CBL Talks
About CBL Talks
The Office of Community-Based Learning (CBL) in collaboration with various campus partners, is pleased to offer a "CBL Talks." Launched in the Spring 2021 semester, the goal of these CBL Talks is to provide University students with information and insights into some of the major challenges and opportunities facing the Â鶹´«Ã½ area and how they can be part of positive change. Each of the CBL Talks is offered as a live session with Q&A during the spring semester, which is also recorded to serve as a resource for CBL courses. For more information please email community@scranton.edu .Spring 2024 CBL Talks
The Office of Community-Based Learning (CBL) in collaboration with various campus partners, is pleased to offer a new series of "CBL Talks" in the Spring 2024 semester. This spring's talks will focus on: Health Disparities in Lackawanna County; Â鶹´«Ã½ Stories: Immigration and Diversity; and Root Causes of Homelessness and Poverty in NEPA. Please see tabs below for more information and registration.
Each of the CBL Talks will be offered as a live session with Q&A during the spring semester. These sessions will also be recorded to serve as a resource for CBL courses.
Past CBL Talks
Below are past CBL Talk recordings and resources that can be utilized in CBL courses. For more information please email community@scranton.edu .Spring 2023 CBL Talks
The Office of Community-Based Learning (CBL) in collaboration with various campus partners, is pleased to offer a new series of "CBL Talks" in the Spring 2024 semester. This spring's talks will focus on: Black History and Housing in Â鶹´«Ã½; Environmental Health; and the Living Wage Study 2022 Report. Please see tabs below for more information and registration.
Each of the CBL Talks will be offered as a live session with Q&A during the spring semester. These sessions will also be recorded to serve as a resource for CBL courses.
Living Wage Study 2022 Report
Living Wage Study 2022 Report with Julie Schumacher Cohen, The Â鶹´«Ã½ and Meghan Loftus, Friends of the Poor Â鶹´«Ã½
Friday, April 14 @ 3 PM in the Moskowitz Theater
This CBL Talk will feature Julie Schumacher Cohen, The Â鶹´«Ã½ and Meghan Loftus, Friends of the Poor Â鶹´«Ã½. The presentation will highlight the Living Wage Report 2022, including key findings of the study and its recommendations related to what constitutes a living wage in NEPA and issues related to economic justice, racial disparities, and public policy action through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching. Meghan Loftus, university partner and alumna, will discuss the work of Friends of the Poor around the realities of poverty and the need for systemic change.
Registration required at:
This event is sponsored by the Office of Community-Based Learning in collaboration with The Ellacuría Initiative and the Center for Ethics and Excellence in Public Service.
About the Presenters
Julie Schumacher Cohen is the Assistant Vice President of Community Engagement & Government Affairs and Chair of the Community-Based Learning Board at The Â鶹´«Ã½. She focuses on forging university-community partnerships and fostering civic engagement with special projects related to economic insecurity, refugee solidarity and political dialogue. She is the Project Director for the Â鶹´«Ã½’s Story, Our Nation’s Story project funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Julie has worked for a variety of non-profit organizations in the areas of community and government relations and peace and social justice. She earned a bachelor’s degree in political studies and English literature from Gordon College, an MPA at Villanova University, and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Political Science at Temple University.
Meghan Loftus is the President & CEO of Friends of the Poor, a nonprofit agency in Â鶹´«Ã½ sponsored by the Congregation of Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM), which seeks to ease the burden of living in poverty and enhance the quality of life for all who live in low- to moderate-income communities. While earning her Bachelor’s at The Â鶹´«Ã½, Loftus studied women and development in Rwanda in 2011 and rural Mexico in 2012. Upon returning, she joined Marywood University as a researcher and data analyst while she completed her Master's of Public Administration. Her passion for service and addressing extreme poverty has guided the expansion of services offered by the Friends of the Poor to meet community needs including emergency assistance in the form of food, clothing, household items, furniture, utility assistance, and transportation to medical appointments. Loftus currently serves as the chair of the Lackawanna County Housing Coalition and on the executive committee for the Lackawanna County Food Policy Council, and sits on several other committees addressing emergent community needs.
Black History and Housing in Â鶹´«Ã½
Black History and Housing in Â鶹´«Ã½ with Glynis Johns
Thursday, Feb. 9 @ 6 PM in the Moskowitz Theater
In the event, Ms. Glynis Johns, CEO and Founder of the Black Â鶹´«Ã½ Project, a local history and heritage initiative, discussed the Black history of Adams Avenue in the downtown Â鶹´«Ã½ area where a predominantly African American neighborhood existed prior to redevelopment in the 1970’s. This CBL Talk explored themes around Blackness, housing, racial discrimination, and affordability that remain relevant today.
Request a recording of this event by emailing community@scranton.edu.
This event is sponsored by the Office of Community-Based Learning in collaboration with the Office of Community Relations and the Multicultural Center. It is also part of the Â鶹´«Ã½’s Story, Our Nation’s Story project supported by the NEH and in collaboration with the Black Â鶹´«Ã½ Project and other community partners.
About the Presenter
Glynis Johns is the founder and CEO of Black Â鶹´«Ã½ Project, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, local heritage initiative, and public history venture dedicated to archiving and celebrating the Black history of Â鶹´«Ã½ and Northeastern Pennsylvania. Glynis dedicates much of her time studying 19th and 20th century African American history. A native Â鶹´«Ã½ian, local historian, sociologist, artist, documentarian, and advocate; Glynis research focuses primarily on Â鶹´«Ã½ to piece together narratives of the black community. She received her BA and MA in sociology at St. John’s University.
Environmental Health
Environmental Health with Tonyehn Verkitus and Tammy Murphy, Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania
Thursday, March 23 @ 11:45 AM in The DeNaples Center Ballroom
Environmental factors such as air and water quality are one of many determinants of our health and well-being. These and other environmental factors can lead to disease and health disparities in the places where people live, work, learn and play. Join us for a discussion on how existing environmental disparities in communities exposed to a combination of poor environmental quality and social inequities lead to more sickness and disease than you see in wealthier, less polluted communities.
For a recording of this event, please email community@scranton.edu.
This event is sponsored by the Office of Community-Based Learning in collaboration with the Office of Community Relations and the Office of Sustainability and the Environmental Studies Concentration. This event is also a part of the University's 2023 Earth Month events.
About the Presenters
Tonyehn Verkitus is the Executive Director of Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania. Her work in the nonprofit world has mostly centered on health and food though she also spent many years training organizations and communities on fundraising and telling their mission-based stories.
Tammy Murphy, M.A.,LL.M., is the Advocacy Director for Physicians for Social Responsibility - Pennsylvania. She has worked as an educator, a special health projects assistant, a volunteer, an advocate, a program director, an executive director, a medical outreach coordinator and a consultant. Above all else, she is passionate about justice and the intersection of law and social movements. She has a B.A. in English and Secondary Education from LaSalle University; an M.A. with honors in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from Arcadia University; an LL.M. with distinction in Dispute Resolution from the University of London's School of Oriential and African Studies; and a Certificat in Diplomacy and Public Policy from the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization.
Spring 2022 CBL Talk
This spring, the Office of Community-Based Learning will offer an encore of its "CBL Talks" offerings with a community-based learning talk focusing on youth in Â鶹´«Ã½ on Wednesday, Feb. 16 at 7 pm. There will also be a new "CBL Walk" on Friday, Apr. 22 at 3 pm, offering Â鶹´«Ã½ students an opportunity to explore the West Â鶹´«Ã½ neighborhood of our city.
Spring 2022 CBL Talk: Youth in Â鶹´«Ã½
This spring's CBL Talk took place on Wednesday, February 16 at 7 pm in the Pearn Auditorium, Brennan Hall. This CBL Talk featured community leaders from the Â鶹´«Ã½ School District and NEPA Youth Shelter who work with K-12 youth in the local area. They discussed the programs they run and the challenges, hopes and dreams of the youth they encounter along the way. The city’s youth population represents the diversity of the community, faces poverty at a high rate, has endured the pandemic as children, and are posed to inherit a world with many difficulties, including global climate change. This talk will align with the Jesuit universal apostolic preference “Journey with Youth” in which Superior General, Fr. Arturo Sosa, S.J., has called on all of us to “accompany young people in the creation of a hope-filled future”.
The recording of this CBL Talk is available for CBL faculty and students. Please email cbl@scranton.edu.
CBL Talk: Youth in Â鶹´«Ã½ Flyer
Sponsored by the Office of Community-Based Learning in collaboration with the Office of Community Relations, the Center for Service and Social Justice, and the Jesuit Center
About The Presenters
Mina M Ardestani, Principal, McNichols Plaza Elementary and Founder, Presence from PrisonMina Ardestani is a proud mother, an administrator, and founder of a local non-profit organization. She is serving her fourth year as principal of McNichols Plaza Elementary School in Â鶹´«Ã½, PA bringing almost 15 years experience as a classroom educator and administrator. Mina is a lifelong learner with a passion for education at all levels. She received her Bachelor of Art in Spanish from Temple University, a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Kings College, and a Master of Science in School Leadership from Marywood University. She is currently completing her Superintendent Certification and is a doctoral candidate at Delaware Valley University. In addition to her role as an instructional leader within Â鶹´«Ã½, she has been serving the children of Lackawanna County since 2016 through her non-profit, Presence from Prison. By distributing gifts to children from their incarcerated parents during the holidays, her goal is to give children solace knowing that although their parents are absent, they are still present in their lives. Mina is a Â鶹´«Ã½ resident committed to serving and supporting the children of our community by providing a safe and welcoming environment where students can thrive socially, emotionally, and academically.
Maureen Maher-Gray, Executive Director & Founder, NEPA Youth Shelter Maureen Maher-Gray is a proud graduate of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington (GO ZAGS!) so she has been rooted in social justice for many years. Her history includes working with students at St. Aloysius Grade School and Gonzaga Prep to model the principles of St. Ignatius. When Maureen moved to Pennsylvania in 2009, she worked with a variety of issue organizations like Moms Demand Action (gun violence prevention) and Equality Pennsylvania (LGBT civil rights). These experiences, particularly meeting youth affected by these issues, inspired her to create her own nonprofit. She is the Executive Director and Founder of the NEPA Youth Shelter dedicated to serving low-income, at-risk teens, including LGBTQIA teens. She is also the ED of the Rapid Rehousing Program for homeless teens ages 18-21, providing resources and support to teens so they can finish high school.
Spring 2021 CBL Talks
The Office of Community-Based Learning (CBL) in collaboration with various campus partners, is pleased to offer a series of "CBL Talks" in the Spring 2021 semester. The goal of these CBL Talks is to provide University students with information and insights into some of the major challenges and opportunities facing the Â鶹´«Ã½ area and how they can be part of positive change.
Each of the CBL Talks will be offered as a live session with Q&A during the spring semester. These session will also be recorded to serve as a resource for CBL courses. For more information please email community@scranton.edu .