Service-Learning as a Source of Identity Change in Bucknell in Northern Ireland

Abstract

Bucknell in Northern Ireland is a service-learning program that places students in the midst of a struggle over national identities, the sectarian conflict involving many Catholics and Protestants. It is a three-week, May-term experience comprising two courses. In one, students participate in community-based organizations in L’Derry (the city is “Derry” to the Catholics and “Londonderry” to the Protestants; “L’Derry” is a current compromise) either doing service-learning or working on research projects, some of which become the first phase of honors theses. The other course provides lectures by academic and social leaders representing diverse experiences of, and points of view about, the conflict. They tell about development of the civil rights movement and relate their personal experiences by referencing the American civil rights movement, the feminist movements, personal experiences engaging social class deprivation, and struggles of national liberation around the world. Intensive experiences in community organizations, working with people involved in social and political change, teaches both students and faculty that, in Northern Ireland, politics, civic action, and personal lives are inseparable.