Center for Community Based Learning
Occidental College
1600 Campus Road
Los Angeles, CA
90041-3314
Email: ccbl@oxy.edu
Phone:(323) 259-2904
Fax:(323) 341-4944
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MISSION STATEMENT |
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Community-based learning at Occidental, in which students apply what they learn in the classroom to community projects, embodies the four cornerstones of the College's mission: excellence, equity, community and service. The Center for Community Based Learning serves as a resource for such efforts, and acts as a clearinghouse for students, faculty, and staff who are working toward solutions to pressing issues in the community - locally, regionally, nationally, and globally. |
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RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS |
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WHO WE ARE |
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Occidental College has, for the third consecutive year, been named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll With Distinction for exemplary service efforts and service to disadvantaged youth. In 2008, over 1,260 Occidental students – nearly two-thirds of the student population – contributed more than 10,000 hours of service. Politics Professor Caroline Heldman was selected for California Campus Compact Carnegie Foundation Faculty Fellows: Service-Learning for Political Engagement Program, in 2007-08. Professor Heldman’s Disaster Politics class takes students to New Orleans during the Winter break, where students learn from textbooks as well as from directly experiencing post-Katrina issues of race, economics and politics. Occidental College was selected in December 2008 as a community engagement institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, becoming one of a handful of liberal arts colleges to be so designated for its commitment to mutually beneficial collaboration with its surrounding communities. Physics Professor Adrian Hightower, ECLS Professor Gabrielle Foreman, and Politics Professor Caroline Heldman received grants from Project Pericles for their Civic Engagement Courses, (funded by the Teagle Foundation, in 2007-08). Professor Hightower’s Energy Conversion and Resources class engaged his students with community organizations interested in efficient uses of energy, and at the end of the class presented their recommendations to their community partners. Professor Foreman’s Black Activism and the Archive class evolved, through interactions with two community partners (Southern California Library and Los Angeles Community Action Network), into a Community and Culture class. The culmination of the class was a “reverse tour,” with about 20 community organizations and schools participating in workshops and orientations to how to access college resources. Karina Vanderbilt, involved with CCBL community projects and currently part of CCBL’s student staff, was awarded the prestigious 2008 Strauss Fellowship, for $10,000.00. Funds will be used in support of a program to introduce discussions about food insecurity and other social justice issues at Franklin High School. Working with Franklin students, Oxy students, and community members, Karina hopes to facilitate a community commitment to end local food insecurity. |
Since its creation in 2001, Occidental’s Center for Community Based Learning (CCBL) has provided leadership and developed resources to institutionalize community based learning at Occidental College. To accomplish this goal, the center engages with students, faculty, other campus offices, and community partners, as well as state, national, and international networks. The goal of community based learning is to enhance student learning and faculty engagement by connecting academic study and civic education through reciprocal, mutually beneficial relationships with the greater community. In 2002, CCBL founded the Northeast Education Strategy Group, a network of public district and charter schools, and community organizations. The network involves principals, teachers, parents, students and college professors, staff, and students working together to create long-term change in the area. The main focus of this group is on college access and equity, as well as other issues affecting education such as crime and safety.
Click here for more on
CCBL's academic civic engagement based on community organizing practices. Click here to see our current Brochure.
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CONTACTS |
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02/05/2010 |
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