Undergraduate
Saint Michael's philosophy students travel to Peru to experience lessons from their course in "Otherness and Marginalization"
Dr. Katherine Kirby and five students took their education to Lima, Peru
Contact Information:
Buff Lindau, Public Relations
802.654.2536
blindau@smcvt.edu
Saint Michael's College Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Dr. Katherine Kirby wanted her students "to meet individuals who face marginalization of all degrees" ... as a way "to develop a more sensitive perspective on the suffering of others." Five members of the original Saint Michael's class entitled "Otherness and Marginalization: Levinas and the Alienated" traveled with their professor to Lima, Peru to expand their course experience.
During the school year, the course focused on marginalization of a race group, of the poor, of the abandoned or rejected, of the ill and of the elderly. And was predicated on the need for students to focus on the challenge of coming into contact with and relating to people in these categories of 'otherness.' Along with classroom study, students carried out local service-learning projects in Burlington's Barnes Elementary School where many of
the youngsters are refugee children, and in St. Joseph's Home for the Aged.
Their ultimate educational experience came with the trip to Peru where they worked in a very poor part of Lima in the Mission of Charity home for older men who can no longer care for themselves, and for severely disabled street children found abandoned on the street.
"The most important aspect of the program," Professor Kirby wrote, "is the lived example of witnessing, as U.S. citizens, to the necessity of caring for those who have been neglected by all others."
"It was a pretty powerful experience for the students," Professor Kirby said. Students fed the residents lunch. "Feeding a person is such an intimate experience," she said. "It had an impact on my students."
In addition to their work in the home, in a soup kitchen and in a school, the students visited local pueblo parishes and cultural sites, heard talks from local experts in government and religion, and participated in singing, dancing and sharing with local people.
The students who went to Peru were the following:
Michelle Chapdelaine, a junior journalism major from Lunenburg, Mass., a 2006 graduate of Lunenburg High School, daughter of Michael and Debra Chapdelaine
Sarah Coghlan, a senior journalism major from Derry, N.H., a 2005 graduate of Pinkerton Academy, daughter of Kevin and Diane Coghlan
Meghan MacLean, a 2008 philosophy graduate of Saint Michael's College, from Bradford, N.H., a 2004 graduate of Kearsarge Regional High School, daughter of Scott and Lisa MacLean
Nichole Peters, a senior sociology major from Hallowell, Maine, a 2005 graduate of Hall-Dale High School, daughter of Elaine and Forest Peters
Derek Souza, a senior religious studies major from Ringoes, N.J., a 2005 graduate of the Pennington School, son of Stephen and Maria Souza
Saint Michael's College, founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, is identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nation's Best 368 Colleges. A liberal arts, residential, Catholic college, Saint Michael's is located just outside of Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top college towns and less than two hours from Montreal. As one of only 270 institutions nationwide with a prestigious Phi Beta Kappa chapter on campus, Saint Michael's has 2,000 full-time undergraduate students, some 500 graduate students and 200 international students. In recent years Saint Michael's students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Guggenheim, Fulbright, National Science Foundation and other grants, and Saint Michael's professors have been named Vermont Professor of the Year in four of the last eight years. The college is currently listed as one of the nation's Best Liberal Arts Colleges in the 2008 U.S. News & World Report rankings.
Photo Caption: A Peruvian woman at San Gabriel Soup Kitchen with Saint Michael's students Meghan MacLean and Michelle Chapdelaine
Buff Lindau, Public Relations
802.654.2536
blindau@smcvt.edu
Saint Michael's College Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Dr. Katherine Kirby wanted her students "to meet individuals who face marginalization of all degrees" ... as a way "to develop a more sensitive perspective on the suffering of others." Five members of the original Saint Michael's class entitled "Otherness and Marginalization: Levinas and the Alienated" traveled with their professor to Lima, Peru to expand their course experience.During the school year, the course focused on marginalization of a race group, of the poor, of the abandoned or rejected, of the ill and of the elderly. And was predicated on the need for students to focus on the challenge of coming into contact with and relating to people in these categories of 'otherness.' Along with classroom study, students carried out local service-learning projects in Burlington's Barnes Elementary School where many of
the youngsters are refugee children, and in St. Joseph's Home for the Aged.
Their ultimate educational experience came with the trip to Peru where they worked in a very poor part of Lima in the Mission of Charity home for older men who can no longer care for themselves, and for severely disabled street children found abandoned on the street.
"The most important aspect of the program," Professor Kirby wrote, "is the lived example of witnessing, as U.S. citizens, to the necessity of caring for those who have been neglected by all others."
"It was a pretty powerful experience for the students," Professor Kirby said. Students fed the residents lunch. "Feeding a person is such an intimate experience," she said. "It had an impact on my students."
In addition to their work in the home, in a soup kitchen and in a school, the students visited local pueblo parishes and cultural sites, heard talks from local experts in government and religion, and participated in singing, dancing and sharing with local people.
The students who went to Peru were the following:
Michelle Chapdelaine, a junior journalism major from Lunenburg, Mass., a 2006 graduate of Lunenburg High School, daughter of Michael and Debra Chapdelaine
Sarah Coghlan, a senior journalism major from Derry, N.H., a 2005 graduate of Pinkerton Academy, daughter of Kevin and Diane Coghlan
Meghan MacLean, a 2008 philosophy graduate of Saint Michael's College, from Bradford, N.H., a 2004 graduate of Kearsarge Regional High School, daughter of Scott and Lisa MacLean
Nichole Peters, a senior sociology major from Hallowell, Maine, a 2005 graduate of Hall-Dale High School, daughter of Elaine and Forest Peters
Derek Souza, a senior religious studies major from Ringoes, N.J., a 2005 graduate of the Pennington School, son of Stephen and Maria Souza
Saint Michael's College, founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, is identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nation's Best 368 Colleges. A liberal arts, residential, Catholic college, Saint Michael's is located just outside of Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top college towns and less than two hours from Montreal. As one of only 270 institutions nationwide with a prestigious Phi Beta Kappa chapter on campus, Saint Michael's has 2,000 full-time undergraduate students, some 500 graduate students and 200 international students. In recent years Saint Michael's students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Guggenheim, Fulbright, National Science Foundation and other grants, and Saint Michael's professors have been named Vermont Professor of the Year in four of the last eight years. The college is currently listed as one of the nation's Best Liberal Arts Colleges in the 2008 U.S. News & World Report rankings.
Photo Caption: A Peruvian woman at San Gabriel Soup Kitchen with Saint Michael's students Meghan MacLean and Michelle Chapdelaine
