Press Release

News Release


LEARNING FROM THOSE WHO CHANGED THE WORLD
Elmhurst College Students Use Live Video Connection to Talk Social Justice with Activists on Two Continents

ELMHURST, Ill., Summer 2008 - Elmhurst College students recently participated in the class of a lifetime: speaking face to face with civil rights heroes who bear the scars of struggle against the injustice of apartheid and the fight for civil rights in 1960s Chicago.
Throughout the duration of “Prophets: Visions of Social Justice,” students explored the lives of scriptural and modern-day prophets – with four class sessions featuring live interaction with activists in Chicago and Cape Town, South Africa.
The class taught by Dr. Nancy Lee, associate professor of religious studies, and Dr. Oliver Lawrence, adjunct instructor of the honors and the intercultural studies program, was highlighted by online video sessions that changed the perspectives of students on both sides of the Atlantic.
Although some students who enrolled in “Prophets: Visions of Social Justice” may have only expected to fulfill a graduation requirement, many left the course having been “profoundly affected.”
“As a social psychologist, I found the on-line sessions an exciting firsthand learning experience for both students and teachers,” said Dr. Jane Jegerski, professor of psychology at Elmhurst College. “I watched students being transformed from young adults, who took the course out of convenience or for a [general education requirement], into aspiring professionals with a strong sense of social context and injustice.”
The live video conversations not only proved to be eye-opening modern-day bonuses, they served as an instant link between continents and cultures, between crusaders and classroom peers – with students in both Elmhurst and Cape Town watching and interacting.
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“The most compelling thing I learned is that inequality is happening all over the world,” noted Kim Kaliebe, Elmhurst College exercise science major. “I have read and heard about it on the news, but this time, I was able to hear it firsthand from individuals who have been through the struggle. These speakers make me want to help the fight for equality.”
From several time zones away, Mandy Sanger of the District Museum in Cape Town expressed her happiness with the dialogue that came out of the project. “It’s been a wonderful learning experience,” she said. “This shows us the many possibilities of communication. We thought we would have to raise money and go to Chicago to have these conversations.”

The stars of the class were six activists.

From South Africa:
‘Uncle’ Lionel Davis – who spent seven years as a prisoner on Robben Island, a maximum security prison at which over 3,000 men, including Nelson Mandela, were incarcerated as political prisoners between 1961 and 1991.
Marcus Solomon – the director of the Children’s Resource Center, who also served time on Robben Island.
Rev. Cheryl Uren – a teacher and minister who was a student leader during the Soweto Riots of 1976 (a series of brutal and violent riots that grew out of the protests against the policies of the National Party government and its apartheid regime).

From Chicago:
Dr. Manford Byrd - the first African-American superintendent of the Chicago Public Schools.
Rev. Steve Saunders – the Executive Liaison for Featherfist, an agency providing housing and social services to Chicago’s homeless.
Carlos Flores – a community activist and artist of Puerto Rican and African descent who speaks of how gentrification continues to displace Chicago neighborhoods.
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Each activist addressed imprisonment, displacement, and inequities in American and South African communities. These interactions formed a historical treasure chest of once-in-a-lifetime dialogue between each activist and Elmhurst College students.
“We took two civil rights movements and, through the use of technology, had them interact before our students’ eyes - and with our students’ input!” remarked Lawrence. “The
technology made an instantaneous bridge between the two cultures.”
The discussions were particularly satisfying for Lawrence, an Elmhurst College teacher who lived in Cape Town during the sixties and into the eighties. Familiar with the people, the issues, and the countries, he sees many similarities between the Civil Rights movement and the anti-Apartheid movement.
It was Lawrence who, with his background in computer science, education and social justice thought, “Why not merge all three?”
Lawrence, at home in both Illinois and Cape Town, South Africa, with Sanger, and Rev. Michelle Hughes, associate chaplain at Elmhurst College, invited activists from their own experiences in the social justice movements to be part of the exchange.
“The irony lies in how we had to ‘go to South Africa’ to become aware of the needs and the lives lived in Chicago, in our back yard,” noted Lee.
The result of the class pleased all involved, as students on both sides of the world were very energetic about the discussions.
“I’ve never seen my students as engaged as that day,” Jegerski said of the first video meeting.
According to Lawrence, students on the South African side of the conversation were so immersed that they continued the discussion late into the night, long after class had ended.
“After just one session the Cape Town youth blew us away,” said Lawrence. “They stepped up, thought on their feet, and had relevant questions that showed forethought.”
Lawrence hopes that by introducing students to both their peers and activists from around the world, they will become empowered and educated individuals who will act on what they have learned.
“By sharing activism and experience from crucial eras, you share a recipe for
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changing the world,” he said. “The place where learning breaks down is when we don’t teach students to act upon what they have learned. It’s not enough to hear activists, the learning cycle does not end until one acts. Social justice is the action to address inequity.”
After the discussions, many Elmhurst students showed interest in helping the cause of social justice.
“I found myself making strong connections with the South African students,” said Maurianna Jones, an Elmhurst College psychology major. “What I gained most was the relighting of my spirit and concerns for social justice and what I am going to do in the future.”
Many South African students expressed the goals of changing and improving the perception of their nation, making their (as yet unborn) children’s futures better, and becoming more financially stable.
“Blacks in America still experience racism, poverty, and limited education. Here in South Africa we only got our freedom in 1994. How long is it going to take for black South Africans, according to your understanding, to be free?” Siviwe Mbinda, a South African student asked a captive audience of Elmhurst College students.
Lawrence and others at Elmhurst College fervently hope that the dialogue that took place during these live interactions will continue.
“It was a very inspirational experience and one that I will remember for the rest of my life,” expressed Nick Siegmeier, an Elmhurst College computer science major. “These online video exchanges with South Africa have been amongst the most interesting and educational experiences of my life. I am glad to have gotten the opportunity to join in something so inspiring, cutting-edge and educational.”
For more information, contact Charley Henderson, director of public relations at (630) 617-3033 or visit www.elmhurst.edu.
Founded in 1871, Elmhurst College is a private, four-year liberal arts College affiliated with the United Church of Christ.

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10 minute preview of GIVC

This is a ten minute preview of the GIVC Project in 2007. It is excerpted from a number of sessions with a number of guests.

Intrroduction to GIVC on Channel 2

This is a video of a Channel 2 Program Different Drummers, where I spoke about the project while the projct was still in progress.

Welcome

Welcome to the Global Internet Video Classroom Blog. I have set it up to share informatino about the GIVC Project and collect feedback from interested parties.
I will also answer questions so please read and view and post.