Program Overview

Community Service

Most afternoons during the period June 30-July 24 are dedicated to activities and site visits relevant to the academic program topics. You will have opportunities to meet and interact with Americans of diverse backgrounds at service clubs, community groups, business, industry, government and non-government organizations, seniors centers, schools, outreach and social service organizations, for example. It is important that you understand how Americans deal with the less fortunate in our society, not only those experiencing financial hardship, but also those in the midst of dispossession, or struggling to manage long term health issues.

Another practical aspect of community service is the American tradition of volunteerism and this will be examined in the program in relation to the work of the Pierce County Center for Dispute Resolution.  This Center provides an immediate and cost effective solution to community and interpersonal civil disputes as an alternative to the Court system, utilizing the services of trained and certified volunteer mediation practitioners.

This form of alternative dispute resolution facilitates the solution of community and family disputes is an expeditious and solution-oriented manner as well as providing the parties with a dignified means of mediating their differences in an environment in which they have some degree of control. Your understanding of leadership, community service and volunteerism will undoubtedly be enhanced through exposure to this aspect of the program.