Step Into Statesboro Towards Critical Community Engagement Georgia Southern University Danyel Addes, Coordinator of Community and Civic Engagement Emily Elizabeth Shannon, Statesboro Downtown Development Authority Community Liaison

Step into Statesboro Community & Civic Engagement Tour Introduces new and returning Georgia Southern students to the downtown Statesboro area, engagement opportunities, and current community challenges and assets

Guiding Framework 1) Increase student awareness of downtown 2) Understanding of local context, past and present, localized expression of national trends 3) Recognize the “city as teacher” (J. Kretzmann) 4) A welcome and invitation from community members “We don’t want to see you just volunteering, we want to see you living here”

City of Statesboro County Seat of Bulloch County City Population approx. 46,000 County Population approx. 72,000 Georgia Southern has 20,000 students!

Tour Volunteer opportunities / recruitment Experiential and service- learning Community assets Student leadership roles Individual student projects Residents invite students to be community members Conversation with community members New outreach

“The great thing about the event in relation to my class is that it got them off campus early in the semester. So many of them had not yet made it past campus except to go to Walmart or El Som. They got to see downtown (a surprise to some that it existed!) and meet people from the area. All of that helped my students think about Statesboro on both that immediate personal level and situate in larger ideas discussed in class and in your overview. I can already tell that this class is much more interested in learning about the area than my previous classes, and I can't wait to see what they'll come up with for research projects.” Professor, Georgia Southern Honors Program

Opportunities for conversation & critical analysis  Crafting a presentation for students  Opened conversations about assets, pride, local history, national context  Revealed to us how limited our networks are  Led to new relationships and outreach

Assets Invited conversations about what is good and what is unique ABCD- internally focused, existing assets, relationship driven Jonathan McCollar & the Van Buren hospital

“Glenn Ross gives ‘toxic tours’ of neighborhoods you’ve seen in ‘The Wire” The Grist, Feb “A Historic Meeting: Tour Guides as a Bridge Between Humans” Mon, 14 Dec 2015 EcoME Center for Peace & Ecology, Dead Sea

Reflecting on our impact What are we reinforcing? What are we suggesting? What are we challenging? Who are we empowering? Whose voices?

Moving Forward  Preparation and reflection  Community leadership and voices  Size and format?  How do the details impact the message?  What happens when we scale up?

Thank You Danyel Addes Coordinator of Community & Civic Engagement Georgia Southern University