-world lessons and apply them to their student life at SFSQ. After participating in the CEP, previous students have engaged in meaningful initiatives related to migration and labour laws,” said Alex Silberman, a student development officer at SFSQ, and one of the trip organisers.

A Jesuit institution of global acclaim, community-based learning is one of the cornerstones of the Georgetown University experience. The Qatar campus has continued its commitment to extending this ethos of the main campus by building a communitybased learning component into the academic years. Service projects remain based on informing, involving, and empowering the students to develop stronger notions of social responsibility, and to wrestle with questions of social justice. “Georgetown aims to promote the Jesuit value of ‘Men and Women for Others’ by developing well-rounded students who excel academically and in their extracurricular endeavours; students who will ultimately work for the communities that they are a part of,” said Silberman.

“The trip was a wonderful opportunity for participants to form new partnerships, forge new friendships, foster multicultural understanding, and learn about ways to meaningfully contribute at home and abroad,” Silberman added.

Past CEP trips have taken SFSQ students to Sri Lanka, South Africa, Bangladesh and Tanzania.

“The ultimate goal of CEP is to foster student engagement,” said Silberman.