#ListenFirst 2018-19: My Year of Listening

It may not always feel easy or comfortable, but listening opens up our world, our mind, and our heart; it connects us to our shared humanity, and it’s vital for the deeper learning, critical reflection, and authentic relationships that form the cornerstones of service-learning and community engagement. It is our hope that engaged listening, combined with deep critical reflection and ethical inquiry, will provide students with the tools they need to promote social equity and social change.

For this reason, we designated the 2018-2019 academic year as My Year of Listening - intentionally choosing the word “my” to suggest that each of us must begin from within and ask ourselves Am I Listening?  Throughout the year, Duke Service-Learning offered opportunities to both faculty and students to listen and to work together to deepen our understanding of the listening process.

Click on the images below to learn more about how students, faculty, and community partners listened and learned from each other in 2018-19.

Listen First: A conversation about authentic listening, leadership, and learning with Dean Valerie Ashby, Michael Ivory (T '18), Jayne Ifekwunigwe, Leo Ching, Ada Gregory, and Adam Hollowell explored the challenges, questions and potential solutions

Listen First: A conversation about authentic listening, leadership, and learning with Dean Valerie Ashby, Michael Ivory (T '18), Jayne Ifekwunigwe, Leo Ching, Ada Gregory, and Adam Hollowell explored the challenges, questions and potential solutions for strengthening our capacity to listen with Duke undergraduates.

In the Fall 2018 semester, students from Health, Culture, and the Latinx Community (SPANISH 306) worked with the Durham County Public Health Department and the local Latinx community to gather data for the SugarSmart Durham campaign; a campaign that

In the Fall 2018 semester, students from Health, Culture, and the Latinx Community (SPANISH 306) worked with the Durham County Public Health Department and the local Latinx community to gather data for the SugarSmart Durham campaign; a campaign that aims to decrease the consumption of sugary drinks, which are commonly marketed to Latinx and African-American communities. One of the key ways students gathered data was by facilitating story circles. Story circles rely heavily on deep listening in order to gather more relevant data on the communities being served. Click on the image to learn more.

Throughout the year, Duke Service-Learning offered opportunities to listen and to deepen our understanding of the listening process. Click on the image to learn more about how faculty, students, and community partners are exploring the challenges all

Throughout the year, Duke Service-Learning offered opportunities to listen and to deepen our understanding of the listening process. Click on the image to learn more about how faculty, students, and community partners are exploring the challenges all of us face as we try to listen authentically and listen first.

Listening Leaders: The Betsy Alden Outstanding Service-Learning Awards recognize one graduating senior, one faculty member, and one community partner for their commitment to the ideals of service‐learning. In Spring 2019, Duke senior Frances Beroset

Listening Leaders: The Betsy Alden Outstanding Service-Learning Awards recognize one graduating senior, one faculty member, and one community partner for their commitment to the ideals of service‐learning. In Spring 2019, Duke senior Frances Beroset (T'19), Duke BME faculty member Kevin Caves, and community partner (and Duke alumna) Jeanette Stokes from the Resource Center for Women and Ministry in the South (RCWMS) were honored with the award. Click on the image to learn more.

Critical service-learning is an approach to civic learning that is attentive to social change, works to redistribute power, and strives to develop authentic relationships. In Spring 2019, service-learning alumni came to Duke and offered their reflect

Critical service-learning is an approach to civic learning that is attentive to social change, works to redistribute power, and strives to develop authentic relationships. In Spring 2019, service-learning alumni came to Duke and offered their reflections on the impact service-learning has had on their life choices, future education, career shifts, and leadership in civic engagement since graduation. Click on the image to learn more.

Listening and Advising: In April of 2018, David Malone, PhD, Duke Service-Learning Director and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Program in Education, was recognized for Excellence in Advising at the Undergraduate Teaching, Leadership & Diver

Listening and Advising: In April of 2018, David Malone, PhD, Duke Service-Learning Director and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Program in Education, was recognized for Excellence in Advising at the Undergraduate Teaching, Leadership & Diversity Awards ceremony. The awards are given annually by the dean’s office in recognition of exceptionally strong teachers working across the college. This year, Trinity’s Arts & Sciences Council led the nomination and selection process for several categories. The Excellence in Advising award honors faculty and staff advisers who have helped guide undergraduates in the first two years at Duke. “Professor Malone is incredibly receptive to listening and advising,” one student commented. “He cares about me as a human being, not just a student, which is refreshing. He was always willing to connect me to people who could help me.”

Listening to Communities: Service-learning connects academic curriculum to communities to foster enriched learning and engagement in ethical collaborations. Click on the image to learn more about the community-engaged projects that students produced

Listening to Communities: Service-learning connects academic curriculum to communities to foster enriched learning and engagement in ethical collaborations. Click on the image to learn more about the community-engaged projects that students produced in the 2018-19 academic year.

Service-Learning Assistants (SLAs) often serve as a liaison between faculty, students, and community partners. Deep listening plays a key role in their success. Click on the image to learn more.

Service-Learning Assistants (SLAs) often serve as a liaison between faculty, students, and community partners. Deep listening plays a key role in their success. Click on the image to learn more.

Listening Visits: Duke Service-Learning visited Partners for Youth Opportunity (PYO) and other Durham organizations to listen and learn about how they partner with communities to provide Durham youth with opportunities to connect, develop, and contri

Listening Visits: Duke Service-Learning visited Partners for Youth Opportunity (PYO) and other Durham organizations to listen and learn about how they partner with communities to provide Durham youth with opportunities to connect, develop, and contribute through mentoring, employment, and educational support. Partners for Youth Opportunity was created to more effectively address the growing “opportunity gap” resulting from the chronic disconnection of Durham youth from economic and educational opportunities. They primarily serve families living in poverty, immigrant families, and families with incarcerated members. Click on the image to learn more.

Listening to Language Communities: In Fall 2018, Joan Clifford, PhD, Duke Service-Learning Faculty Consultant and Director of the Community-Based Language Initiative, and Deb Reisinger, PhD, who teaches service-learning courses at Duke and directs Du

Listening to Language Communities: In Fall 2018, Joan Clifford, PhD, Duke Service-Learning Faculty Consultant and Director of the Community-Based Language Initiative, and Deb Reisinger, PhD, who teaches service-learning courses at Duke and directs Duke in Montréal, the Bienvenue à Durham program for Francophone refugees, and the Cultures and Languages Across the Curriculum initiative at Duke, published Community-based Language Learning: A Framework for Educators (Georgetown Press 2019). Click on the image to learn more.

Listening to Community Partners: In April 2018, Duke Service-Learning hosted its 2nd Annual Community Partner Breakfast and Faculty Retreat at Duke Gardens to celebrate the contributions of community partners to undergraduate education at Duke. The t

Listening to Community Partners: In April 2018, Duke Service-Learning hosted its 2nd Annual Community Partner Breakfast and Faculty Retreat at Duke Gardens to celebrate the contributions of community partners to undergraduate education at Duke. The theme of the gathering was called “Engaged Spaces.” Together, Duke faculty and community partners reflected on “Placemaking: Engaged Communities” (communities as listening, partnering, and learning spaces), “Spacemaking: Engaged Classrooms” (classrooms as developmental, reflective, and engaged spaces), and setting intentions for the coming academic year.

“While listening with our whole selves is something we develop over the course of a lifetime of reflection and practice, I’ve noticed through some intentional shifts that I am becoming more conscious of the power of speaking less and listening more.

“While listening with our whole selves is something we develop over the course of a lifetime of reflection and practice, I’ve noticed through some intentional shifts that I am becoming more conscious of the power of speaking less and listening more. This has become especially important not only as I’ve settled into the Durham community, but also as I’ve begun teaching an English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) class two nights a week at my local literacy council this semester.“ -Kimmie Garner, Assistant Director of Duke Service Learning. Click on the image to read the story.

Listening to Durham: Each fall Duke Service-Learning hosts Context and Connections: an Immersive Experience for Duke Faculty in Durham, an engaged bus tour of Durham for new Duke faculty and those interested in deepening their own knowledge of and co

Listening to Durham: Each fall Duke Service-Learning hosts Context and Connections: an Immersive Experience for Duke Faculty in Durham, an engaged bus tour of Durham for new Duke faculty and those interested in deepening their own knowledge of and connections to the Durham community and in exploring connections with their teaching, research, and service. Tours are designed to unearth and provoke discussion about many of Durham’s untold stories, assets and challenges, the relationship between Duke and Durham; highlighting Duke’s past, present, and future involvement in the community. Click on the image to learn more.

Listening Resources: Learning to Listen. The concept of authentic listening is simple enough, but its actual practice is semi-radical. The good news is, almost anybody can learn to do it. Click on the image to learn more.

Listening Resources: Learning to Listen. The concept of authentic listening is simple enough, but its actual practice is semi-radical. The good news is, almost anybody can learn to do it. Click on the image to learn more.