Chicago Semester

Rebecca Burwell on Chicago as Our Laboratory

Posted by Rebecca Burwell in CS Seminars in Practicum Group in Staff Stories | Aug 05, 2010

While Chicago semester students can look forward to a great internship while they are in Chicago, they will also get a chance to live, work, and learn in one of the world’s greatest cities (really, we’re not biased here at all!). The Chicago Semester staff wants students to have as well-rounded an experience of Chicago as they can. To that end the faculty and practicum group leaders try to use the city of Chicago as our classroom, giving students a sense of the wonder, vibrancy, challenges, and complexities of the life of their Chicago neighbors. We spend time visiting community groups working on housing issues or churches that are trying to bridge the gap between Chicago’s low-income and wealthier residents. We attend rallies, town hall meetings, and witness the beautiful community art (murals, sculptures), all of which tell us just a few of the stories about Chicago and its people.  And, we hope that students will immerse themselves in the life of Chicago though you are here for only a few short months!
 
I’ve been with Chicago Semester for four years and it has been both a joy and challenge to introduce students to the city I love. Before coming to Chicago Semester, I worked as a post-doctoral student at the University of Notre Dame studying Latino churches and faith based organizations in Chicago. My PhD is from Loyola University-Chicago in sociology, and I study gender, race, ethnicity, poverty and religion (among other things!). I did my field research in Latin America, Cuba specifically, and am drawn to understanding the life of migrant communities in Chicago and elsewhere. I believe they can teach us much about the life of Christ, who spent many of his years as a displaced person. I have done volunteer work, teaching in Chicago’s immigrant communities, and I learn as much from my students as they do from me. When not teaching a section of Values and Vocation, or Diversity and Inequality in Chicago, or leading a practicum group on a tour of one of Chicago’s neighborhoods, you can find me in the Albany Park neighborhood hanging out with my sweet 2 year old daughter Sunita and my husband Chirag—cooking, strolling, and enjoying fellowship with friends!

Photo Caption: Rebecca with her daughter Sunita.