A Review of Recent OACS Events
OACS Global Service Reflection Dinner
OACS hosted the second annual Global Service Reflection Dinner on November 5th, inviting students, staff, faculty, and partners to gather and reflect on the transformative power of international service-learning. Dean Vanessa Beasley delivered an inspired opening address, emphasizing the vital role service plays in the co-curricular development of Vanderbilt students and underscoring the ways in which these global community engagement opportunities relate directly to Vanderbilt’s Academic Strategic Plan. Student representatives Noemi Monnerville, Isabela Uribe, Jami Cox, Carly Meyers, and Samantha Strader spoke about their respective service experiences in Morocco, South Africa, Ecuador, and London, focusing on the impact these programs had on their evolved understanding of human interconnectedness and global citizenship. OACS would like to thank all in attendance, with special gratitude to our campus partners for their role in the successful implementation of the 2015 programs.
For information on the 2016 Global Service Programs and how you can apply, please visit our website or visit us in the OACS office in Sarratt | Rand 305.
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute – Who Was Nelson Mandela?
Dr. Clive Mentzel successfully presented 6 lectures at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute entitled Who Was Nelson Mandela? The course presented successive and cumulative snapshots of Mandela, portraying his complex and richly layered life and its various facets, building this into a picture culminating in his unique and key role in averting civil war in South Africa, engineering a peaceful transition to democracy, and especially in ensuring that reconciliation lay at the heart of his term as the first democratically elected president of South Africa. Particular emphasis was placed on the ways in which he sought to achieve reconciliation through his actions.
OACS Conversation with Memorial and Gillette Faculty Heads and Students
Dr. Clive Mentzel recently met with Dr. Kevin Leander, faculty head of Memorial House, and Dr. Frank Dobson, faculty head of Gillette House, and their students for a conversation focused on service and service-learning, connecting with service opportunities locally, and also to talk about his research and experience in the fields of conflict resolution, truth and reconciliation processes and democratization.