Reflector: September 2024
The Reflector
notes from Engaged Learning’s Center for Social Impact
Feature Events!
Early voting in Illinois begins TOMORROW, 26 September!
Students Speak Up Series: “Identity, Freedom, the Body”
2 October, 4:00 pm–5:00 pm at Center for Social Impact (40 E Jefferson Ave.)
We continue our fantastic series of conversations. Make sure to turn up to share & discover on intersectional topics to do with race, gender, sexuality, and all other issues pertaining to the body.
Our guest for this student-led discussion will be Dr Sohinee Roy of the Speaking and Writing Centers, NCC English, and both GSST and Race and Ethnic Studies.
As they say: “The personal is the political.”
Plus we’re not just talking! We’ve got lots of great resources for this and our other topics available on box:
https://noctrl.box.com/v/NCStudentsSpeakUpWe’re also teaming up with League of Women Voters Naperville to have voter registration at every event.
Early voting in Illinois begins TOMORROW, 26 September!
Community Conversations and Events
Students Speak Up, Center for Social Impact, 40 E Jefferson. See above. Session 5, our final session before Election Day, will be held 16 October. The topic will be a LATE-CAMPAIGN WILDCARD!
Aurora First Friday van service! Van pick-up at 5:30 pm, Wentz Concert Hall main entrance, organized by Cultural Events Committee. Next First Friday is October 4th: see link for activities!
Meditation series continues with Mindfulness Meditation, led by a community guest, hosted by Religious Studies and Dyson Wellness. October 2, 3:00-4:00 pm, BE 162. For more information, contact Professor Birdsong at slbirdsong@noctrl.edu.
Do you have a community-focused event open to the campus? Submit details to SocialImpact@NoCtrl.edu.
Volunteering Snapshot, 25 Sept–25 Oct.
A quick look at some great opportunities coming up. Got an opportunity to promote? Email SocialImpact@NoCtrl.edu.
Habitat for Humanity: Women Build, Hanover Park, IL. FIFTEEN events in early October! Join a community of DuPage women (and men) volunteering together to celebrate our strengths, and have a blast building permanent and affordable homes for dynamic, woman-led families. View the complete series on Giving DuPage
Prairie Maintenance & Enhancement, Elmhurst Great Western Prairie. 19 October, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm.
Please come about 8:45 for orientation. Our efforts to remove unwanted garlic mustard will help more natural prairie plants to thrive this spring and summer to maintain our "gem" of a prairie. Volunteers from 13 into their 80's join for an orientation near the corner of Berkley Avenue and Prairie Path Lane. Volunteer Waiver needed; tools provided. Please come dressed for gardening work (long pants, long-sleeved shirt, closed-toed shoes, hat, etc). Contact: Dave Terrill, 630-207-1497 — tell them CSI sent you!
Work and Learn with Garden Works, GardenWorks’ Community Gardens at the DuPage County Fairgrounds in Wheaton. Mondays 9–10am, Thursdays 9:30–10:30am, through 31 October.
Volunteer at our community garden, where we grow produce for local food pantries. The GardenWorks Project is grassroots, volunteer-driven non-profit that promotes organic suburban agriculture with the goal of increasing local food availability. Volunteer with GardenWorks to help build gardens in our area.
Looking for something else? Having trouble getting started? Get in touch with the Student Volunteer Coordinator by making a request here, or email EngagedLearning@NoCtrl.edu.
FEATURE SPOTLIGHT ON FACULTY: Dr Katherine Heller
Each month, CSI’s Faculty Spotlight! Each month we will highlight the work of one of our colleagues who are helping students develop their sense of self and value to equip them to advance the common good.
We are grateful that Dr. Katherine Heller, Professor of Mathematics was kind enough to share her expertise and time with The Reflector for our very first Faculty Spotlight.
Dr. Heller Has been at North Central for 15 years and teaches classes across the Math curriculum. In the last few years, she developed MATH 120: Math for the Liberal Arts, which is a general education requirement and is taken by students whose major doesn’t require calculus or statistics. According to Dr. Heller, one of the goals of this class is to demonstrate how Math is a tool “make the world a better place.” Yay for Dr. Heller! And how lucky her students are!
We asked Dr. Heller a few questions about how Math can help us understand and solve issues related to social justice and how students can get involved.
Q: Why do you think it is important to incorporate issues related to equity, justice, and access to resources in your class?
A:” It is important to incorporate issues related to equity and justice in this class to show students how math can move beyond formulas on a page and instead help them engage with the world in new and interesting ways. We relate the material to things they find interesting and ideas they’re already wrestling with (or should be).”
Some of the issues Dr. Heller tackles are inflation, the minimum wage, misinformation, predatory lending, income inequality, and gerrymandering.
Q: How can students use mathematical concepts and theories to be more educated and engaged citizens?
A: “Math gives the students more tools to analyze issues from new perspectives, to equip them to question what they’re hearing or reading in the news, and to be able to use data to defend their viewpoints.”
Q: What is one piece of advice you have for students looking to establish or deepen their sense of civic engagement?
A: “One piece of advice I would give students looking to establish or deepen their sense of civic engagement is to keep reading, to keep digging, to keep asking questions and hearing from a variety of viewpoints. The world is facing very complicated problems and someone who disagrees with you can help you see another angle of a complex situation which, whether it causes you to rethink your position or gives you the opportunity to better clarify and articulate your current stance, will only benefit you in the future.”
CSI’s Fall 2024 Common Read
This fall, we’ll be reading the graphic novel Amazons, Abolitionists and Activists by Mikki Kendall and A. D’Amico. The history of women’s fight for their rights, told in the format of a graphic novel. Look for more details on the CSI’s Hub page.
“Amazons, Abolitionists and Activists” — link goes to local bookseller Anderson’s Bookstore
