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Samantha Robinson
Cincinnati, Ohio
International Studies,
Political Science
Themes of body
image, peer
pressure, unhealthy
relationships, and
dating violence
are particularly challenging for first- and secondgeneration immigrants and refugees, who often navigate two cultures.
I applied for the Chuck Green Civic
Engagement Fellowship to explore transforming
academic theory into community
change. Inspired by the seminar taken by
all the fellows, “Bridging the Public/Private
Divide,” I designed a project focused on
increasing immigrant and refugee communities’
access to public services, specifically
services related to domestic violence.
After a series of meetings, I worked with
the St. Paul Police Department’s Family
and Sexual Violence Unit and St. Paul
Domestic Abuse Intervention Project to
design an outreach project to be implemented
in the city’s Somali community.
Throughout the partnership, I organized
several domestic and dating violence education
events at Skyline Tower, a primarily
Somali apartment complex, and designed
an outreach plan. One element of the
plan was “Girl Talk,” a forum for Somali
and Oromo [an East African ethnic group]
young women to discuss body image, peer
pressure, healthy and unhealthy relationships,
and dating violence. These themes
are particularly challenging for first- and
second-generation immigrants and refugees,
who often navigate two cultures and find themselves dealing with the different
expectations of peers and family
members.
Did you know?
The Chuck Green
Civic Engagement
Fellowship is a unique
undergraduate experience
established by
former students of
this legendary professor
and designed
to challenge current
students to put theory
and their ideas into
action.
In preparation for the “Girl Talk” workshops,
I created a curriculum that included
interactive activities, such as an outline
drawing, a fill-in-the-blank poem, and a
healthy and unhealthy relationships board
game. The hours that I shared with the
“Girl Talk” participants solidified my commitment
to ensuring that women of all
ages receive the information necessary to
avoid dating and domestic violence. The
work drew on my international studies
and political science courses, my experience
as a volunteer English language
instructor, and study-away semesters
on the U.S.–Mexico border and in the
Netherlands, which focused on globalization
and immigration. The Chuck Green
Civic Engagement Fellowship was an
energizing and invigorating experience
that reinforced my commitment to human
rights, specifically those of immigrant and
refugee populations.
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