Global Service-Learning Programs

Global Service-Learning: Bolivia, Uganda, India

Note: Applicants to our global service-learning program should submit their reference form before Monday, October 24, 5 p.m.

Since 2008 the McCarthy Center, in partnership with the Sarlo Family Foundation and the Foundation for Sustainable Development, has offered a global service-learning program that begins with a preparatory course in the spring semester, extends through the summer with a ten-week sustainable development internship abroad, and culminates with an intensive reflection and research-focused course in the fall.

Ten students each year participate in the program, through which they travel to either Latin America or Africa, live with host families, and work in internships at grassroots organizations addressing one or more of the following issues: education, health care, women’s rights, environmental preservation, community empowerment, and human rights.  This year, students will be located in Cochabamba (Bolivia), Masaka (Uganda), and Udaipur (India).  To ensure academic rigor, the courses that bookend the program are taught collaboratively by USF faculty, McCarthy Center staff, and community partners with expertise in the host countries and/or sustainable development work.  Students receive six credits for completing the program, which provides every participant with a transformative experience designed to clarify personal values, enhance professional skills, foster cultural competence, and promote civic engagement.  

Full funding is provided by the Sarlo Family Foundation and the McCarthy Center to cover air travel, internship program fees through FSD, and USF course credits so all students can participate regardless of their financial situation.  Through the Global Service-Learning: Bolivia and Uganda experience, students gain the global perspective on citizenship necessary to make positive social change in a world of interconnected political and economic systems and interdependent societies.