The chapter was including in the recently published book “How to Facilitate Community-Engaged Learning”
Faculty Director of the Odyssey Program and Professor of Psychology Mathew Gendle and Director of Project Pericles and Teaching Professor of Public Health Amanda Tapler have co-authored a chapter appearing in the book “How to Facilitate Community-Engaged Learning”, which was published on August 20 by Edward Elgar Publishing.
Their chapter, titled “International Community Partnerships”, is intended to serve as a comprehensive guide and “how to” resource for academics seeking to engage in partnerships with community organizations in international settings, using the principles of Fair Trade Learning as a lodestar. The abstract for their chapter is as follows:
This chapter explores the complexities and ethical considerations of international community-engaged learning, highlighting the experiences of sustained partnerships between Elon University and two international organizations (the Comprehensive Rural Health Project in Jamkhed, India and Sarvodaya in Sri Lanka). Drawing on the Fair Trade Learning (FTL) model, the authors emphasize core principles such as cultural humility, reciprocity, and critical global citizenship, while addressing challenges unique to international contexts including positionality, narrative humility, accessibility and sustainability.
Through practical guidance and case examples, the chapter conveys the importance of co-creating community-engaged learning programs with community partners, prioritizing mutual benefit, and avoiding exploitative or colonialist dynamics. The chapter highlights various assessment tools to measure community impact. By integrating the UN Sustainable Development Goals and engaging with students’ identities and motivations, this chapter advocates for intentional, transformative community-engaged learning programs that support student, university, organization, and community development and global equity.