HITTING THE ROAD

Students Use Break to Study, Work, Volunteer
Spring break is taking on new meaning at Stonehill this March. Foregoing vacations and rest in favor of studying, working, or volunteering, more than 180 students will travel – from March 1-9 – to alternative spring break destinations.

H.O.P.E. Travels
Sponsored by Campus Ministry, 115 students, along with faculty, staff, and administrators, will spend the week in the Dominican Republic, Honduras, New Orleans, Peru, New York, or Tennessee as part of H.O.P.E. (Honoring our Neighbor, Organizing for Justice, Peace, and Encountering God). 

Once at their locations, the groups will dedicate their time helping those in need – whether by rebuilding in New Orleans, by tutoring in Honduras, or by working at a community center in Tennessee.

H.O.P.E. is the College’s official alternative spring break program. To read about student Erin Casey, who will travel with H.O.P.E. to New Orleans, visit here.

Learning Communities Take Off

• As part of their Learning Community (LC) European Superstate, Professors Richard Finnegan and Jennifer Swanson will travel with 29 students to Brussels, the seat of the European Union (EU). During the ten-day trip, the group will visit the European Parliament, Commission Council, and Economic and Social Council as well as NATO, the U.S. Diplomatic Mission to the European Union, Multinational Corporations, and other cultural and historical sites. Additionally, students will conduct in-depth research in an area of EU policy/politics.
  
  
• Traveling to the American Southwest, 10 students in the LC Exploring Indigenous America will delve into both the contemporary and past Indian experience. Visiting Native American archeological sites and communities, the students, led by Professors James Wadsworth and Keri Iyall Smith, will explore indigenous culture and history first hand and will meet with indigenous leaders to discuss historical issues and current challenges. 
  
  
• Twenty-one Students in the LC Experience of Memory and Jewish Rebirth in Post-Holocaust Europe will be heading to parts of Eastern and Central Europe with Professors Shari Lowin and Erica Tucker. There, they will investigate the ways in which the history of the Holocaust is remembered, narrated, and memorialized by those who experienced it and those who came after. Students will also explore Jewish life – its rebirth or lack thereof – in these European cities.

New York Bound
 Now in its sixth year, Stonehill’s Externship Program will get underway on March 2 when eight students board an Amtrak train to New York City. Thanks to the generosity and mentorship of 13 alumni hosts, the “externs” will experience corporate life and get a taste of the Big Apple. 

Upon reaching Penn Station, externs will head off to their accommodations with local alumni hosts and will then spend the week visiting such premiere companies as Bear, Stearns; Legg Mason; and The Tuttle Agency while also meeting with the Stonehill alumni who work there. 

Along the way, they will spend time at the Metropolitan Museum of Fine Arts, attend a marketing/PR/advertising round table, take in a New York Knicks game, and explore the City.

All of the travelers will hit the road once again to return to Stonehill for classes, which begin on March 10.

Issued 02/28/08