CCBP once again entered a formidable team in the University’s 5k health fitness competition. While the results of the November 17 Crimson Couch to 5K event have not yet been released, no one would be surprised if CCBP was again the winner, as it has won the past three. Team captain Yun Fu again recruited this year’s team of walker/runners. The event is part of the University’s Well-Bama program.
By Sirui Shao and Kirsten J. Barnes
Staff Writers, Center for Community-Based Partnerships
In celebration of International Education Week (November 12–18), UA’s Center for Community-Based Partnerships hosted its first Global Café, showing an hour-long documentary called “The Dialogue,” which explores international interpersonal exchange. The film was created by Crossing Borders Films and co-produced by Michigan State University.
“International Education Week offered a chance for us all to pause and appreciate the learning opportunities offered by international study. That means U.S. students traveling abroad and international students coming here,” said Dr. Beverly Hawk, CCBP’s director of program services and campus advisor for the Fulbright Program. “International study offers us many opportunities to make friends from around the world.”
Global Café, in the Hillard Building, 900 Anna Avenue, opened at 6:30 p.m., November 14. About 30 students, faculty and community members attended. Among the attendees were a Chinese professor, international friends, students working with the Heart Touch pen-pal program, and CCBP staff and student leaders.
The film, “The Dialogue,” followed eight students – four American and four Chinese –as they traveled throughout China, experiencing its culture. Along the way, the students visited Hong Kong and Southwest China. The film captured their shared travel adventures, emotions of culture shock, honest confrontations, and discoveries.
After the film, the Global Café attendees were separated into three groups and asked to discuss the film.
Xia Ping Li, a UA student, said what struck her most about the movie was the diversity and the culture shock experienced by the eight students. “As an international student you experience things differently,” Li said.
Other attendees were impressed that the film discussed misconceptions about cultures and how they influence our relationships.
“Being a Muslim student here, when I talk to people sometimes I am the first Muslim student they have met,” said Hailah Saeed. “The film was very powerful because it made me realize that I make a difference. People have a lot of crazy ideas about Muslims, but just by interacting with me they understand more about what it means to be a Muslim.”
Danielle Noland, who served as her group’s leader, said she was interested in the communication issues that the film brought out.
“Somebody might say something in general, but someone from another culture may interpret it differently. Also, after seeing the film, I think interaction with international students makes us more accepting of one another,” Noland said. “After this experience, people may not be as hesitant to talk with people from other cultures.”
The groups discussed the film for about 20 minutes before reconvening together to share their responses.
“We can’t change the whole world, but it starts with your classmates in the university and through this you can create a global change,” Saeed said.
As the name suggests, Global Café provides the space for people to share traditions, learn languages together and make new friends. It welcomes people from across our community and around the world. As part of the Division of Community Affairs, the Global Café brings together student energy, community wisdom, and scholarly expertise to accomplish shared goals.
“I was inspired by the film and the conversations. It was really a powerful film. The students in the film shared their responses quite honestly and courageously. I think it set a good foundation for the conversations that followed,” Hawk said.
The topics for discussion brought forward students’ personal experiences and related them to the issues raised by the film, and students developed suggestions for building community on our campus.
Jin Wang, a mechanical engineering graduate student who participates in the Heart Touch program, said he was glad he attended.
“I think Global Café is a good activity for international communication. Together, we can watch an interesting movie concentrating on different cultures and have a small discussion to share ideas,” Wang said. “I can talk to different people from various countries and get to know more international culture.”
Wang said before coming to America, he did not know how much he would love football, but attending UA allowed him to embrace the sport that is so much a part of Alabama culture.
After the student discussion groups came back together, they were asked to write a sentence describing what they learned that evening. The sentences were posted on the wall to share, and they said things such as: “I have learned the importance of communicating diversity.”
“The participants enjoyed that chance to meet new people and share experiences, and next time we will expand the conversation time.” Hawk said, “Together with our campus and community partners, we will host more Global Café programs in spring semester.”
By Sirui Shao
CCBP Editorial Assistant
“The Dialogue,” an hour-long documentary championing international culture, will be shown at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 14, at the Global Café, an initiative of the Center for Community-Based Partnerhip (CCBP), 900 Anna Ave., directly behind the Arby’s on University Boulevard.
As the number of international students increases on the UA campus, organizations are expanding their cultural activities. With 5 percent of its population coming from 90 foreign countries, the CCBP is responding to the needs of native and international students by creating Global Café, a venue for bringing about greater international cultural communication, understanding and exploration.
This year during International Education Week, November 12–18, UA will host several events related to other cultures. They include a Mango Languages (Central Sudan) Demonstration; an Apwonjo (meaning “I teach” in Luo [Uganda] Bake Sale for Kiva (an organization that makes low-income loans to underserved entrepreneurs); and African Display (display on different African tribal concepts of beauty compared to Western notions of beauty), a World Soccer Tournament, with teams representing countries from around the world; and the film at Global Café.
Partners for the program include the Capstone International Center, Heart Touch (a pen-pal project for U.S. and Chinese elementary school students), and the Student Enrichment Experience Team (a CCBP program that connects undergraduate and graduate students, from all disciplines, to the work of community engaged scholarship).
“International Education Week is a chance for us all to pause and appreciate the learning opportunities offered by international study. That means U.S. students traveling abroad and international students coming here,” said Dr. Beverly Hawk, CCBP’s director of program services and the advisor for the Fulbright Program. “International study offers us many opportunities to makes friends from around the world.”
As the name suggests, Global Café provides the space for people to share traditions, learn languages together and make new friends.
A highlight of this year’s event is the screening of a documentary entitled “The Dialogue,” which follows eight students as they travel to China.
This year Capstone International selected Chinese culture and “The Dialogue” as an example of Chinese students sharing their culture with American students. The film was created by Crossing Borders Films and co-produced by Michigan State University. It follows four American and four Chinese university students as they travel together through Hong Kong and Southwest China, capturing their shared travel adventures, emotions of culture shock, honest confrontations and discoveries.
These experiences become doorways that deepen their understanding of the world and themselves. “It is an interesting movie,” Hawk said. “Lots of students around the world have watched it, and we want our students to have an opportunity to experience it as well. If people are interested in other cultures, for example Japan, Ireland and Spain, Global Café will meet the demand.”
All are welcome to attend and there is no charge. Food and conversation will follow the film.
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| Dr. Hiram Fitzgerald, associate provost, University Outreach and Engagement, Michigan State University, speaking at the ESC conference in Lubbock, Texas. | Dr. Samory T. Pruitt, UA vice president for Community Affairs, speaking at the Engagement Scholarship Consortium, explained differences between engaged research and traditional research. | JCES editor Cassie Simon, center, chats with visitors at the JCES reception in Lubbock |
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| This poster was presented by Dr. Jeffrey Parker and his students who have been instrumental in building momentum for progress in the Holt community and schools. | Paige Johnson, along with Michele Montgomery, presented research entitled “Engaging Community Health Nursing Students in Community Assessment and Intervention.” | The research journal editors panel once again filled the room. |
By Kirsten Barnes and Ed Mullins
Center for Community-Based
Partnerships
LUBBOCK, Texas — Thirty-five UA faculty, staff and students representing 12 campus departments attended the 14th annual Engagement Scholarship Consortium (ESC) conference and related programs hosted by Texas Tech University and ESC’s West Region in early October.
ESC is an international group of universities that champion engaged scholarship, a blend of university teaching, research and service that addresses critical societal problems in collaboration with community organizations with students playing major roles.
“The University of Alabama was again well represented at this important conference,” said Dr. Samory T. Pruitt, vice president for Community Affairs at UA and also vice president of ESC. “One year after we hosted this conference I am pleased that there was no letdown in our participation this year.”
The theme of this year’s conference was “Boundary Spanning: Engaged Scholarship Across Disciplines, Communities and Geography.” More than 500 delegates, including a large numbers of students and community partners from scores of colleges, universities and community organizations and nine foreign countries attended.
A breakdown of types of participation shows that UA presented 14 research papers or research posters and filled an equal number of other key roles in the conference.
Following are brief descriptions of UA’s participation in the conference (for the full program, go to http://engagementscholarship.org/upload/conferences/2013/TTU%20ESC%20Program.pdf):
• Brittney Anderson, John Wheat, and Melissa Cox (Rural Scholars Program). Poster: Initiating the Development of Rural Physicians Through Structured Learning Opportunities: Hale County Health Scholars.
• Kirsten Barnes (Journalism, CCBP). Covered conference as writer and photographer.
• Emily Broman (Honors College). Presenter: Art to Life: Preservation of Personhood.
• Nancy Boyd (Tuscaloosa Public Library), Lance Simpson and Megan Walters (Library and Information Studies). Presenter: Improving Literacy One “Sense” at a Time.
• Vicky Carter (Social Work, CCBP). Report: To ESC Board of Directors on JCES (with Ed Mullins).
• George Daniels (College of Communication and Information Sciences). Presenter: Cameras, Community and Job-Training: A Tale of Short-Term Engagement.
• Janet Griffith (Provost’s Office). Member: Program Committee and Conference Leadership Committee.
• Paige Johnson and Michele Montgomery (Nursing). Presenter: Engaging Community Health Nursing Students in Community Assessment and Intervention.
• Margaret Purcell (New College). Presenter: Beyond the Classroom: Community and Students Engaged in Nonprofit Partnerships.
• Ed Mullins (CCBP). Member: Conference Leadership Committee. Report: To ESC Board of Directors on JCES (with Vicky Carter).
• Sandra Cooley Nichols and Adriane Sheffield (College of Education) and Elizabeth Davis (Tuscaloosa Public Schools). Presenter: Connecting Instruction, Professional Development and Student Achievement: Partnering for Change.
• Jeffrey G. Parker (Psychology), Chelsea Brown, Jessica Barton, Ashton Huggins (Studio Art), Leah Dunkel, Cayce Savage (Art and Art History). Poster: A Framework for Empowering High School Youth for Community Improvement.
• Heather Pleasants (CCBP). Member: Race, Ethnicity and Community Engagement in Higher Education Symposium Planning Committee. Presenter: The Parent Leadership Academy: A Powerful Community-Based Model for Parent Involvement.
• Samory Pruitt (Community Affairs). Presenter: The Global University Network for Innovation: Let’s Build Transformative Knowledge to Drive Social Change, Enlarging the Conception of Knowledge. Also: Vice President ESC Board of Directors.
• Adriane Sheffield, Ryan Alverson, Coddy Carter, Cecil Robinson, and Brittney Brown, (College of Education). Poster: Navigating the “Space Between” in a Community-Based Partnership.
• Cassandra Simon (Social Work). Panelist: Community Engagement Journal Editors. Presiding: JCES Reception for Editorial Board and Authors.
• Stephanie Sickler (Human Environmental Sciences). Poster: Serving Our Servicemen: Outcomes of an Engaged Scholarship Project: Connecting Interior Design Students and Local Veterans.
• Zacahry Wahl-Alexander, Oleg Sinelnikov, and Robert Herron (College of Education). Poster: Middle School Track and Field Community Event.
• Anna-Margaret Yarbrough, (College of Education). Presenter: Training College Students to Better Engage with Community Partners. Participant: Emerging Scholars Workshop.
The 2014 conference will be at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, October 7 and 8, the organization’s first outside the United States. The theme is “Engaging for Change: Changing for Engagement.”
UA hosted the 13th annual ESC conference in October 2012, with the largest attendance in the organization’s history.
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| A mariachi band and dancers, all Texas Tech students, entertain ESC conference delegates. | Dr. Valerie Holton, ESC delegate from Virginia Commonwealth University, talks with UA’s Dr. Ed Mullins about the research journal JCES, published at UA. | Margaret Purcell presents her research entitled “Beyond the Classroom: Community and Students Engaged in Nonprofit Partnerships.” | Dr. John Wheat of the College of Community Health Sciences and colleagues presented this poster on behalf of the Hale County Health Scholars. |
By Kirsten J. Barnes
Graduate Assistant
The University of Alabama will present “How Integration Turned The Tide: Three Days at Foster,” a documentary film by UA alumnus Keith Dunnavant. 7-9 p.m. October 17 at the Ferguson Center Theater. The program is sponsored by the UA National Alumni Association, the College of Continuing Studies, and Division of Community Affairs.
In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the integration of UA, this story brings to life stories of civil rights pioneers who shattered the athletic color barrier at The University of Alabama.
In a recent interview with BamaHammer.com, Dunnavant said:
“ ‘Three Days at Foster’ reflects my point of view that the athletes who shattered the color barrier at the University of Alabama – including the unknown Bama football walk-ons of 1967 – deserve to be recognized as civil rights pioneers. They weren’t just gifted athletes; they were brave young men who attacked and ultimately destroyed the last bastion of segregation in the state.
“Even in George Wallace’s Alabama, even as the state was deeply divided by the explosive matter of race, there was a force more powerful than hate ready to be tapped. Alabama football played a significant role in healing the festering wounds of the Sixties – helping us as a culture see beyond black and white,” Dunnavant said.
The largely heretofore untold story will feature the barrier-shattering athletes who maneuvered in the shadow of Gov. George Wallace’s 1963 stand in the schoolhouse door, including Wilbur Jackson, Dock Rone and Wendell Hudson.
Jackson, who was a 1974 NFL first-round and ninth overall draft pick in 1974, would go on to play for the San Francisco 49ers and the Washington Redskins. Rone joined the Crimson Tide in 1967 as a walk-on. In the film Rone says he felt he could break the color barrier by going to talk to Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant and telling him he wanted to play football.
Hudson, the former UA women’s head basketball coach, played basketball at UA from 1969 to 1973. He began his coaching career as an assistant men’s coach before going on to coach at North Alabama, Rice, Ole Miss and Baylor.
In the film Hudson said although he thought about quitting the team, he knew he could not leave because if he left the program it would be hard for other minorities to be accepted on the team. In 1986 Hudson switched from coaching men’s basketball to coaching women’s basketball, first at McLennan Community College in Wao, Texas, before returning to Alabama as head coach of women’s basketball from 2008-2013.
The film will show how these athletes and coaches navigated the minefield of social change. After the event there will be discussions with UA personnel who experienced these turbulent days of change at the Capstone.
Dunnavant, the best-selling author of the Bear Bryant biography Coach as well as The Missing Ring, began covering Alabama football as a teenager.
“Three Days at Foster” is an official selection of the Sidewalk Film Festival in Birmingham and became the first historical sports documentary to launch through Vimeo On Demand in August.
In his BamaHammer.com interview, Dunnavant said: “The world is changing, so we are releasing this film in a cutting-edge way that makes it easily accessible by Alabama fans everywhere.” To download the film for $4.95, visit: www.threedaysatfoster.com.
By Kirsten J. Barnes
CCBP Graduate Assistant
October 9, 2013
TUSCALOOSA — Having launched the award-winning Parent Leadership Academy (PLA) in 2007, The University of Alabama Division of Community Affairs has decided to build upon that success by creating a new program similar in nature but which incorporates another component of the school community – teachers.
Dr. Joyce Stallworth, associate provost and professor of education at UA, said the new Teacher Leadership Academy (TLA), offspring of the Parent Leadership Academy, came about after conversations with local principals and teachers, past PLA participants, Vice President for Community Affairs Dr. Samory Pruitt, and Center for Community-Based Partnership Community Education Director Dr. Heather Pleasants.
The new organization held its first meeting Friday, October 8, at the Bryant Conference Center. Eight area elementary schools were represented. Pruitt called the meeting “a great start. I could not have been more pleased. The teachers in attendance showed how very appreciative they were of how professionally everything was done.”
One of the speakers was Dr. Gay Barnes of Madison, Alabama, the state’s 2012 teacher of the year and one of four finalists for the national teacher of the year. Dr. Polly Moore, retired assistant superintendent for Tuscaloosa County Schools and facilitator of the program, presented an overview, summarizing the program’s purpose in these words: “Parents need the teachers and the teachers need the parents.”
The program’s origin, Stallworth said, came when “we asked ourselves what we could do to help parents become more engaged,” adding that becoming involved is not the responsibility of parents only; schools also must create opportunities for involvement.
Searching for existing parent-school partnership strategies, the group concluded that the most effective model is the National Network of Partnership Schools (NNPS), founded at Johns Hopkins University in 1996.
As a member of the network, the TLA will use the NNPS framework, a research-based approach for organizing and sustaining excellent programs of family and community involvement with the goal of increasing student success. NNPS has accumulated three decades of research on parental engagement, family engagement and community partnerships, and that will be the model the TLA will follow, Stallworth said.
Implementation of the program locally will mean more teachers joining more parents to be trained to be school leaders and equipped with the skills necessary to improve public education.
Although UA’s program will not provide college credit, the 27 teachers involved will improve skills to increase parent and family involvement; improve communication between teachers and parents; increase support for schools through community networks, partnerships, and grants; and ultimately increase opportunities for students to succeed.
Moore, the program facilitator, has previously worked with the PLA and brings more than 30 years of experience as a teacher and educational leader to her new role.
“I’m excited to be able to come back as a retired educator to get this off the ground,” Moore said. “The parents are such a valuable resource, and we need teachers to know how to involve those parents. This is just a natural follow to the PLA to get teachers and parents talking to improve the students’ overall success. Teachers who really know how to get parents involved are much more successful.”
Now in its sixth year, the PLA began with the Tuscaloosa city and county school systems. In the PLA, parents attend class to gain knowledge about how to become involved in their schools. Parent leaders then recruit other parents who want to learn more, along the way learning that their increased knowledge about their schools can be critical to school success by creating strong parent teams within schools. PLA is now expanding to other school districts. UA faculty and administrators are working with new partners, including Bessemer City Schools and Lamar County Schools.
The next steps for TLA are for Stallworth, Moore and Pleasants to attend the NNPS Leadership Development Conferences for Improving Programs of School, Family, and Community Partnerships, October 24–25, 2013, in Baltimore, and in December, NNPS will conduct a teacher leadership workshop in Tuscaloosa.
“This year is a pilot,” said Stallworth, explaining that the program will start with nine schools. “We will collect data as we go along.”
Stallworth, who has an outreach charge as associate provost, said she would like to see the program expand into Shelby, Hale and Greene counties, but wants make sure the pilot schools are successful before adding new areas. “We are looking at expanding, but we want to go very carefully and understand our capacity,” she said.
The initial 27 teachers will come from the following Tuscaloosa-area elementary schools: Skyland, Englewood, Matthews, Myrtlewood, Tuscaloosa Magnet, Holt, Flatwoods, Southview and Martin Luther King elementary schools.
In addition to working on creating school-based leaders, the TLA will work to provide support for the already required school-improvement plans by assisting teachers and parents with school-wide projects and programs they can initiate.
“I always told my teachers when I was a principal that parents send us the very best that they have and they want the very best for that child. Some of them just know how to go about it a little better than others,” Moore said, adding that these programs help to educate all teachers and parents on the best way to get the best results for their students.
The teachers will meet four times a year, with the first meeting on October 10, 2013.
“We don’t want this to be a burden to the teachers. We want this to be a safe space for teachers to come and talk about these issues,” Stallworth said. “Therefore, October seemed the perfect time to have the first meeting.”
Both Stallworth and Moore said their hope is that the teachers will leave with information they can immediately use to improve parent/school partnerships.
