https://www.creighton.edu/encuentro/
Academic Director: Margarita Dubocq
Campus Coordinator: Jill Muegge, Global Engagement Office
Encuentro Dominicano is Creighton University’s premier academic service-learning program in the Dominican Republic.
Follow Encuentro on Instagram (@creightoninthedr) and Facebook (@encdominicano).
Academics
Encuentro Dominicano students are required to take the three courses listed below, and may choose from the three electives available each semester for a total of up to 18 credit-hours.
- EDP 362 Dominican Republic in Context, 3CR (CORE fulfillment: Doing Social Science)
- EDP 461 The Power of One: Poverty, Sustainable Development, 3CR (CORE fulfillment: Intersections)
- Intensive Dominican Spanish, 100 - 400 levels available, 3CR
Various electives are available each semester to Encuentro Dominicano students including a Latin America Cinema course taught in partnership with a local university in Santiago and a rotating elective course taught by a visiting Creighton University faculty member. For more details visit the Encuentro website.
Service-Learning
Encuentro Dominicano employs service-learning pedagogy through weekly volunteer service in the city of Santiago, as well as two cultural immersions in local campo communities. Ample opportunity is provided for guided reflection on all that students experience during their time in the Dominican Republic.
Life in the Dominican Republic
Encuentro students will live in dorms on the Misión ILAC campus that house four to six students per room. The ILAC Center is a beautiful, serene, and secure campus located just outside of Santiago city center. The ILAC Center has served the rural campo communities of the Dominican Republic since 1973. All of the international groups that visit the Dominican Republic are assisted by the long standing connections in the country established by the Dominican staff of ILAC/CESI.
In order to help students fully immerse into Dominican culture, Student Life provides free excursions and activities in which students can choose to participate. In the past, cultural activities have included:
- Baseball games to see the local professional team, Las Aguilas Cibaenas
- Tours of the historical museum Casa Museo Hermanas Mirabal
- Trips to the mountains or the beach
Courses
EDP 362. Dominican Republic in Context. 3 credits.
A study of the history, sociology and politics of the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean. Classroom work is integrated with service-learning and cultural immersion in a context of ethical analyses and reflection. This course provides a supervised learning experience in a community learning site and is designed to integrate the knowledge, values, and skills presented in the classroom, as well as the individual research that the students will be performing, with the experiences in the community. CO: EDP 461.
EDP 461. The Power of One: Poverty, Sustainable Development. 3 credits.
A multi-disciplinary study of social justice issues pertaining to people experiencing material poverty. This course will combine Theological beliefs to make meaning out of the injustices in our world, with Economics views that address sustainable development ideas to eradicate extreme poverty. Classroom work is integrated with service-learning and cultural immersion in a context of ethical analyses and reflection. While addressing many of the social justice issues covered in this course from a global perspective, course work is designed to also bring a multi-disciplinary perspective to the exploration of the cultural, social, economic, political and religious aspects of life in the Dominican Republic. P: Critical Issues in Human Inquiry course.