Conversations on Poverty and Economic Justice

“Fostering students' abilities to integrate learning--over time, across courses, and between academic, personal, and community life--is one of the most important goals and challenges of higher education.” AAC&U Statement on Integrative Learning

The pursuit of a liberal education is the historical and philosophical core of a GVSU education.  In the College of Interdisciplinary Studies, we believe that the study of multiple disciplines, the power of experiential learning, and the call of engaged citizenship transforms and prepares our students for life and work in the twenty-first century.  However, Grand Valley students are becoming increasingly more pragmatic and utilitarian in their perception of a college degree.  In the 2006, the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) Survey indicated that our students were more likely to indicate “getting a better job” (74% vs. 70%) or “train for a specific career” (75% vs. 69%) as important reasons for attending college than our peer institutions. 

In response to this increased level of pragmatism, the College is convening Campus Conversations.  These conversations are an invitation to the university community to explore society’s “big questions”.  In his presidential address to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Martin Luther King said, "...And one day we must ask the question, Why are there forty million poor people in America? And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And I'm simply saying that more and more, we've got to begin to ask questions about the whole society... "

It is our hope that  we can demonstrate the importance of intersectionality between the disciplines by exploring these questions, wading into the difficult dialogues, and moving through our discussions into scholarship and action.  For the 2007-2008 Academic Year, we will be exploring the questions of poverty and economic justice through lectures, literature, service, performance, and dialogue.  We invite you to be part of our discussions and our learning. 

Calendar of Events

Community Reading Project

Resources on Poverty and Economic Justice

Taking Action

Faculty, staff members and students who would like to participate in the Conversations on Poverty and Economic Justice can contact the College of Interdisciplinary Studies at cois@gvsu.edu.