Every Campus a Refuge hosts Narratio for stories from resettled refugee youth Every Campus a Refuge (ECAR) hosted Narratio: Art and Stories in Spring 2024. Narratio’s flagship program, the Narratio Fellowship, is an annual storytelling and leadership program that provides refugee youth with the tools and resources to share their narratives and creative works on the world stage. The public experienced photography, film and poetry created by Narratio Fellows. Department of English Associate Professor Angela Naimou said the events, which included an interactive storytelling workshop, were co-sponsored by the Humanities Hub, Department of English and Department of Languages, among other groups. Writing class partners with nonprofit to support trafficking survivors Jasmine Road, an Upstate nonprofit that works to rebuild the lives of sex trafficking survivors, received a $10,000 grant in Spring 2024 from Bank of America after Department of English Senior Lecturer Will Cunningham and his Fall 2022 Business Writing class spent a semester crafting an application. The nonprofit is South Carolina’s first long-term residential program for adult women survivors of sex trafficking, prostitution and addiction. With the help of the Pearce Center for Professional Communication, three subsequent classes taught by Cunningham have continued the effort with Jasmine Road, providing students with a remarkable experiential learning opportunity that aims to further transform the lives of trafficking victims. Students typically spend three weeks writing a research report on Jasmine Road in breakout groups at the start of the semester and then submit different deliverables each week, culminating in a grant application. The partnership is set to continue into the 2024-25 academic year.
Transforming Lives Statewide and Beyond
Declamation Contest celebrates 50 years and counting Nearly 400 students from South Carolina and Georgia piled into Daniel Hall on a fall Saturday morning to recite chosen selections in their respective studies — Spanish, French, Japanese, Chinese, American Sign Language, Russian, Latin, Italian and German — for the Clemson Declamation Contest which, this year, celebrated its 50th anniversary. Su-I Chen, principal lecturer of Chinese and the director of Language Lab, became involved in the contest as a part-time lecturer in 2006. She has served as contest director since 2012. Participating in the contest isn’t the only worthwhile experience for middle and high school students. Some of whom are prospective Clemson University students on their very first college campus tour. Dean Vazsonyi, himself a Professor of German, observed: “It is encouraging to see this level of statewide engagement with foreign languages. Clemson should be proud if this longstanding tradition that often also draws students from North Carolina as well as Georgia.” Clemson ASL recognized by Martha’s Vineyard history museum A partnership between Martha’s Vineyard and Clemson University American Sign Language Assistant Professor Jody Cripps and his students led to a special recognition for the group. The historic connection between Martha’s Vineyard and the deaf community was the subject of a four-month exhibition at the iconic island’s Museum this past year. Cripps led more than a dozen ASL students to Massachusetts as part of a Creative Inquiry to initiate a community outreach program to help revive Martha’s Vineyard Signed Language (MVSL).
Ripple effect: Clemson students amplify local nonprofit’s message to help area families in need What initially started as a Fall collaboration between an Upstate nonprofit and a Department of English practicum in writing class at Clemson extended into the Spring semester with students supporting a team dedicated to aiding impoverished families in achieving financial independence. Ripple of One connected with Pearce Center for Professional Communication Assistant Director Ashley Fisk’s students to sharpen the neighboring Oconee County organization’s social media marketing presence. Executive director Stephanie Enders and her 10-woman staff wear many hats in fundraising and operations roles. But Enders said there was a need for help in the online realm. The faith-based nonprofit, founded in 2010, aims to incentivize families to move beyond government assistance to help parents focus on education and work readiness, financial and emotional stability and physical health. Clemson students helped share the nonprofit’s message in managing Ripple of One’s Facebook account to provide consistent posts about success stories and other opportunities. Video teasers were produced to provide updates to donors and volunteers. Students also gave a facelift to the nonprofit’s branding kit.
American Sign Language community rallies to support first ClemsonLIFE student Taylor Freeman made history in Fall 2023 as the first Clemson student with Down syndrome to complete an American Sign Language (ASL) course. Her path to enrolling in lecturer Tasha Goodrich’s class united multiple members of the Clemson Family, each encouraging her to learn a new and expressive way to communicate. A junior with ClemsonLIFE, Freeman is in the post-secondary education program for students with intellectual disabilities that prioritizes job skills and independent living. She learned from a distinguished group of professors as Clemson is home to the premier ASL program in South Carolina and a leader in the Southeast. ASL faculty continue to support the South Carolina Educational Interpreting Center in a five-year cycle thanks to $1.4 million in funding from the South Carolina Department of Education. The center, which trains interpreters working in K-12 schools with specific skills for educational interpreting, is the only one of its kind in the nation. $1.4 Million
Transform Lives Statewide and Beyond
Transform Lives Statewide and Beyond
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