Learning in Doing: Social Work Education in Northwest China
Mainland Chinese universities are responding to the government’s call to “build up a strong team of social workers to help in the development of the harmonious society,” by developing bachelor and master of social work degree programs.
Inspired to Dream Bigger Dreams
Allan Lee was attending a teacher training school in 1952 when he learned the United Board was offering full scholarships for Hong Kong students to attend Japan’s International Christian University (ICU). The deadline for applications was the next day, so during his lunch break he rushed to nearby Chung Chi College to pick up an application. The trip was only a short distance, but that lunchtime errand and his enrollment in ICU’s Class of 1957 marked a turning point in his life.
A Prophetic, Creative Theology
Dr. Pushpa Joseph is the Provincial Superior of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, Bangalore, India. She is a United Board Trustee and the co-chair of its South Asian Task Force. In this interview, she shares her thoughts on public theology.
Learning alongside Neighbors
At first, Tim Chen was disappointed when he learned his second placement as a 2008-2010 United Board Fellow would be at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. He had hoped to spend four months at an Australian university. But Anne Ofstedal, then the United Board’s director of fellowship and scholarship programs told him, “Trust me, you will like Ateneo” – and he did.
A Deep and Lasting Connection
Marie Losh was a mother to four children, the youngest only three months old, when she and her family boarded an ocean liner for the Philippines in 1957. Her husband, Ken, had accepted the position of chaplain at Central Philippine University, and the young family was embarking on a decade-long residence in Iloilo City.
The Heart and Ears to Listen
Sister Ella Naben was one of five individuals who participated in the 2015 Mindanao Peacebuilding Institute (MPI) with the support of the United Board. MPI’s summer training program brings together peacebuilders from diverse cultures and professional experiences, who want to serve as catalysts for peace and social transformation.
An Open Sharing of Ideas
United Board Program Officer Kevin Henderson resided with the 16 IASACT scholars in the summer of 2015, enabling him to pursue both his staff assignments and his own research interests in service-learning in Southeast Asia. He reflects on his interaction with Raja Vedamariasusai and other IASACT scholars.
The Search for Creative Solutions
Hanh Nguyen reaches a simple conclusion when he reflects on his postgraduate studies at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. “My time in Ateneo changed me,” he says. “It developed my leadership ability and the ability to search for solutions in difficult circumstances.”
Preparing Hearts and Minds
Lady Doak Principal Mercy Pushpalatha wanted to integrate service-learning into every department of the college and, with the commitment of her faculty and a United Board grant, she has been able to introduce Life Frontier Engagement (LFE) into the curriculum for all third-year students. LFE officially began in June 2015.
A Creative Learning Environment
After Jema Pamintuan’s placement at Georgetown University, she wrote she was eager “to further push myself in helping our department design new courses and teaching tools, and foster a creative and critically engaging learning environment within and outside the classroom.” Now Ateneo de Manila has offered her an opportunity to put those goals into practice: it named her executive director of the Ateneo Library of Women’s Writings, an archival facility that promotes writing by and about Filipino women among contemporary readers.
