PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

OUR COMMITMENT TO EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

ISOW student leaders engage in experiential learning by managing levy funds, supporting our Scholars and organizing events. Also, experiential courses are offered to our student leaders and Scholars where they earn academic credit for their work with ISOW. For example, in the 2017-2018 school year, two student leaders and a Scholar took a Directed Studies course where they studied the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These students used their knowledge of the conflict to organize a symposium on the human realities of conflict in March 2018. (To learn more about the symposium, visit the “Events” tab.) ISOW is committed to providing experiential learning opportunities to Laurier students, both inside and outside of the classroom.

ACADEMIC COURSES

ISOW’s mission is to promote active student engagement through the study of the human realities of international conflict today and to provide scholarships to international students affected by conflict. Our vision is to foster genuine intercultural learning and effective global citizenship by bringing together minds from around the world. One way that ISOW realizes its mission and vision is by offering academic courses to ISOW student leaders and Scholars where students have the opportunity to study particular global conflicts and their humanitarian responses. The courses are taught by ISOW’s Faculty Advisor, Dr. Gavin Brockett.

ISOW courses combine ‘traditional’ academic learning with ‘experiential learning’ by providing students with ways to take their learning beyond the classroom. According to the Council of Ontario Universities, experiential learning “is when students learn by doing using their theoretical knowledge in practical, real-life, or work-related situations.” In the 2017-2018 school year, for example, two ISOW student leaders and a Scholar participated in a reading course that focused on the realities of life for Palestinian and Syrian refugees in the Middle East today. The students read books and articles on these conflicts and then used their knowledge to plan a symposium on the human realities of conflict (click the Events tab to learn more!). The students made presentations to grant committees, designed publicity materials and created workshops for students to participate in. This ISOW course gave the students the opportunity to learn inside the classroom and apply their knowledge to a real-world project.



In addition to regular courses for ISOW student leaders and Scholars, the ISOW President enrolls in a Directed Studies course each year in which they focus their studies on achieving ISOW goals for the year ahead while engaging in the critical study of conflict and humanitarianism.


ISOW is working toward developing new courses in the next year, which may include a course on transnational humanitarianism and a field course. If you are an ISOW leader and are interested in enrolling in an ISOW course, please contact Dr. Brockett for more information.

COURSES IN WINTER 2022

Winter 2022

ISOW will be offering courses for the 2022/2023 school year to continue to engage students in learning on the human realities of conflict. These courses are a reflection of our commitment to experiential learning.

PAST COURSES

  • Global Conflict and the Humanitarian Response: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (Fall 2015)

    This course focused on the history of western humanitarian efforts and the contemporary critique of organizations that aim to make the world a better place. Students developed their understanding of the complexity of navigating partnerships between NGOs and Universities.

  • Cultural Responses to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (Winter 2015)

    This Directed Studies course provided students with the opportunity to read widely on the variety of responses leading thinkers and activists have adopted with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Students also worked on a community engagement project, which involved designing a mechanism for financing ISOW and organizing a public symposium on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

  • Global Conflict and the Humanitarian Response: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (Fall 2015/Winter 2016)

    This course provided students with the opportunity to study the history of western humanitarian, as well as religion and academia in the context of contemporary global studies and Muslim studies. Students also worked on a formal Agreement between Laurier and Jusoor to sponsor Scholars through ISOW.

  • Global Conflict and the Humanitarian Response: Historical and Contemporary Perspective (Fall 2016/Winter 2017)

    This Directed Studies course focused on the academic approaches to and definitions of “war” so as to situate the history of western humanitarian efforts. Its outcome was the formal delineation of ISOW as a humanitarian educational endeavor and a presentation to the University Administration about obtaining additional scholarships for Jusoor students.

  • ISOW Experiential Learning Course (Winter 2017)

    This course focused on the ethics and history of humanitarian intervention, war and trauma, and navigating intercultural relationships. In addition, each student completed 10 hours of job shadowing members of Laurier’s administration and developed their own “ISOW Legacy Project”, which included a trip to Ottawa and an ISOW financial report.

  • Politics of Conflict (Fall 2017/Winter 2018)

    This reading course gave students the opportunity to study various themes related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Syrian conflict. Students also organized an ISOW symposium on the human realities of conflict, which meant identifying participants and speakers, writing grant proposals to obtain funds, and deciding upon the symposium objectives and format.

  • ISOW Experiential Learning Course (Winter 2019)

    This course provided ISOW Directors with the opportunity to gain critical professional experience through job-shadowing members of the Laurier Administration. Students developed projects specific to their ISOW portfolios. They studied questions related to ethical engagement with our Scholars; the impact of trauma; intercultural communication; and the meaning of global citizenship.

  • Responding to the Human Realities of Conflict (Fall 2018)

    This course offered ISOW leaders the opportunity to help set the agenda for ISOW in the coming years. We explored conflicts beyond Syria and identified organizations with which we might sponsor Scholars in the future. Students developed profiles of individual conflicts and the humanitarian NGOs responding to the needs of people affected by them; and they worked towards developing strong, coherent presentations that effectively make a case for supporting students from these countries through partnerships with ISOW.

  • Myanmar and Canada: The Politics of Refuge (Fall 2020)

    This course focuses on the studies around Myanmar history, politics, education, and ethnicities. At the same time, the Canadian immigration history was also touched upon - with a few discussions about Karen and Rohingya people in Canada. This course has prepared the team for a poster board representing post-secondary challenges for ethnic minorities from Myanmar. Also, the preparation for the ISOW Newcomer Scholarship.

  • Refugees, International Students and Humanitarianism (Winter 2020)

    The outcomes from this course were first-hand knowledge of lived realities of conflict through a two-week field trip to Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand, participation in IIE Conference on Pathways for Higher Education for Displaced Students in Asia-Pacific in Vietnam. Most importantly, through Helena, Becky and Dr. Brockett's trip to SEA, they formed a new partnership with Prospect Burma. 

  • Global Approaches to Humanitarianism: Syrians in Canada and Turkey (Winter 2020)

    The themes for this course were the Syrian Conflict, Syrian refugees in Turkey and Canada, Higher Education Emergencies, and connecting the Syrian Conflict and Higher Education needs. The outcomes from these courses were leadership development and poster materials for the 2020 ISOW Conference. 

  • Critical Leadership and Humanitarianism in Higher Education (Fall 2020)

    ISOW team members and scholars were enrolled in this course where they further discussed the functions of ISOW, Global Citizenship, Anti-Racism,  and Intercultural Learning. At the end of the term, students created a personal professional portfolio and took part in the legacy projects (ISOW Website Update, ISOW documentary, and ISOW Media Kit)

CERTIFICATES

In Spring 2019, ISOW introduced a two certificates in Educational Leadership and Applied Humanitarianism. These certificates recognize the experiential learning that our student leaders and Scholars participate in: planning campus events, managing ISOW’s scholarship and club budgets, and providing leadership during Management Team meetings. These certificates are a reflection of Laurier’s commitment to providing experiential learning opportunities to all students. 

ISOW INTERNSHIP

In Spring 2018, Wilfrid Laurier University agreed to provide funding for an internship program. The ISOW internship provides graduates with the opportunity to continue their professional development while assuming responsibility for supporting both the ISOW program at Laurier. They work closely with the ISOW Faculty Advisor and Management Team in this capacity.

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