Integrating Catholic Relief Services Experience, Materials, and Programs into New Core Curriculum Courses
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CRS is acclaimed for its expertise in global development and disaster relief and its advice regarding policy development is often sought by other international organizations, Congressional offices, and the U.S. Government. CRS has projects and highly skilled and trained staff in over 100 of the poorest countries. In addition to geographical knowledge and expertise, CRS has in-country program delivery experts wherever it delivers its core programs: Agriculture, Education, Emergency Response, Health, HIV/AIDS, Microfinance, Peacebuilding, Social Safety Net, and Food Security. CRS offers a wealth of publications available on its website that are absolutely free and downloadable in their entirety. The website provides pictures and a short description of each publication. They are indexed by the following topics: In addition there are many other publications—general and technical—by country and region that could be accessed through CRS staff. (There are publications in Spanish and French as well as in English.) For example, the newest publications from the CRS Program Quality and Support Department are (these links are password protected):
There is also a wealth of short and timely videos produced by CRS relating to its work overseas. CRS offers innumerable ways to engage in global solidarity activities. Its website separates these activities by the categories of pray, learn, participate, advocate, and social networks. They range from a legislative advocacy network to Operation Rice Bowl, a detailed program that studies food security in depth while partaking in simple meals through recipes provided from featured countries. CRS even offers interactive web-based drop-in module programs about current global issues designed specifically for university faculty to employ in their courses. From March 16-27 the issue is Global Hunger and from April 14-24 the issue is Peace in Israel and Palestine. Students and faculty from many universities engage in an active online discussion and connect through a number of online interactive sessions with CRS practitioners in the field. This ongoing offering is referred to as the “Study Ebroad Program” available through the Global Solidarity Network. Many classes from other (non-SCU) CRS partners—Notre Dame, Villanova, Seattle University, and Cabrini College—have signed up for the upcoming modules. The modules could also be employed by SCU as engagement activities in many of the new Core foundation, exploration and integration offerings. CRS itself cannot be separated easily into compartmentalized programs, subjects, or issues. Rather its belief is that solidarity will transform the world and its approach is holistic. It looks at its overseas work from the perspective of integral human development. All of its projects employ what CRS refers to as “lenses”. One of those is Catholic Social Teaching as set forth in its “Guiding Principles”. It also employs other lenses in every one of its projects—Partnership, Peacebuilding, Civil Society, and Justice. Thus everything CRS does—whether a water project or HIV/AIDS treatment—is shaped by the viewpoints of these multiple lenses. |
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