Wall Painting

When the Service-Learning summer program in Paris came into being a decade ago, the founders had a clear vision: to give thoughtful and accomplished young people an opportunity for immersion in another culture through active participation in community service work and focused study.

This living, learning and on-going work in service are what distinguishes our approach, and our programs, from all others. In these daily interactions, and in very specific ways, students engage the larger culture and community. Each participant has a rich experience of others, develops real understanding of the host country, and benefits from a reflective interaction with its culture.

Students who choose to be part of Service Learning are different. They are bright and carefully schooled. They hold themselves to a high standard and have great expectations of themselves and for the future. With us, they learn more but also how to step back, to become self-aware while joining with peers in venturing into the world of the "other."

Barcelona is our new site for 2009. The city has undergone a revitalization, perhaps greater than any other on the Mediterranean rim. It provides an ideal urban environment for what we propose. It is hip, modern, centered, a place with a 2000 year history and a future with unimaginable possibilities. Here, students will study, work in service, have fun and come away with a deep and different experience of this incomparable place.

John Nissen
Program Director